OK, tks, that was good info.

But does the 180 come with a helmet mount?

So, steady with pulse gives you best of both worlds? Highest output during pulse, and better side lighting with steady?

The side lighting is not what I had hoped for, but at $40 shipped with tax, I still find it to be a pretty sweet deal.

It looks like you'll need to trade off on axis vs. off axis lighting, unless of course, you decide to use both the solas and pro on the same bike.

Cygolite 150 definitely does not include a helmet mount.

^ In fact two of any decent taillights angled toward left and right at 45 degrees or so likely have better side visibility than the side visibility of one expensive taillight facing straight backward.

Btw noticed all the light descriptions at Cygolite have this footnote: "*Features and specs are subject to change without notice.":rolleyes:

Yep, pretty much in my opinion. If you want more side light you might have to go with the Solas 150 although once again there is going to be a trade off likely. My school of thought on using rear lighting is to use a lamp that gets you seen at distance. The more intense the throw the sooner it may draw attention from motorists at a distance. Anything else it provides is icing on the cake. Of course if you use more than one rear light ( which I do ) you can use two different types. I use the "thrower" ( Cygolite 150 ) on the seat post and a wider beam pattern lamp coming off the helmet. Now if you use side lighting on your frame or use wheel lights then you don't have a pressing need for more side lighting. Some people just like the super bright omni directional rear lights because they are so bright from the sides. I run wheel lights and a helmet light so I don't feel the need for a rear lamp that emits a lot of side light. I will make one thing clear though; No matter how good you think your lights are there is always going to be some numbskull trying to rush through a light who will act as though they don't see you. Be careful at night and ride defensively. More light is better but it is not a guarantee that everyone is going to see you.

I'd rather have the light throwing behind me than to the sides. At a certain point side visibility just ends up "throwing away" light IMO. That said, the Hotshots I've seen out in the wild have incredibly narrow beams so I'm hoping the Pro 150 is wider. My Axiom Pulse 60 beam pattern is plenty wide for traffic approaching from the rear. My friend was testing my e-bike on the street and I could easily see the Axiom from the sidewalk 20-30 degrees off-axis.

For me, the torture test for any rear light is how visible in bright/direct sunlight. If it washes out in those conditions it's not doing its job IMO.

I did a quick and dirty test midday. Which tends to confirm my sunset testing: the cygo15o, as expected, is far brighter than the solas30. At least on axis. From the side, in just about every setting, the cygo remains a noticeably inferior performer. It's not a huge gap, but it's easily noticeable.

The side light performance gap is puzzling, and disappointing, since this is cygo's top of the line tail light, and also because cygo has promised to deliver better side lighting performance.

It seems as if there is something about the cygo tail light housing which is responsible for this performance deficit? The solas has "smooth" sides with a few horizontal-ish ridges. The cygo's side casing encompasses the light in a semi-circular case, which may focus the light forward.

With cygo and solas, you can't get the best of both worlds. You either get superior on axis performance, or significantly better off axis lighting.

I'm now curious about a/bing the solas150 with the cygo150, although quite frankly, it'd be easier on my wallet and more convenient if someone else did.

Unfortunately, I can't really give the cygo150 better than a B rating. It's great straight on, and pretty mediocre and unimpressive off axis/to the side. At the price I paid, I suppose a B+ might be warranted.

What mount do you use for either tail light on your helmet? I've tried using a cree flashlight front of the helmet, but the weight is quite bothersome. I'd want a much lighter headlight as well. The magic shine clones are an option, but then I'd have to stow the batter in a jersey pocket, and it's likely the sweat would destroy that thing in just a few rides.

I agree, simply angling out the tail lights would provide far more side illumination than any tail light currently on the market, even if you didn't go that extreme of an angle and placed them at 20 degrees you would still do a lot better from the side plus cover the rear in a swath of light.

Most people don't want to bother with two tail lights.

That is probably true, however in my 40 years of riding a bike and driving a car at night it is the person with two or more tail lights, even if the two or more are dimmer than one brighter one, the two or more system is more readily seen and it gives the bike a larger profile appearance. What I use to do when I had 3 tail lights was put one on each stay and one on the helmet which gave it sort of a triangle look, but now that I'm using just two I put one on the helmet and one on the seat tube. I think by having one up a bit higher by putting it on the helmet it gets your light a bit higher off the ground, kind of like those third tail lights cars have, which motorists tend to see a bit better. I think there is a reason cars have two and three tail lights, instead of just one in the center of the rear of the car, and I think it's a reason that would be wisely heeded by cyclists.

