I have had these lights for about 5-6 years and used them all year long rain snow you name it. This is why they are mounted on the front grill of the local EMS/fire service, they can switch them off when they get a new vehicle and can operate in all weather.

I've been using a Dinotte 140 as my primary taillight for many years. When I got it, it was about the brightest available. Altho there are brighter lights now, my Dinotte 140 is still working and I can't justify the expense for replacing it. My Dinotte is bright enough to be visible in daylight and is crazy bright in the dark. It is like having a red headlight on the back of my bike.

That said, it has a few drawbacks. It has a separate battery pack with 4AA cells, which will hold a charge about 3-4 days (7.5-10 hours). The Velcro strap that holds the battery case has worn out, so I have to carry it in my seat or rack bag, which it barely reaches. I can get a replacement from Dinotte but it's not worth cost. The 140 is designed to mount to a seatpost with no other options provided by Dinotte. I have rigged up an alternative mounting since my seat and rack bags block my seat post. I have constructed mounts using 1" PVC pipe screwed to the rack mounts on the seat stays of my bikes, and I attach the Dinotte tail light to the pipes similar to how they mount to seatposts.

I probably should replace my 140 with a Dinotte 300-400, and they will give me a $30 trade-in discount, but just don't feel like spending that much on another tail light because LED lights have been improving so much. My ideal tail light would have the following features:

- Brighter than standard blinkies such as Superflash, Radbot, etc.
- Decent visibility from the sides.
- Rechargeable with USB fittings.
- Battery life that would last at least 10 hours between charges.
- Attachable to a Tubus rear rack or with Planet Bike mounts.
- Fittings so light could attach to seat stays if needed.
- Cost less than $100, preferably under $50.

So far, I haven't found a light that meets those specs. The Cygolite comes close but doesn't fit Planet Bike mounts, and apparently its side visibility is not so great.

Currently I have a couple bikes set up to deal with having to share roads with cars. Both combine a 3W amber light on either side of the rear with a pair of TL-200's clipped side by side on the back of an Arlel rack bag. The amber lights have shaped beams and paint the road behind the bike. I run those day and night and just add in the TL-200's after dark.

On the touring bike a custom installation adds them to the back of a Thule rack. On the fat bike they're mounted at axle level which has the added benifit of lighting up the rear wheel. Although the lights themselves aren't all that visible from the sides - the road surface and wheel area they paint yellow definitely catches the attention of motorists and they give me lots of room.

Lipo batteries will hold their charge for a month, NiMh for 30 days and alcaline for years. Personally I like packs I can plug in and swap out.

I had a Dinotte 140R a few years ago. It's not any brighter than several lights I have now though.

For that level of brightness (which really is quite good) I think the way to go is a Magicshine - for $30 with a Y adapter and hook it to the same battery that my headlights use, it's absolutely unbeatable value for money. I've been using the MagicShine on and off for 3 or 4 years now. I don't seem to be able to settle on one light package, I like to move the lights around.

I was just reading the manual for the Designshine taillight which should be showing up at my house tomorrow. All I can say is, I'm glad it has many brightness levels available. It has warnings like "do not shine the light at your skin at close distance (1/8") - the light is bright enough to burn your skin."

They have a chart of power levels that should absolutely only ever be used in the daytime.

Really serious head light
 

still a work in progress though, not perfected

Probably not quite there yet in terms of feature set yet - although close. For example, on paper, the Lupine Rotlicht hits a number of these bullets but is $125. So to get to this at <$100 is probably another 6 months. To get to <$50 is probably another year to 18 months. At least that's my guess.

J.

IMHO, the weakest link for almost all tail-lights is the mounting system. I absolutely do not understand why manufacturers find this so difficult to address. Nearly all tail-lights are designed to mount to seatposts, which is useless for most cyclists who use a seatbag or racktop bag. This is baffling to me because I would think that commuters and tourers would be among those most likely to buy a really nice, powerful taillight -- and many or most of them would not be able to mount a light to their seatposts. Even if not commuting or touring, many cyclists use saddlebags that block their posts.

