I also have the Flare R. It's definitely can't be missed. For the front, I am just using a little clear Bontrager Glo headlight. Not sure if it's bright enough to use as an actual headlight but when it starts getting later in the evening...I'll pop it on just so I have a small flasher on the front of my bike. I haven't had it out in the dark yet to see if it would light the road enough to get me home if I got caught out late. I do need to invest in some sort of decent headlight so I can not be too worried about riding late in the evening.
My other taillight is the Cygolite Hotshot SL. It's super bright as well but not as bright as the Flare R. 30 lumen vs 65.
My $.02: If you ride on the road with auto traffic, then "see me" lights really help. The brighter, the better. I have a collection of lights, but the brightest in my collection are Knog Blinder V rechargeable. 40 lumens really can be seen and noticed. I ride a lot of narrow 2 lane roads in southern NH. I've noticed that when I run the Knogs, that drivers seem to give me a wider space when passing. The Knogs are small, light weight, USB rechargeable, and have clever attaching elastic cords which make moving them from bike to charger, and to other bikes very easy. They have 3 settings - high, low, and flashing. I find the most effective setting is flashing.
For this front and rear light discussion...here are my recommendations:
Front Light: CatEye Volt 700 Headlight
Rear Light: CatEye Rapid X2 Tail Light
Both of these lights are extremely bright, USB rechargeable, easy to affix and use, and will be aboard my bike for the DK200.
I chose these 2 lights for the recommendations made by others and they have not disappointed whatsoever in the past 9 months I have been using them. I rode with them with full confidence in their light output and for my safety today at 4:45 am.
I have recommend them to 4 other cyclist friends and they all rave about them as well. I have no financial interest in CatEye...I work in the medical field.
For a tail light I really like the Serfas Thunder Blast USB. It runs for almost 15 hours on low blink.
I have a Serfas TSL-550 USB headlight as well. It will run 9 hours on low, 2 hours at full blast and 7 hours on blinking. I have not picked up the external battery adapter. It comes with both a bar and helmet mount.
Bontrager Flare R rear light has a claimed 23 hour run time on low flash. I run mine on high and have probably 6 hours on it so far without a charge despite only have a claimed 4.25 hour run time on high.
The Bontrager Ion 700 R headlight has run times: 700LM-1.75hrs, 450LM-3hrs, 200LM-6.75hrs, 50LM+ flash-22hrs, irregular strobe-40hrs.
I have tried several headlights and no single one brand stood out for me. However, if you want a tail light that will be seen from a distance on a bright sunny day, the Dinotte is the only one I'll use. There's nothing brighter out there, the quality is top notch, and the battery life is impressive. I've run my light for 12hrs and it still goes. It costs a little more, but I wish I could tell you how many times this light has saved my life, because I'm certain that it has. I've never had a driver not notice the light from behind.
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\nYou can only get the light direct from Dinotte (on line) and I'll warn you that they are not cheap, but well worth the price in my opinion.
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I use a NiteRider Lumina 700 on the front. If I'm riding the road, I mount it on the bars. On trails, I use the helmet strap. For the rear, a NiteRider Cherry Bomb has been working well for me. Takes a pair of AAA batteries that last forever so I don't have to worry about charging it all the time. I tend to use the rear more often than the front.
I know GrannyGear and maybe Ted Guitar did a light review on here. I tried going back thru the archives to find it. It only went back 2-3 pages and then started showing a gravel race calendar. Can anybody post the final thoughts review page/link
I my girls and I run the Bontrager Flare taillights.
They are awesome, very bright, easily seen even in daylight, and with a nice random flash pattern to grab attention.
Unfortunately, the newer one, shaped like a small cube, is less good overal than the older oval one. It has a more focused beam (supposedly this makes the distance to be noticed bigger, but that was never a problem for me with the old one), which means that the angles at which it is noticed in daylight are much reduced. Especially a problem if you run it on the back of your helmet. It has a light sensor, and automatically switches settings, depending on ambient light. Unfortunately, it often switches to a less bright pattern, even during the day, just because it is cloudy and maybe shaded by my saddle.
My tail lights are fine. I am looking for a good rechargeable front light. My Hope one I have doesn't take much to outrun the front headlight at night.
Looking for the light review at the finish. I did finally figure out to look at the reviews only. I went back clear to the fall of 2018 and didn't see it. Not sure if I missed it or what?
The Garmin Varia has been the best bicycle-related a purchase I’ve made in along time. In fact, I don’t know how I rode without one. It’s works great on the road, and better on gravel where you encounter fewer motor vehicles. They have been on sale lately for $168 at REI and BikeTiresDirect. Well worth the price.
Djg21 wrote:The Garmin Varia has been the best bicycle-related a purchase I’ve made in along time. In fact, I don’t know how I rode without one. It’s works great on the road, and better on gravel where you encounter fewer motor vehicles. They have been on sale lately for $168 at REI and BikeTiresDirect. Well worth the price.
I second the Garmin. Expensive, Yes, but hospital bills are a lot more. I already had a head unit so I gave it a shot. It will give me plenty of warning of a car/truck coming up behind me with a beep and visual on the screen. Run time up to 16 hours per specs, I've only gotten about 6 hours out of it. This is probably due to bluetooth interface and high light output during the daylight hours setting. I don't mind because my longest rides are no more than 3-4 hours. It will even pick up another cyclist creeping up, I like a little warning. Had to get a special mount because I run a dropper post.
Djg21 wrote:The Garmin Varia has been the best bicycle-related a purchase I’ve made in along time. In fact, I don’t know how I rode without one. It’s works great on the road, and better on gravel where you encounter fewer motor vehicles. They have been on sale lately for $168 at REI and BikeTiresDirect. Well worth the price.
Well, I'll third the Garmin. I've only had it for a week but it does what the above members say it does. It detects cars and other riders before I know they are there.