As far as a steady vs flashing light, I don't know, I do know that a European study showed that steady light was better than a flashing light because it enabled a motorist to better ascertain their distance from the bicycle, BUT, a USA/Canadian study showed a flashing light was better because it attracted the attention of the motorist. So my response to those two studies was to have both, one flashing and one steady. But please note, I've been riding for over 40 years and few of those years all I had was a reflector then when lights came out I had a really dim tail light that I don't think anyone could see! then I went to a xenon flasher about 20 years ago which I still use! Except I converted it to a amber flasher and put it on the front of my touring bike in place of a stock white reflector that was on the bike. When that xenon flasher had the red lens on it it still wasn't very bright but I used it for many years on the rear till I got my first LED tail light. In all of those years from nothing but a reflector to now having a 70 lumen tail light I've never even had a close call of someone hitting me from the rear, so I kind of think getting hit from behind by a car is rare, and I bet most of the time when a motorist does do that it's because they're drunk or stoned.

The steady/pulse and steady/strobe mode on my Dinotte 300R are probably my favorite feature. The pulse/strobe draws the driver's eyes to you and the steady light allows them to quickly 'find' you and track your movement.

My anecdotal observation is that during the day in direct sunlight a bright flashing rear light stands out much more than a steady light. At night the combination of a good light on steady and a cheap flasher works best. At night I think reflective gear is as important as lighting. Especially reflective ankle bands moving up/down as you pedal which make it easy for drivers to identify that you're a cyclist. I do like those wheel lights but don't run them on my e-bike for fear of theft.

Quite frankly, using any halfway decent tail light puts you ahead of 80% of the cyclists I see on the road (who run little to no lighting.)

I pretty much find that any functional light at night is better than nothing. Much better. I've nearly run over several cyclists who insist on riding at night with no lights, no reflectors and black or dark clothing.

I'm a little disappointed with this latest/greatest cygo150. I thought it would be a quantum leap ahead in all regards. And while it is true that on axis lighting is clearly superior to a 30 lumens solas, this 5X advantage in lighting actually generates inferior results from the side!

This seems like a design failure, considering the disparity in lumens. Perhaps it speaks to the quality of niterider, but I was surely expecting a superior product all around.

In my case I usually use 2 or 3 taillights at night. The increased visibility of multiple taillights is not only due to the number of LEDs, but also the distance between the lights.

The studies I read were all nighttime studies, which I know those studies were done before the advent of high powered LED lights, it would be interesting if those studies were repeated what the outcome would be because in some places in Europe flashing lights are prohibited because of those studies yet in the daytime with newer brighter lights a flashing light would be effective but those countries riders won't be able to use them in flash mode. I do use my brightest tail light in the daytime on pulse mode (it doesn't have a flash mode) only when I have to ride on a busy street, if I'm on a path or a country road I don't bother using it.

Wait till the CREE XHP series comes out by the light manufacturers. I think existing products are 3 volt and the new CREE XHP is made for 6 volt. This will take time.

Just mounted my Cygolite 150 (replacing an older Hotshot) and I have to say... wow. It is an uncomfortable level of brightness. On steady mode, it could almost be used as a headlight. Mine will be used 95% of the time during daylight hours, but man... I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this bright. I don't think off-axis will be an issue. You could see this from the horizon.

I guess I should just keep my cygo150 instead of nitpicking it then?

What people don't realize is that 150 lumens is more lumens than most headlights had just 20 years ago!

I found this web site Extreme Tactical Dynamics. It manufactures lights for vehicles and may not be ready-made for bicycles. It shows what's out there as far as rear lighting. Also some information on watts and lumens conversions

Hornet 6 TIR LED Grille and Surface Mount

http://www.extremetacticaldynamics.c...FUFrfgodeucDGg

So?.What?s a LUMEN?

I just got ours delivered to my daughter. Can't wait to try them out.

Are the micro or mini USB?

Thankfully, the 150 is micro USB, so I can finally oust that last hold-out Mini-USB off of my 5-port charger block.

Just got the Cygolite 80 last month, and those are mini USB. I got the 150s as a second light for us. I might just sell the 80's and go 150 all the way if they are all micro USB.

I went for a ride with the cygo150. I'm very happy with the light. Cars gave me a very wide berth. Totally worth the money.

👍👍

Bad YouTube Link?
 

^^^ above post ^^^

Maybe just me? I keep getting an error code (400) when clicking the '1nterceptor' provided u-tube link.

I just quoted their post. The link is:


I hope this is ok with 1nterceptor.

Thanks, for the prompt response. :thumb::thumb::thumb:
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Just bought a Niterider sentinel 150. Dont know how it compares to others, its bright. As noted everywhere, mount is questionable, but better than expected. Nothing that cant easily be remedied.

*edit: And the rubber usb plug doesent seem like its the most likely to stay seated in its receptacle, although I could be wrong.

I haven't been following this thread, but I'd really suggest including the $19 Blitzu Cyborg 168T. I have a lot of taillights, and once I got that, I made it one of my daily use lights, mounted on the back of my helmet.

The combination of a lot of light, a very wide dispersion pattern and a large lit area make it very conspicuous without being a painful point source of light.

I think it's definitely the taillight to recommend if someone wants a light for < $50.

My only concern is that I have not had it in heavy rain yet. It's seen some water and survived OK.