Dinotte seems to be the only light manufacturer who has addressed this issue, and they provide a range of different mounting options for their 300-400 series taillights. However, the one mount they seem to be missing is one that would attach to the back of a rear rack, which would be my preferred location for a powerful taillight.

Also Nightflux with their Redzone 4 and 8. Very flexible mounting system using a velcro strap.

J.

Good points. Can you show us Dinotte mounts?

What do you think is a good mounting system? The bike shares of Citibike in NYC have tail lights on both seat stays, down near the rear axle. They're pretty low, but I think they work well enough. Maybe this should be the new direction, at least for bikes without fenders.

Also, it would be nice if tail lights had fender mounts as options.

The eight clamp options provided with the Quad Taillight - for different sizes or shapes of seat posts and seat stays - are similar to what I got a few years ago with my 300R. I've mounted the 300 on the seat stay or on the lowest exposed part of the seat post (after I found an accommodating seat bag). I don't use the "clip" mount; I use the four-screw mount so if I want to leave the 300 behind I would need to unscrew the seat post clamp.

The DesignShine seems to have a very robust mount system - I particularly like the fact that when you install the light on the bracket, it prevents the quick release from flipping up, and to release the light from the bracket you have to depress a plunger on the side.

It does only have bar mount options, but I have no problems fabricating other mounts since it has threaded screw holes on the unit, I can make whatever bracket I need and screw the light to it.

I was wondering about the Nightflux lights but their website doesn't really show how the mounting system works. It "looks" like it would be easy to mount to a rack, but it's hard to tell from their photos and descriptions. Also, their website doesn't really explain the differences between their 4 and 8 models, or I missed it.

First run with my DesignShine light this morning. Extremely pleased. It has modes that I think are very effective at night, and some truly frightening modes for daytime use that I haven't tried yet.

It's hard to tell for certain because were already days when everyone passed me wide, but today everyone did definitely pass me wide. I actually had to pull over a couple of times on the ride this morning because my 10 second rule was invoked (if anyone is behind me for > 10 seconds I stop and let them by. This morning I had a guy in a van behind me for > 10 seconds, even though there was no oncoming traffic in a 50 MPH zone with clear roads. I pulled over and he crept by me very slowly. Shrug.).

The design is superb, the mounting excellent, the programmability is great; you can even program your own flash patterns if you like, though what it comes with is pretty good.

I am totally happy with what I got for my > $200. Well worth the money, an excellent design.

It'll be a year before I ride it on the road from hell, then we'll really see it it's worth it.

Ten Wheels and I and other riders in our group have the Dinotte 140R's. I don't think that you can get much brighter. I know that they are brighter than a cars brake lights! The newer version has two LEDs for a little more umph.

The 140R is not that bright. OK, it's plenty bright, but it's nowhere near the brightest thing on the market. It's supposedly around 140 lumens. The Dinotte 400R is 400 lumens. The DesignShine DS-500 is 800 lumens - 5 times brighter than the 140R.

The DS-500 would be really quite dangerous to run in brightest modes at night. It lights up an entire room bright enough to read by. The top modes are only intended for daytime riding.

My 140s are as Bright as ANY Out There..

Here They are with the Evening Sun

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...dlights039.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...dlights021.jpg

This is a 2012 comparison that I think shows the Design Shine is indeed brighter than the 140.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDt1x_0cvUo

Poor Test...Do one from 1/2 mile back from the lights in The Day Light on a real road.

I am with 10W! I have been able to see the light at 1/2 mile in the daylight on the highway.

Wow, that's what serious tail lights mean, huh? I guess I'm not serious enough, but I'm OK with that.

You're not even making any sense. You're saying that the Dinotte 140 is as bright as the Dinotte 400R? Then why do they even sell the 400R?

You're saying that at 3 watts, it's somehow as bright as the 400R at 8 watts or the DS-500 at 10 watts?

This is some kind of miracle of physics. You should do a scientific paper on them if they're making 10 watts worth of light while drawing 3 watts. I think they may be exceeding 100% efficiency, you may have solved the energy crisis.

