Blinky lights! What do you recommend?

mwlikesbikes

Well-Known Member
Looking for new front & rear blinky lights for the road.
The lights I’ve got are good but I’m tired of buying 2032 batteries all the time when they go dead after I accidentally bump the light on putting the bike away.

Looking for rechargeable, not too bulky that I can easily switch around from bike to bike, and has decent battery life for when I forget to recharge it.

Gimme your suggestions, favorites. The lights are more important now that fall is approaching and my after work road rides will be ending at sunset.
 
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iman29

Well-Known Member
I have had great success and experience with my NiteRider headlight lights, even comments from walkers and other riders how bright they are. My 650 recently broke but I have a 700 lumens thats the bomb. I ride road more than trails. I would say on low setting in blinky mode it has lasted me for an 8 hour ride. On full brightness Im sure its much less but as a headlight its super bright too . The newer ones are more compact.

Rear tailight i have a Bontrager Flare R its meh needs a recharge after a few rides but its also pretty bright.
 

shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
i can agree on the bontrager flare r, i got it for free on a promo a year or two ago, it works, just battery life is meh.

i have a nightrider sentinel that i like, battery life is good, blinky mode is good, hard to bump on accidentally.

i also have a garmin varia tailight which my wife bought for me when this whole pandemic nonsense started since i was riding on public roads from home, and i must say that i like it, turns itself on and off with my garmin, warns me about approaching cars (from behind) and i charge it every couple weeks, also has a low battery warning on my garmin headunit (which still leaves over 2 hours of battery when it starts alerting)
 

Soundguy

#SenditGuy
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I have this combo and it is excellent. You can get the same combo with a lesser headlight if preferred. I also use in the woods so the extra boost is nice.

both have a lock mode for storage.
 

thegock

Well-Known Member
Cateye Rapid X3 is the best blinky, red and white. Period. Pricey at $60 compared to most others.I run the front in tandem with a Niterider Lumina Micro 450 or 550 for redundancy.

Battery capacity is more impressive than the Metallica song and brightness is annoying AF.

Only weakness might be an allergy to having the hose turned on it, so detach before bathing.

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iman29

Well-Known Member
and as noted above - Flare R does fine in the rain/wet road but also does NOT like getting sprayed with a garden hose. I had to dry mine out in a container of rice for a day or two and its worked fine since then
 

mwlikesbikes

Well-Known Member
If you are thinking about a camera(s) at all, decide before you go out and buy lights.
Nope, lights only. I like to keep it simple.
The garmin ones look interesting, I use the 520 plus but I think I’d rather keep them separate.
 

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
Nothing fancy but comes with all the fancy features, including light up when you stop...ohhhh!


Can be had for a lot cheaper, kind of cool the way it hides between the seat rails too.
 

mwlikesbikes

Well-Known Member
As far as prices, a one time investment of $40-$80 probably isn’t too bad when you consider that a 4 pack of good 2032 batteries is $12/&15 in the supermarket and each light I have takes two of them...
 

shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Nothing fancy but comes with all the fancy features, including light up when you stop...ohhhh!


Can be had for a lot cheaper, kind of cool the way it hides between the seat rails too.


i had something similar for a little while, its just an accelerometer that detects certain amounts of decel and brightens the light, ate batteries like crazy (well it was rechargable, but i was charging it every 4-5 hours of riding), and was kind of gimmicky (would sometime light up when pointed down a steep enough hill, or fail to light up if going uphill even if slowing down) . . . .

not saying this one is that way, but ill stick with what i got
 

shrpshtr325

Infinite Source of Sarcasm
Team MTBNJ Halter's
As far as prices, a one time investment of $40-$80 probably isn’t too bad when you consider that a 4 pack of good 2032 batteries is $12/&15 in the supermarket and each light I have takes two of them...


you are overpaying for 2032s i paid $12 for a pack of 25 ENERGIZER brand on amazon . . . . (iv paid less for brandx variants, but they dont last nearly as long, and they have crap for shelf life)

not that id ever recommend using anything but rechargeables for bike lights
 

serviceguy

Well-Known Member
i had something similar for a little while, its just an accelerometer that detects certain amounts of decel and brightens the light, ate batteries like crazy (well it was rechargable, but i was charging it every 4-5 hours of riding), and was kind of gimmicky (would sometime light up when pointed down a steep enough hill, or fail to light up if going uphill even if slowing down) . . . .

not saying this one is that way, but ill stick with what i got

So far it's been working well, but I confess that I can't see any farther back than my ass nor have I had an extra-bodily experience that allowed me to check it in action...

It did flash while I was setting the El Mar back to SS, maybe it's really smart and tried to stop me?

Most likely what you said.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
Front:
light and motion urban series. You can find these dirt cheap and the beam pattern is unmatched compared to cygolight and nite rider.

Rear:
Kong blinders is the only brand I haven’t murdered in the wet / salt.
 

rick81721

Lothar
Front: don't ride at night anymore so no need

Rear: Lezyne strip drive pro 300 is my latest. Gave up on knogs after they died too quickly.

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