socalrider

Has anyone tried one of these powerflares, they look super bright.. It looks you have to use a caribiner to attach to seatpack.. I am worried that the weight will eventually pull the tab off the back of the seatpack I use, especially at 7 ounces in weight..

10 Wheels

PBSF is the best for its price.
Dinotte is What you Really Want to Be Safe.
You can try the Power Flare.
Let us know.

I just watched the Boring Video.
The powerflares don't seem very bright to me. How would ypou mount one?
Some sites now sell the PBSF for $18.
Two of the PBSF is a good deal.

socalrider

I use the superflash, but that powerflare is just crazy bright and uses cr123 batteries, no external pack is nice..

here is a video of a couple of the modes

YouTube - Red LED Fast Blink
YouTube - Red LED Rotate
YouTube - Red LED Quad Blink

Wildcatnj

The niterider cherry bomb seems like an interesting alternative, although I do not own one. https://www.niterider.com/prod_cherrybomb.shtml

tdister

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dclaryjr

I first heard about these because someone posted a report on r.b.m. from a trip to Interbike. You would think if they were going to push this at a cycling trade show, they would come up with a mounting system better that just hanging it. It appears that they did at one time from this web page:

https://pfdistributioncenter.com/inde...on=Custom&ID=2'

I inquired about that mount pictured on the page and they said it was an old picture, and that they didn't have that anymore. The other thing that webpage says is that is it visible during the daytime. It is an interesting possibility.

dclaryjr

I got a pleasant surprise today--the Vetta showed up (I wasn't expecting it till after Christmas). What a steal at $26...I think it's still a good deal at $50. It came with four alkalines so I fired it up here at work and that thing is damn bright!!! It appears to be well constructed, and comes with three different straps for mounting the battery pack. According to the package it will run 30 hours on high mode, and 120 on low or flashing. I think my setup will now be the Vetta on steady, the Niterider flashing, and the PBSF flashing attached to my helmet. Once my P7 arrives from HK, it will go on the handlebars with my Romisen in the helmet mount. I think I'll be set for awhile!

dekindy

[QUOTE=dclaryjr;8067609]I ordered mine from Amazon.com on the 19th and it got here today via USPS. It was not supposed to come until the 26th.

Man it is bright and lots of mounting options. I might put it on low steady and it will be bright enough. A steal at $26.

Amazon indicated 4 hours on high and 8 hours on low so I was pleasantly surprised to see the longer run times.

dclaryjr

Well, if I was impressed in the office...I'm much more impressed after firing this thing up in the back yard. I'm going to use it with two other lights but I'd feel perfectly safe running this thing alone. At the current Amazon price, this is a definite candidate to fulfill the OP's quest.

T Waldo

I know what you mean. Even on low mode I would say it puts out more light than a PBSF.

I'm glad that you and dekindy like it! When you make a recommendation, you always run the risk of setting expectations too high. (This one was really a sleeper, though, so maybe there's no danger of that.) But I'm still puzzled as to why we had never heard of it.

dclaryjr

Well, not in this case---you done good! My only regret is not buying two at the $26 price!

tdister

If anyone can take beamshots, one against a white wall, comparing it to the intensity and spread of the PBSF, would be most appreciated.

dclaryjr

All I have is a crappy old 3.2 mp point and shoot camera--don't know how well that would work. I might be able to take some video with my movie camera and post that--that way you'd see the effect of the PBSF in strobe mode. I'll see if I can get it done. BTW, Amazon was showing just one left in stock a couple hours ago.

tdister

Thanks for the offer, I already have a superflash which I run steady most of the time.

The beam of the PBSF is fairly round and decently wide, just wondering how this one compares. The reason I half retired my cateye 1100 is that the vertical coverage is very poor.

dekindy

This thing has 4 not 2, AA not AAA batteries, and 20 LED's. Think about comparing it to the Dinotte, not a PBSF. I am anxious to compare it to my buddy's Li-ion Endurance Series Dinotte. It is probably not that bright but it is the in between light that riders need.

