Daylight savings is just around the corner pushing the evening commute into the dark. If you are on a bike and not blinking, you should be. Maryland has passed several new laws making the roads safer for biking, but a cyclist has a responsibility to be visible.
On my ride home in the dark a couple of nights ago I saw six other cyclists. Only two had tail lights and neither of those was obvious from more than fifty feet. The five dollar tail light may be fine around your neighborhood but it just gets lost in the sea of light in on city streets.
An effective tail light needs to command attention. With that in mind, I put tail lights to the test. Here are six worth considering.
Reply to this post. I will give one random commenter their choice of one of these lights next weekend when daylight savings ends.
**** Update ****
And the winner is ..... Becky from Odenton. Congratulations! The Lights & Motion Vis180 is on the way.
Princeton Tec Swerve
Two strobes are better than one. The Swerve's two half-watt LEDs flash in an alternating pattern and demand attention. It mounts quickly to a seatpost though I prefer to clip it to the back of my helmet. The on/off toggle switch is simple to operate without looking.
Lamp: 2 .5 watt LEDs
Modes: flash/steady
Weight: 81 grams
Batteries: 2 AAA / Life: 70 hours
MSRP: $29.99 (found at Amazon for $18.80)
Light & Motion Vis 180
The Vis 180 was, by far, the brightest of the lights tested. Its primary LED puts out a 35 lumen beam that was easily visible from a half mile away. A 2nd amber LED blinks and is visible from 180 degrees.
The light has four modes including a paceline friendly mode where only the amber is blinking. (Seriously, you will be seeing spots if you try riding behind one of these in full pulse mode.)
My only complaint with the light is that I found it difficult to slide in and out of the mounting bracket without removing my seat bag. Because the battery needs to be charged every couple of rides, this has me looking for alternate mounting options.
Lamp: 2 LEDs
Modes: pulse low/pulse high/steady/amber only
Output: 35 lumens