Bike Light First Thoughts

So I finally got around to picking up my new tail light yesterday. A few things that I noticed right away. When I walked into my dark apartment, the reflector was so bright that for a second I thought the light was on (until I realized that I had yet to put in the batteries). One of the big problems with my previous light was that when clipped to the light strap on my Timbuk2 bag, either the red cover would fall off or the entire light would fall off (even with the light duct taped in place). The latter is the reason I have recently been without light. The design of this light is to have a longer clip part that sticks out, which I have duct taped together. I think this will actually hold better than with the previous light where the tape would roll off over time. The cover on this light also seems pretty solid. I was unable to remove the cover without the assistance of a quarter, so I'm hoping that means it won't easily come off. I'll try to give another update after the light has been in use for a month or so.

Bike Lights

I've decided that I need to devote some time to catalog my favorite biking related products. A friend of mine just got a nice vintage road bike, and I was helping him figure out the basic things he needs to get. So far the things I've told him are:

• Saris Bones Bike Rack
• Topeak Toolbar
• Crank Brothers Bike Pump
• Cateye Rear Light

Obviously that's an incomplete list, but just some things for starters. So today's rant will be about tail lights.

LEDs are just amazing. I'm pretty sure that I could create a blog dedicated to the amazingness of LEDs alone. However, the audience for such a blog would be rather limited. When I got my schwinn and started biking around the city, I realized that I should probably have safety lights on my bike. I think somewhere in my box of bike crap I have an actual light with rechargeable battery, etc for my bike. But that was really more of a necessity in the south bay where the light's purpose is to actually light the road. In the city, there are plenty of street lights so that what you really need is a safety light. For the front light, I purchased the Cat Eye Compact Opticube Headlight. While it's probably a bit of overkill to have a headlight that is waterproof up to 50 meters, bike lights will short circuit in the rain. If you are the kind of person to forget to bring your light inside with you when you run in for coffee, you will probably lose your light to theft before you will lose it to rain. In that case, go with a cheaper light. However, this headlight is crazy bright. Every time I'm out and about, I'm shocked at the distance this thing covers. I'm pretty sure it's impossible for a car to miss me in its rear view mirrors. While I have yet to purchase my tail light, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the Cat Eye TL-LD 500. It's the first light that I've seen to be both a reflector and a light. I have a tendency to either forget to or be too lazy to turn on my rear light. Thus I think it would be fantastic to have something that would still serve some purpose even while off. I would also think that it would be good for those times when your batteries are fading and the light is of negligible use. If my opinion changes after I get around to buying the light, I will update this entry.