Rear bike light - 18650....

Hi folks.

Im going to be doing a fair fit of cycling in the next few months, mostly at night. I’ve been looking at rear red lights, but everything seems to be either massively overpriced, or cheap tat.

Any pointers towards a 18650 powered rear light? doesn’t need to be insanely bright, but I’m hoping to use it for long periods without needing to change the cell.

Any suggestions welcome !!!

I don’t think I would be using anything but light’s that are designed specifically for using on a bike from a reputable manufacturer such as Cateye, but they mostly use AAA batteries.

60 hour’s run time in flashing mode, 30 hour’s in constant mode.

It’s now legal in the UK to use flashing led lights front and rear if they’re good one’s, I don’t recall the actually spec’s.

You could use a standard 18650 light and fit a red filter and then use it in the flashing mode to give you the extended run time, I wouldn’t know which one to suggest.

Tail lights are important safety equippement after dark, so I’ll add my 2 cents. I probably own about 10 or 12 different tail lights, ranging in price from $5 - $45. IMHO, the most highly touted, brightest and flashiest tail lights do not guarantee that you will be visible to other traffic around you.

This one is a real attention getter, because it flashes 3 separate colors and is brighter than most other cheap tail lights that employ 5mm LED’s. The different colors seem to draw the attention of motorists far better than the usual red/white flashers that blend in with all the other traffic trying to occupy your space. Ive received many, many compliments from drivers passing by that confirm this. It takes 3 x AAA (so an easy 18650 mod with carrier might work, but it would be total overkill to do so). The light has different blinking modes to power the 12 emitters and also lasts a long time on batteries (although I use only eneloops for max performance). 2 of the 3 colors are illegal for tail light use in the US, although it would take a serious punk asshole to hassle a bicyclist about a taillight that does such a great job without the associated glare to traffic that comes from some other designs. I have hundreds of night hours with mine, often in plain view of police, and have never been pulled over (although my city is extremely bicycle friendly, and with police who are noted for their professionalism… uh, non-asshole’ed-ness). :smiley:

2 of these lights, one on the tail and one on a backpack or helmet, would be even better!

Its also important to mention that drivers have a higher chance of being distracted and actually crashing into a car pulled over with its 4-way flashers blinking, than not having them on at all! Even while driving down a straight path of roadway, several people will unintentionally swerve to hit a stationary vehicle with its hazard flashers blinking! So just be careful, ride defensively and assume you are completely invisible to everyone around you.

Search ebay for “12 LED bicycle tail light” and several vendors under $5 pop up. It can flash red, blue, green - or blink all of them on and off at the same time.

I don’t think there are any dedicated rear lights that run on 18650s. The guy that runs the bike light database (google it, its a useful website) said that he hadn’t come across any either. I recently got the solas 40 by niterider based on recommendations from that site. Its really bright, has goodgood battery life, good modes and charges by micro USB. You could charge it from an 18650 power bank.

There’s the Orfos bike lights. Uses a rechargable 18650 and extremely bright, but expensive. Get what you pay for I guess.

http://www.orfos.bike/

This is not very long lasting light, but might be suitable for someone. You can seem my review over there:

Xeccon has few different rear lights. The model Mars 30A (R11) can run up to 19 hours. All can be recharged over USB and they mimick brake lights. This might be interesting way to use it. Unfortunately Mars 30 (at least) can’t run while charged. This would solve your problem.

You may come over to MTBR and ask people over there for other rear lights they might know.

There’ Magicshine MJ-818 out there. Very bright (85lm of red light is a lot) and small light but uses 4x18650 battery pack (shared with front light), I think it uses 8,4V so you could just hack 2x18650 holder for it. Many reviews posted online. Not cheap and probably an overkill for most situations.

If you are willing to mod something you could adapt BlitzWolf BW-LT5 for tail light - it’s self contained and has steady red and strobe modes, just needs some kind of mount to fix it to the bike. BlitzWolf BW-LT3 is currently on sale for $6.99 but only has white LEDs so needs swapping those with some red SMD - piece of red LED strip should do fine(sans resistors), but don’t know if there’s current regulation, so you may need to connect 2 red strings in parallel . It’s actually quite easy - here are the pics: BlitzWolf BW-LT3. You can even change 18650 to whatever capacity you like. Only downside is not easily accessible cell for swapping on the go.
This Warsun H006 has swappable cell but unnecessary (in that application) white flashlight :wink:

Another route would be building something using this board: $0.99 charging module with cell protection, provided you can hack together some enclosure. You would have USB charging already built in as well. One cell holder, red led strip, some wire, resistors and you are good to go. These cell holders look good:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2Pcs-Open-Frame-Plastic-3-7V-18650-Battery-Holder-Case-Cell-Box-Black-/321433137283

Do not but the cheapest stuff with coiled springs as those break easily and are inferior quality.
You could just as well buy any one cell constant current LED driver and slap some red XP-E or any other power led (< $2) and you will have blinding monster exceeding abovementioned Magicshine for fraction of the price.

But other thing to consider - those 2x0,5W power led tail light running on 2xAAA are quite powerful and blinding. Red leds use lower voltage than white that translates to less power so those lights will run quite long. Serfas USL-TL60 or Moon Shield (same thing) lights are also worth considering if you want brightest tail light. But those are USB rechargeable with built in prismatic cell. Those are expensive but very compact, light and powerful.