It makes my MARS 2.0 look anemic. There is just no comparison. Even on low it makes the MARS irrelevant. On bright it may be too bright for group riding. I think I would rather have a Dinotte if the Vetta was at $75 normal retail. At $26 it was a steal. Now that I have seen it I would pay the $52 it is currently selling for and not think twice because of it's brightness and much longer runtime than the Dinotte. I guess there is no long term experience with this light but it looks sturdy enough for me. It even has a holder to keep the battery cap attached to the battery holder to keep it from getting lost while you are changing batteries. That is convenience. You can see it in this picture. It is the bulge on the right side of the battery case as it appears horizontally. At first I thought that was a bracket or strap attachment.

https://vetta.com/productpic/lights/T..._flat_pack.jpg

The Vetta says that it has 220 degree coverage which I am not sure of. The beam it puts out is very wide and bright there is no denying that. This light at $50 would set the standard for tail lights unless the Dinotte Pro Series comes down in price. I will still keep my Mars on pattern for redundancy and my PBSF Blinky 3H on my helmet for up high visibility in city traffic.

JeffS

I definitely wouldn't go that far.

The thing is, the flash pattern is what makes the PBSF a good light. I would never recommend it to someone who wanted to run a light in solid mode. The Vetta has a poor flash mode, definitely a light that should only be run in solid mode. As such, I wouldn't consider them comparable lights at all. Both very functional, but not fulfilling the same needs.

I will try to take shots of all three when I get some fresh batteries for the superflash.

If anyone out there is regretting not buying the Vetta at around $30, let me know and I'll hook you up with mine... not because anything's wrong with it, but because i just don't need another light. I bought one out of curiosity. It's just not worth the hassle of trying to get this and the Dinotte mounted on the same bike.

dclaryjr

I'll go along with that assessment. I much prefer the flashing mode on my NiteRider than the one on the Vetta.

steveknight

I would have gotten one but the Amazon indicated 4 hours on high and 8 hours on low so I was pleasantly surprised to see the longer run times. put me off.

dekindy

I disagree on the flash mode. I think the slower pace flash is more appropriate for the Vetta's larger surface area of 20 LED's versus the PBSF's 3 LED's. My routes are in rural farm areas and IMHO the Vetta is more likely to be perceived as a light on a large, slow moving farm vehicle instead of a bicycle hopefully causing cars to slow down more and give us a wider berth. It is interesting that Dinotte chose a slow pulse as the default for their tail light.

It would be nice if the Vetta had 6 instead of only 3 modes to give users more choices. High steady, high fast flash, high slow flash, low steady, low fast flash, low slow flash so users could pick the one they feel is the most effective. However for my purposes, high steady for solo and low steady or low flashing for group rides is is just fine with me.

I am going to be gone for a few days so I will try and compare my MARS 3.0 and Cateye TDL600 to the Vetta and give MHO when I get back. Sorry that I don't have a PBSF. One guy in our group is a veteran night rider and has a PBSF so I will give his and my opinion on that comparison. The weather is supposed to clear up here next week so I hope to get out for a night ride on Tuesday. If he does not ride I will stop by my other buddy's house and compare his PBSF.

I value short distance visibility of the larger surface area of the Vetta versus the piercing single LED of the PBSF and longer distance visibility. Would that account for the difference of our opinions on the flash mode?

dekindy

I thought this at first but decided since my longest night ride is 2 hours that it would not be a problem to throw the batteries in the charger after every ride. The battery compartment is easily accessed unlike the MARS models that require a screwdriver and have multiple screws. The Vetta also conveniently holds the battery cap on the battery case so it will not get lost.

dclaryjr

Could be. I just didn't think that slow flash was as attention getting at the NiteRider (or the PBSF) but your point of view may be perfectly valid. But if you are running multiple devices, to me it's a no brainer to run the Vetta steady. And I'm putting that sucker on high!!!

wrobertdavis

For me, there is a lot more to Dinotte light than just brightness. They use metal housings, o-ring seals, and extremely high quality cables and connectors. I appreciate this more and more when I compare it to the other commercial quality items like Cateye. DIY is woefully short when it comes to being water proof and vibration resistant with top quality connectors with bike specific mounts.

Bob

mrbubbles

DIY can exceed commercial quality. In brightness and quality of construction.

Here's an example. This light has better heating dissipation than any light on the market. I can show you a few more from others.

wrobertdavis

Thanks, I'm interested. What are you doing for battery, battery mounts, and connectors? What kind of mount is that? It looks small for a handlebar mount. What about helmet mounts?

Bob

10 Wheels

What is the Blue and Red Thing in the last pic?
Thanks