Where did you get a 140R that has a 10W driver? AFAIK the 140R uses a 3 watt driver.

It's a single driver, yes? AFAIK the largest single drivers you can even buy are 5 watts.

10Wheels.

Busch And Muller Taillights use a fresnel lens to spread out the light from 2 LED's to have a Bright Light in a line and light up the rest of the surface as well .

Here's the Battery model Busch & Müller: TOPLIGHT Line

I use the Dynamo One..

I also use their 4D toplight senso Plus on another bike , the whole great big red Lens lights up with those 4 LEDs





;)

Reflective Tape is cheap and effective, especially for cars approaching from the side.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=435689

Very effective. I recently put it on my mittens, making arrow shapes to serve as turn signals. :lol:

yes, and I already have a ton of it.

It doesn't accomplish what I need for this situation though. What I need: Something that is not just visible, and is not just attention getting. I need something that will pick drivers up by the collar and b*+ch-slap them halfway into the ditch. That seems to be about the only way to actually get their attention.

I've got a DS500. If that seems inadequate, I will go to a police lighting package. I figure if it looks like there might be a cop up ahead the geniuses might get their nose out of their phones for a few seconds until they figure out what's going on.

Just because they don't see you doesn't mean it was the failure of the tail light to do its job. Drivers are not looking for cyclists. That's the chief reason they don't see us.

A back to Back tandem recumbent with the guy facing back with a some serious Fire power would be the ultimate solution

The' Technical' as seen in Somalia applied to bicycles

Muzzle flash Is a real attention getter..

I once had an entire bicycle frame and rims (irregular banding) covered in 3M Scotchlite reflective sheeting - the reflective material which is printed and applied to LEO vehicles and road signs. Although it was basically "maximum reflectiveness", this still was not as efficacious as a few decent taillights for night use. Reflectors (and most taillights) do very little for daytime bicycling safety. For day safety you need proper fluorescent-dyed lime or orange ANSI safety apparel. I used long sleeve Alertshirts for years, like these. The long sleeves increased visibility and provided some UV/sun protection. You can now buy similar apparel at Walmart or Target.

I find hi-viz apparel alone is not enough for daytime safety. I think it's prudent to supplement with a flashing headlight, like a Magicshine, plus a super-bright flashing taillight, of which all I tried seem inadequate until i got the DesignShine 500. You can certainly get by with multiple inexpensive taillights at night away from high-traffic urban areas, but for day use and some night use you really need a lot of flashing red light - either a Dinotte Daytime Red (DDR) or a DS500.

The DS500 costs more but has nearly infinite adjustment of light intensity and duration (flashing). The DDR is perhaps half as bright as the DS500, and for night use you can't run it in flash mode safely because the light intensity can't be turned down on flash. You can operate the DDR in continuous mode at 25, 50 or 100% output, but only in 100% output in one of three flash patterns. So basically you can't flash the DDR at night because it's too darn bright. I suppose you could point it downwards instead of straight back. Between these two taillights, I think most would rather pay another 10-20$ for the DS500 and have the option of about twice the output of the DDR for improved day use with the control capability to turn it down both intensity and duration-wise to suit night time needs.

If you haven't noticed, the latest trend in marketing cars and trucks is to include a small (or not-so-small) central console touch-sensitive computer screen to integrate lots of control functions such as hvac/nav sys/audio sys/cell phone. They're also starting to put HUDs in vehicles, so the motorist has their speed/outdoor temp/nav directions displayed almost directly in their line-of-sight on the windshield. This means before long all motorists will be as highly distracted as LEOs are now with their laptops 2 feet away glaring in their eyes, destroying their night vision and clearly distracted from the primary task of driving safely. I think bicyclists will need brighter, flashier taillights (i.e. Really Serious Taillights) in the future to have any chance of capturing some of the attention of the motorist in their ever-more-distracted state. Reflective tape and $25/50 lumen taillights are not going to do the job on roads with speed limits above 25 mph.