Going by the lumen output on the datasheet only provides an upper limit to the light output. It's where you get $30 lights that claim to be 1600 lumens. The LED can theoretically put out that much, if you have perfect optics and a perfect driver and have a huge heat sink that can keep the LED at the perfect operating temperature. Just something to keep in mind.

All that said, I think probably some of these cheaper lights do provide good light output. What I think they lack is good design and durability. They are unlikely to have excellent mounting systems, and they are unlikely to work for many years.

I have the same blitzu taillight featured above. its pretty decent. My Cygolite pro 100 shipped so i am looking forward to replacing the current set up with it!

I received my cygolite 100 yesterday and i am very very impressed with it coming from a blitzu. I really like the patterns and output. it was easy to install and few people even asked me what tail light it is after seeing the power and performance

The Cygolite 100 is on sale for $30 at REI (online only). https://www.rei.com/product/110173/c...ear-bike-light.

I tested niterider solas 30 during the day. It is very visible from 100-150 feet away approximately. Not bad at all. Certainly satisfactory as a daytime light. Perhaps someone can do a comparison later of the 30/100/150.

I'm very interested to hear how bright the Cygolite Pro 150 is. I have the Axiom Pulse 60 on my e-bike but I might have to upgrade if the Pro 150 is approaching Dinotte Quad Red brightness for 1/4 the price.

I have the Axiom Pulse 60 as well. I'll let you know how it compares when I get the Pro 150...hopefully in a couple weeks.

I'm a flashlight geek.....FWIW, you can use the light meter in DSLR to get a rough measure of relative lumens if you want. Even a smartphone camera with free app (although not as accurate).

Hmm, ok, maybe I don't understand what you're saying. I have two light meters, one built into and SLR and a really old handheld GE light meter, all they do is give you recommended F stop and shutter speed, or you change one or the other and it recommends the missing factor. All they do is check exposure in an attempt to make a perfect balanced picture. The only light meters that are used in photography are Cine light meters which are not in cameras that I know of and are separate units, and these will measure lux and foot candles. I would assume that IF there is a camera on the market with a Cine light meter it would be very very expensive and for strictly professional users.

Yeah, it's a work around using the camera's suggest shutter speed. Way it works is this: assume you have a trusted calibration light that is 125 lumens. You shine the 125 lumens into a DIY lightbox, with the SLR point into it as a meter, and you vary the ISO and aperture settings until the camera meter suggests 1/125th sutter speed for that calibration light's output, then you lock those ISO and aperture settings, and the camera meter has been "calibrated."

Then, if you shine another light that is twice as bright (250 lms) into the light box, the camera will suggest a new shutter speed of half the time exposure to yield a proper exposure, or 1/250th of a second. If you try a 30 lumen light (~1/4th the output) the camera will suggest 4x the 1/125th time exposure, or 1/30th of a second.

So once the camera meter is properly calibrated, the reciprocal of the suggested shutter speed is your lumen estimate for whatever light or mode you are testing and it even works at sub-lumen ("moonlight") levels - fractions of a lumen are seconds on the camera (eg. 1/10 of lumen is a 10 sec shutter speed).

Continued from my last post ^...; I received an email from REI just the other day. The email says that they have run out of the Cygolite Hotshot 150 and want to know by 9/15/16 if I want to continue with my order.. Strange. When I ordered the 150 it was a "pre-order item" and wasn't expected to come into stock until a month. I probably just got a automated email because I was on the list. Anyway, it might be a while before any of us who ordered from REI see these.

I think what he/she is saying is you can use your in camera light meter to get an idea of the light out put difference. One f-stop in photography is twice or half the amount of light output. The in camera meter is a reflective type meter, meaning it reads light reflecting off of an object, perhaps you could face them towards a white wall and see how much difference in f-stops there is. If you have an ambient hand held meter you can hold that facing towards the lights and see how many fractions of, or full f-stops different they are?

I'm assuming we won't be charged until the item ships. At least that's standard procedure elsewhere.

I'm not confident we'll ever see this light either. REI is usually on the up and up but the lack of info on the ship date and availability is disappointing.

Actually the item just disappeared from their website for a couple of days.

