Dinotte Taillight
 

So Santa was good to me and I got a new Dinotte taillight. Which mode do you use it in? Solid or flash? What sort of battery life do you get for the AA version?

Solid on low normally. But I bump it up to high if I''m on a busy road.
Google "moth effect".

I run mine in the "low with a twice a second flash to bright" mode day and night.

I run in low steady when riding with others. I get over 7 hours using NiMH.

I run mine on steady low, bumping it up higher in traffic or rainy conditions.

Also google 'urban myth' while you are at it......

"Fast flash" mode...day and night.

A steady light could be mis-identified as a stationary light source near to, but not in, the roadway.

The fast flash mode is more noticeable, and more likely to be interpreted as a bicycle (if not a UFO or police car...which is OK too :D).

Steady light with strobe.

Strobe mode (6-pulse). The "moth effect" has never been evident in my years of riding the highway while watching overtaking traffic in my helmet mirror... quite the opposite, in fact. So don't fret about that :) Strobe is more noticable, sends the "NOT-car" signal, and extends your battery life.

I did a test on the different modes.
4 lane road, no shoulder with curbs.
Speed limit 45 mph.
I ride at 15 mph. I ride this road 12 times a week.

The Five Strobe Flash with Pause, causes traffic
to move Left Sooner and Further away from the bike.
Run Time 6.0 hours.

The One Second Flash works with less effect. Traffic moves over later and not as far.
Run time 12.0 hours.

solo , blinking (but not that slow blink) 5-6 hours
group. slow blink, like one blink every few seconds, over 6 hours.

I try to swap batteries regardless about 4-5 hours to be safe.

1 second flash during the day and medium steady at night.

Seems to get the right amount of attention for me.

When I used the strobe mode at night, I found that cars were pulling over and stopping for me. I guess hey thought I was an emergency vehicle.

This seemed, perhaps, to be more attention than I wanted, so I settled on the "dim with a bright flash twice a second" mode.

Say what? what are yall talking about ,excuse me for asking, i thought all i need is one of this from Walmart,made by Bell,is that good or what,it has 6 mode using 4 AAA batteries,been running for over 150 hrs .OOOPS sorry, 2 AAA batteries.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u...2/DSC_3633.jpg

Here's an experiment for you. Park your car on the street tonight and turn on the headlights. Put your taillight on the hood of your car and then walk a block up the road and see if your taillight is visible over the glare of your headlights. No? Then you are invisible to overtaking cars when there is traffic approaching from the front.

Something to think about.

Lowe's $16
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...ayTailLite.jpg

Nice pic Turn the Light on.
Dinotte $105

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...Dinotteone.jpg

Good Test Thanks.
Head Light compared to cars.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...elights006.jpg

It's a taillight. You're saying people behind you were pulling over and stopping for you? I don't remember seeing that effect, even with a *real* emergency-vehicle strobe aimed rearwards (Nova BULL). People don't usually pull over and stop for emergency vehicles that are ahead of them.

I did about 20 miles on the highways this morning in conditions like this (heavy snow plus fog with ~1/2 mile visibility). It was definitely a good day to be packing the Nova. The DiNotte 140 would be my second choice.

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...n/IMG_0018.jpg

The Dinotte taillight causes a large area to be brightly illuminated with red light. Vehicles approaching head on (from the front) see the loom of the tail light and pull over. It's happened to me numerous times.

Here's some pictures I fouond on the web that may help explain. I hope the owner doesn't mind my linking to them.

http://www.pbase.com/colorchange/general&page=3

For the last two winters of daily commuting I've been running a DiNotte 140L in "fast flash" mode, plus a PB Superflash in its flash mode...and I've never seen a car pull over and stop thinking that I was an emergency vehicle.

Perhaps the drunk drivers in Utah are a bit more skittish and inexperienced than drunk drivers in the rest of the country :roflmao2:.

Or perhaps they think you're a "bike cop"?

Whichever, your experience appears to be unique to your situation.

Well, whatever the reason for the behavior, that's why I don't use the strobe mode. The Dinotte light gets attention!

That's a lot of info on the light for me but however, not many answers on the AA batteries, i am in need to purchase their 140L-AA-R model but i only ride about one hour each day, their website said the light will not work good with regular alkaline batteries,not sure as to why. My questions is, for the cost factor in long term,which battery options i should consider for the distance i ride each day? Thanks in advance.

I'm with SSP, never seen that effect. You can see the wake of the Nova in the second half of this video (at about 2:20)... very powerful, but oncoming traffic has never pulled over & stopped for it. The video also illustrates one reason that I value long-range detection :thumb:

Use rechargable NiMH AAs.

Dude....that is so effing hard core!! :beer: :beer: (sorry, no hot chocolate or Irish coffee smilies).