15 April 2008

Let's see some tail lights

Anyone who rides at night needs BOTH reflectors AND lights.

This tail light from Amazon comes well recommended for the price and has nice vintage style. I'd like to see if I could mount it on my fender, to add to the blinkie I have on my helmet. We will just have to work out how to secure the lens which apparently has a tendency to fall off.

For a more futuristic look, this other light from Amazon has an interesting look. I could see it on a bike with a more modernistic aesthetic. It almost looks Star Trek to me, and I like that about it. It is also nice in that it appears to mount with hardware. I suspect you leave it on the bike and that makes it hard to steal. Anything that makes your commute simpler is always a good choice.

The most interesting tail light at REI is this lollypop-styled light. They claim you can mount it anywhere. I like the customer's suggestions to add these to your bags. It seems like a light and easy way to get more visibility.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a fan of retro-style and a tinkerer, my personal favorites are the tail lights that came with the old tire-driven generator sets. I'm not particularly enamored with the generators although I have some that do seem to cause less drag than others. But there's no law that says the tail light must forever be mounted to a generator bracket.

The Tail lights can be removed from the generator brackets and with a tad of ingenuity be mounted wherever the bike owner might choose.

The innerds of the tail lights are relatively easy to convert to High-intensity LED lighting (the same devices that light the tail lights Chic Cyclist showed in her post) and with a minimum of help from almost any electrical / electronic person, be powered by any number of inexpensive sources of electricity.

Again in accordance with my love of retro, I personally like the old British Sturmey Archer front DynoHubs for powering my various contraptions.
alf
Davenport, Iowa

Charlotte said...

I confess that I agree with you, and I have a not-so-secret desire to generate my lighting with dynamohubs of any brand.

They're more expensive and my mechanic (also known as husband) keeps pointing out other upgrades I need first.

I promise you though, there will come a day when I will be running a dynamo, just for the retro thrill of it!