So it really boils down to your preference and expectations - options are numerous but we will probably never see abundance of 18650 tailights as prismatic cells are better suited and adequate for that application (self contained light) and high current 18650 is simply an overkill and would only contribute to bigger enclosure and mass.

EDIT:
I use Smart Superflash (first version 0,5W, it’s PBSF Superflash rebrand) since maybe 8 years and still going strong. Two eneloops last me whole season. It’s declared it works for 190 hours in flash mode. Since then many variations/clones emerged including 1W version which is brighter but runtime still aroud 100h in flash mode (30h in steady). This $3 2x 0,5W light is worth checking - claims up to 60h in alternating flash mode, 30h in double flash and 15h in steady. It’s sold under many expensive brands even for more than 30$ (see for example Portland Design Works Danger Zone), I really doubt the LEDs are different. Should work fine on eneloops as well and two spare cells in case you want peace of mind takes up virtually no space.
Some reviews here: http://www.dx.com/p/bike-bicycle-3-mode-red-light-led-safety-warning-signal-lamp-taillight-black-red-2-x-aaa-337694#.Vz7ZC-Td3bj
If you ride in rough terrain mounting may need some better securing.

Whatever you get, make sure it is very visible from the sides also. Most accidents are not from the rear. Just deal with the AAA, they last a long time in most lights.

I also quite like the LED bands that you wrap around your legs. Don’t know what the battery life is on those as I don’t do much night biking anymore (my GF has them) but I find the good ones hard to beat for side visibility.

Just saw this:

https://www.ituolights.com/products/ituo-bolt-taillight

Anyone have any experience with it?

Not sure if I have this one or the model just below it (and it’s not 18650 powered)…but at 150 lumens it is as bright as any, has an extremely distracting blinking pattern (unlike many others) and is USB rechargeable.

In the Netherlands (and probably in many other countries) a red reflector is mandatory.
This works very well.
But we also have to have a red (and red only) tail light.
But just a couple of modern 5mm red LEDs is sufficient.
With the low Vf (about 2 Volts) of red LEDs it’s best to run them on 2x AA or AAA NiMH (about 2.4 Volts).
I have an automatic rear light, which only lights up when it’s dark and when the bike moves.
This is built into a reflector, so it’s all in one.
A brake light would be a nice addition, but not really necessary.

It has a replaceable 18650

Blinky 3

#2 AAA Batteries (last forever)

-Waterproof

-Visibility for up to 1 mile

-Lifetime warranty

-Free shipping if member of a bicycle advocacy club or group

EDIT-Blinky 3H

build it yourself.

Or buy this http://www.gearbest.com/bike-lights/pp_288195.html?wid=21 I’ve been using this for some months now and am completely satisfied with it. Run time on the fourth blinking mode is over 8 hrs.

No one but me has any experience with it yet, its just coming out this week. Brand new. I’ve been testing it for a few months now. Pretty sweet rear light! Ituo was thinking when they came up with this idea. Works great and its been left on the back of my bikes through rain, snow, slush you name it. Its bright and just keeps working perfectly not to mention I’ve only had to charge it once the entire time ive been using it. Day flasher use and night steady mode.

Minus the accommodation of a lane light (are these that difficult to incorporate?) it would be nice if they simply posted a video of it working in the daylight. Not annoying drivers at night(?) (as seems to be a concern in their promotion) would make me question how “annoying” it would be when this very attribute is needed (for me at least) even more.

I bought some red cree leds and I put one in a lower powered 18650 light. It is pretty bright but not sure if its wise to use one so bright on the roads.

i would probably hate you for it if i was cycling behind you…

thew “annoying drivers” part is look at something like a cygolite hotshot II. it has an annoying little laser beam type beam pattern. Its not that bright but its too focused, so very annoying because if it gets you in the eyes it becomes hard to see for a brief period.

Focus beamed lights can be just as dangerous as a cheap tiny light. Because instead of lack of visibility you piss the drivers off by what feels like getting a laser pointer to the eyes. We want to be seen, not blind everyone else and piss them off or cause an accident.

During the day its not so bad but at night its horrible. I ride and drive. I have come up behind lights like the hotshots and others that have focused beams. Screws being able to see where Im going if I get directly behind it. But at the same time almost useless from other angles besides straight behind.

Not to mention when I commute to work ive gotten comments on the one I was testing before production. Works a lot better than cheapies or the hotshot according to coworkers. I know in town its been more than plentiful to be seen during the day on flash mode. Not sure out in the country though. I live right on the great river bike path so touching open road is something I rarely need to do or had any issues with before running a taillight during the day. I never used to till the rash of cyclists being killed even around me (one was a friend of a guy I ride with a lot) last summer.

Videos are coming but weather has been crap. Hard to convince anyone to play camera guy when its sub zero, snowing or like right now just barely above freezing and crazy windy.

BTW thats just an EDC flashlight (with red LED) and can get the diffuser for it right from Rich over at MTNelectronics. I have a couple of them to turn my EDCs into light sticks when we have the kids out at an event after dark or out camping. Works great.