Rear light bracket mounting (bloomin) woes!

[redefined_cycles]

Right... In as few words as possible, I'm gettijg sick of this now. Still trying to get all my kit/gear/bags up to speed for the DD which I've thankfully (or unthankfully) got work-days off for aswell.

Latest issue (aside from how on earth am I gonna keep the mtbBatts Lumenator going for 3 days but thats another story and reckon can be fixed with a massive powrrbank and an Exposure substitute) is that I've got a rear pack/bag sorted to marry nicely to my dropper. Thanks to a Karl-adaptor the Revelate harness which will take a Terrapin fits nicely and allows me full drop without hitting the tyre.

But... but... Despite the Ortlieb having the little slits that married well to my Bonty light bracket, the Revelate doesn't terrapin doesn't have these little welded additions. So mounting the light in its normal position at the seattube/seatpin junction, but with my now working bag-with dropper, means the light might not be as well placed for the idiots that like to squeeze past ubless you shine a bit of light in their eyes.

Not sure there's a right answer without getting all spendy (thanks to Rich for selling me the Cumulus to drop my packed weight even farther) but happy for opinions and thoughts. Thanks

[ScotRoutes]

I have various small taillights that I can attach to the rear straps on the Revelate Terrapin. Mine actually has a cross piece between the two rear straps and a Cherry Bomb lives there quite happily.

When using the Amazon (and its Exposure dynamo-driven rear light) I have the light mounted on the off-side seatstay, below bag height.

[Landslide]

I just strap my light to the drive-side seatstay.
Depending on your light(s)/angle of your stays, you might want some sort of additional bracket which can probably be expertly bodged from some spare reflector mounts or similar.

[Cheeky Monkey]

Seatstay mounted using the plastic bracket that usually comes with the light. I find clipping things to soft-luggage a recipe for frequent light replacement

Saying that there are a few places on the Wingnut harness where I mount a rear light.

Also, Exposure Redeyes are handy, either the standard (cabled one) which comes with a bracket you can seatstay mount or a mini that plugs into the smart-port which works if the lamp is on your helmet.

[redefined_cycles]

Thanks folks. I went and rechecked and with the bonty light. Amazingly (and this is why I suppose everyone loves Revelate and maybe why they didn't attach a weld for moujt on the terrapin, so well built and thought out) it sits high enough that as long as it's not dropped (at which point traffic is the least of your worries... unless you're on Hardknotts with Evil Kneival behind you) you can actually find a few/plenty lines of sight from a distance.

Will get myself a secondary light to go on the intersection of the Revelate harness (thanks Colin). Probably won't go back to seatstay mounting though as it seems pointless having a £50 rear light with that much design input and then not managing to get it straight enough for traffic (plus I've had a few break down, no fault of the angles obviously)...

... actually, here have another

[Bearbonesnorm]

Worth remembering that a seatstay mounted light will on occasion mean people can't see your light.

I've attached rear lights to the back of my helmet before now.

[sean_iow]

I've got a cateye one the rear of my helmet

https://www.cateye.com/intl/products/sa ... s/SL-WA10/

It would also clip to the harness instead. You need to have a red rear light on the bike to be legal at night but you can fit extra lights to your person if you want.

[Lazarus]

You also need to have a rear reflector and pedals reflectors to be totally legal - i dont know any SPD pedals that does this and the rear light must meet the BS standard - I am not sure how many manufacturers lights meet this requirement personally - and be 35-150 cm off the ground!

[Charliecres]

I’ve got one of these on my helmet. It’s great - super-light, plenty bright, USB chargeable and lasts a decent length of time.

https://www.evanscycles.com/fwe-recharg ... n-EV244786

[lune ranger]

I go with Exposure Redeye on the stay and Specialized Stix on the helmet. Both can be hidden at times but I’m working on the assumption that at least one should be visible at all times (this may be a poor assumption however).

[sean_iow]

You also need to have a rear reflector and pedals reflectors to be totally legal - i dont know any SPD pedals that does this

I often wondered how I could do this as pedal reflectors do catch the eye when I drive past bikes at night that have them on. I think it's the movement. I could add some reflective tape to my shoes, I might give it a try. It's not on the pedal but if I needed to I could un-velcro the shoe and take my foot out instead of unclipping (triathlete style) and claim the shoe was a part of the pedal

I have a myog triangular reflector I fit to the rear of my seat-pack, but it doesn't have the correct standards marking. I also read recently that triangular reflectors can only be used on the rear of trailers?

I've got green reflective tape on the forks of my road bike, it's the same colour as the paint so doesn't show in the day. Technically illegal but I've never been stopped for it.

[lune ranger]

I’m fairly sure in the UK if you have some kind of lights that are visible and not like lasers the chances of being stopped are close to zero. Even if you don’t have the required amount of reflectors and lights that meet standards.
It doesn’t even look like folk with no light at all get stopped judging by the amount of people doing it.
In addition to two lights front and two lights rear (both 1x dynamo 1x USB) when commuting or planning a long road based night ride I use: 3M reflective ankle cuffs - very visible due to movement and a 3M reflective helmet band that has good allround visibility.
All items together weigh only a few grams and don’t contribute to overheating like reflective vests etc.

[whitestone]

Here's a Cycling UK article about lights - https://www.cyclinguk.org/lighting-regulations. The BS (a suitably ambivalent pair of initials) for bike lights is woefully out of date (last updated in 2003) and there are only a handful on sale today that have actually been tested against it.

There's a phrase in the above article that's repeated twice: "it must be marked as conforming to BS6102/3 or an equivalent EC standard." and partly addressed in the section headed "The EU-friendly clause". Given we've now left the EU who knows whether that still applies or will continue to apply.

As for pedals, it would be better if the regulations stated something like "reflectors at or below each ankle" so that you could choose between pedal/shoe/clothing. A lot of overshoes have reflective piping for instance - useful when commuting. Then again how many times has anyone shouted at you: "Get some pedal reflectors!"

[BigdummySteve]

Reflective stuff is ace! I like some in the inside of the crank arms, spoke reflectors work extremely well, another thing which works very well on dropbars is a light shoved in place of a barend plug, I currently have an exposure traceR in the end of my right hand drop and it’s worth at least 18” in passing width. Don’t neglect side visibility, I sometimes use a spare light on the underside of the downtube, it creates a pool of light on the ground beneath the bike and really aids dide vis.

[sean_iow]

Inside the cranks arms is a good idea, my xo carbon cranks have flat surfaces on the arms and the reflective material will also protect the carbon. If I use black reflective material no-one will even spot it in the day

Cateye make a bar-end version of thier Orb lights.

[Lazarus]

I have the cat eye ones[under a tenneriirc] but it rather assumes that
1) you bar ends actually point backwards - unlikely with flared versions I assume- wont they pointtothe side too much ? then agin they may comein to fulll view late on and make them think yu are wider than you are hence the above [ cannot sy i have noticed anything re passing but mmy commute is a non busy dual carriageway so they can give room easily
2) the bar is level [or the light is just pointing at the ground or sky - I had to adjust mine - i was ok in the position but took me a few weeks to get used to it

I like the fact i can tell at least some rear lights are still working !