Yeah, I was going to order the 100 because it was on sale and then it had disappeared. Now I see the 100 and 150 have returned. Not sure which one to order and Cygolite's web site does not provide details specs for runtimes in each mode :-/

Finally Cygolite posted the information on those two lights.

http://www.cygolite.com/product/hotshot-100-usb-2/

http://www.cygolite.com/product/hotshot-pro-150-usb/

I bought the 150. $7 is not enough of a difference to warrant stepping down to the 100. Not that the 100 will be chopped liver.

I called REI and they said these lights should ship in the last week of sept.

The Cateye seems to clamp on to the seat post right? Is there an angle in the mount to take care of the angle of the seat post?

There is not, but if you clamp it so that the bottom part is on the seatpost collar, it gets it nearly vertical.

I saw over on the MTBR forums that some people have already received their Cygolite Hotshot Pro 150. It sounds like a promising light.

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My cygolite 150 arrived at the local REI. I'll pick it up in the next few days. $40 shipped, which isn't too bad.

I just ordered a Hotshot Pro 150 from Modern Bike for $45. It got me free shipping on another item I was ordering so I said what-the-heck.

Question, does the Hotshot Pro come with the rubber seat post mount? This is for my e-bike so I want something that can be quickly removed.

I have the Hotshot80 and I expect the 150 will have the same mounting system. It came with a plastic mount that can be attached to either the seat tube or seat stay and is screwed on. The light itself then snaps into the mount and can be quickly removed by holding a tab that keeps it in place.

I have the 150 and its what you say. Not a rubber mount. The light is very bright even in daylight as I rode it this weekend with plenty of sunshine.

Does anyone know if it will work with Cygolite's rack mount?

Edit, Cygolite support says the Hotshot Pro 150 will work with the existing Hotshot rack mount.

I got the cygo150, and tested it against the solas30 around sunset. About 150 feet away, the cygo is clearly brighter, with a much larger circle of light. The difference is more pronounced the farther away you are. The closer you are, the less noticeable the difference. Any driver will be able to see you at least a football field's length away.

Unfortunately, the 150's side lighting is mediocre. Clearly inferior to the solas30's. I haven't had a chance to do any daytime testing, but I expect the 150, again, to be superior straight on, and inferior from the sides.

I don't know if there are multiple brightness levels in flash mode. There is not. There are multiple brightness levels in steady mode.

Three mounts: chain stay, seat post, saddlebag.

Solid light, great on axis, mediocre or a bit worse off. Will give a rating after testing during the day.

I'd prefer a solas150; assuming the side lighting will be better, and on axis lighting very similar. It's too bad cygo can't get their side lighting sorted.

According to Cygolite it comes with a helmet mount as well, is this not true?

The side lighting I don't understand that either, Cygolite made their Metro headlight with side illumination, so they understand the benefits of having side lighting yet they can't seem to put that into their rear lights.

Niterider seems to make a really reliable head light yet their tail lights don's seem to hold up as well as Cygolite's, according a review on Amazon for the Solas 150 there's already been one issue of one that stopped working after just 10 days, sure it will be warrantied but the warrantied one was also defective, so quality control is suspect. The Solas Sentinel is also not very good, the laser lane marker is so dim it can barely be seen, which would be the case because if it was very bright it would burn the battery fast, by fast I mean within 15 minutes!, so it's a complete waste of money. I know this 15 minute thing is an estimate and that time is based on someone I know who hot rodded a laser pointer and he gets about 15 minutes of burn time, and that's putting the laser into just a pinpoint of light not a more power demanding double line.

Actually the Hotshot 150 is designed to be seen from the side. The lamp body is translucent and uses what Cygolite calls, "specially treated internal body that disperses a radiant glow". Previous original Hotshot was not near as visible from the sides as the new 150. Still the "internal glow" only works when using the steady modes. Max output on steady mode is 90lm ( according to Cygolite ). The highest (150 lm ) output is only obtained from some of the flash modes. I measured the "Steady with pulse" mode and found the steady is about half of max, while the pulse hits the highest output levels. "Steady with pulse" is my "Go to" mode, ~ 70 lm steady with 150 lm pulses that are adjustable for timing. Should get about 5-6 hrs in this mode.

In my review of the Solas 150; I filmed it side by side with a Hotshot PRO 80. Directly behind;
the PRO 80 seems even brighter than the Solas 150. But at the sides; the Solas is much brighter.
28 second mark:
https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8560/2...4d85e44688.jpgBrooklyn Bike Rave by 1nterceptor, on Flickr