There is this new tailight thing that I've never seen before but the concept sounds interesting though. Two problems that I thought of right away was that the tailight itself was not bright at all, and how long would the batteries last?

See: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-...?tag=mncol;txt

I figured you were talking about the light lane. Every time someone puts up a thread about that thing, I mention that I figure it will cost more than a Donotte, and have much less of an effect. Bike lanes don't work in the best conditions, I see no reason to expect a couple of lines on the ground to have any effect at night.

That was my first thought too, but then my mind began to think about some cars I've seen that use UV light to cast a light beam onto the road the length of the car, at night you see this pretty good. Same with red laser pointer light, at night you can see it a long ways off. So I'm thinking if you can see a uv light pretty good would a laser with more pronounced lines show up better and would the green be more pronounced then the red in a pointer? I can't answer that because I've never see the effect that BikeLane is doing at night.

DX have just added a red XP LED drop-in module that fits the SKU 20333 torch
So $9.90 for the torch plus $8.34 for the 5-mode 90 lumen red module and you get Hi 90-Lumen, Mid 60-Lumen, Lo 20-Lumen, Fast Strobe 80-Lumen and SOS 80-Lumen plus the original module as a spare.
$18.24 (plus an 18650 cell that most people already have) seems pretty good value to me.

Since I just sent back 2 more dinotte 140ls (I've already sent back 2-3) for repair I think I"ll give that a go. Even if just for backup. Maybe I can tie it into my 4P 18650 pack for my front light and it'll be easier to use. Rather have a slow low/high strobe but for 18 bucks..

nice find!!!

I saw a Dinotte tail light the other day, and its brightness is in a whole other league that the Planetbike. But the Planetbike one will probably be sufficient for most people's uses. Mine has lasted me over a year on the same batteries. Highly recommended.

yeah i saw a recumbant with a dinotte. it was ungodly bright.

probably about the same with the ultrafire... i'll probably try the ultrafire. i work at a hardware store so i'll probably be able to make a mounting solution that is better than the dx ones. not happy with my universal holder i got with the p7. probably.

Looks good but will the two work together? The torch switch appears to be on-off. How would the module switch modes with an on-off switch? My multi-mode MTE torch has a soft touch that switches modes in addition to the 'click' on/off.

You might want to wait until others have reviewed this as DX's specs are often wrong. I just received a drop-in from DX that was listed as being 3.7v-to 4.2v, but arrived being 8.4v. Then the LED actually fell off of the drop-in as I was looking at it. :notamused: Urgh.

The operation of mode switching is pretty standard. If you switch it off then on quickly it swaps to the next mode. Some have a switch that breaks connection with a soft press which is more convenient, but it isn't essential. Actually in some ways they can be less desirable as they can switch modes when jolted if the button is part pressed by the silicon cap. I had a torch that did this, but removing part of the silicon cap centre pip cured it

what about this from DX?
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.20333

Nice - but not a flasher
 

Not a flasher. I'd prefer the module referred to a couple of posts earlier matched with a 'zoom' torch like this one --

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.14450

I don't think a standard module will fit in that torch

Got mine; the Cree drop-in works. See thread.

Red lights.....no siren!
 

Me too.............I use a Blackburn 4.0 right under the 140 Dinotte. I put both on flash. The flash rates for both units are such that the Blackburn gives around four or five respectable flashes, then the Dinotte fills in with one super burst. I find it very effective for daytime riding. At night I simply point the 140 down a bit.

http://vetta.com/product_show.asp?ptype=whole&id=60

I have this and find it to be extremely bright and cost-effective. Only the Dinotte is brighter. 4 not 2 batteries and AA's not AAA's and 20 LED's is a lot of light. The slow flash rate gets some criticism but I like it.

FYI, here's a video that I took showing a Planet Bike SuperFlash and a Dinotte 140L on the back, and a MagicShine light up front. Note that by the time I turn around, probably 200 feet down the road, you really can't see the PBSF anymore because it's totally swamped by the Dinotte.

Also, note that the Dinotte that takes AA rechargables is often on sale for $100 or so if you supply your own batteries. It's $120 normally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI52d5bGKHQ

Here is My test:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=509519

The Planet Bike Super Flash is a Very Good Night Tail Light.
Five bikes in this Video have PBSF, but you do need to keep fresh batteries in them:

Some of my group rides trikes and I reccomended that they get the Dinotte for daytime visibility. On the "strobe" setting it is eyecatching and bright enough to stand out in broad daylight. It is also still bright when viewed at an angle where the Planet Bike loses effectiveness.
I don't see a need for one that is twice as bright.

my k2 red WF501B's just came in and they're silly bright. i'll figure out a mounting solution and post results.

Ok I have two bell blinking red leds tail lights on my bike and thought they were good
There is no way that I can afore the Dinotte lights I have seen videos on super flash and thought
That they were very bright Looking at the niterider cherry bomb and for what I have read that is very good also but at a lot less price SO do I stick with the bell lamps, go with super flash, or the cherry bomb
The super flash and cherry bomb can be had for about 25 bucks the dinotte light is over 140 bucks and there is no way I can swing it I just got the Magic shine so I am taped out for now. On a fixed income SUCKS

You can almost flip a coin between the SF and CB since their main LED is the same wattage. Due to their different optics, the Cherry Bomb gets a little better dispersion side-to-side, but the Superflash gets good distance.

Whichever one you get, mount it on the bike and aim it level to the rear so that it doesn't point at the sky or the ground. You could afford to point it a little to the side to hit drivers better, but don't go so far that you lose rearward visibility; use a wall when aiming to make sure that you still get plenty of light directly along the bike's centerline.

I have both the SF and the Blackburn Mars 4.0. I've found that the Mars is brighter which makes it more noticeably visible for daytime riding. For nighttime riding they both are plenty visible.