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I am a urban rider that I ride locally on a regular basis but I am always concerned about fighting with cars on the streets.

When I traveled aboard last year I ran into a manufacturer who has a tail lamp that has some unique safety features including: 1) Light-sensing hazard light that comes on when it detects dark surroundings (like going through a tunnel) ; 2) motion-sening break light that comes on when it detects deceleration ; 3) left/right/hazard signal lights that can be controlled by radio frequency using a control panel mounted to the handle bar.

This tail lamp I thought was perfect to tackle safety concerns of riding in the city streets. I currently have one that I installed on my bike and I am thinking of importing this product into the country to try to offer other cyclist who may have the same safety concern I had. However, this tail lamp is rather costly compared to what you can find on amazon or ebay these days. Its MSRP is about $90 - $100 per.

So I am posting to seek opinion/advise if anyone think this tail lamp would be worth the investment before I decide to take the plunge to import bulk quantities. Any advise is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Robert
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  • Me and a friend of mine were thinking over the lack of good taillights too. Unfortunately, products that have this deceleration detection are very few and of low quality. IMHO the rules of transportation should be unified in regards to that. Let's face it - led lightning is very effective these days and blinking is driving me nuts sometimes. Some kind of regulation could be set - at least for the high-traffic parts of the cities, while districts that have motor vehicles speed limitations, could be left looser! Of course, if it were to me, I'd restrict the blinking ones - just kidding :) –  May 28 '13 at 17:20
  • It's best if your question is more about how to look for what you want, rather than looking for specific product recommendations. Specific product recommendations can be problematic because not all products are available in all areas and products change year to year. See also: Q&A is Hard, Let's Go Shopping!. – freiheit May 28 '13 at 17:57
  • You might consider editing the question to have less of a business advice aspect and more of a do-directional-signals-significantly-increase-safety perspective. Just a thought. – amcnabb May 29 '13 at 22:59

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All this is very much depends on how good you are as a salesman. Very good salesman can sell sand in a desert and make good living.

I'm not sure what market you are talking about, but in UK you can get very different price range for the lights, top models priced at £144 ($227). And I have seen these lights used on the streets.

So $90 makes it costly for most of the people, but certainly you would find your customers who would want the set of features you are talking about.

trailmax
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  • thanks for the feedback and this light is certainly at the high end price range but I think for some safety concerned riders it may still be a good investment. – Robert Jan 26 '13 at 16:31
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I know I wouldn't pay $100 for a rear facing light - Most fatal accidents arrive from the front.

All those extra things don't seem useful to me. They are just additional things to break and/or not work as I expect them to work.

The only thing I really care about in a rear light is brightness and beam shape.

If you are worried about cars recognising that you are signalling to turn get a bright helmet mounted light.

sixtyfootersdude
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  • thanks for the feedback as well. this bike light actually has 20 LEDs so it's actually very bright especially in dark surroundings. – Robert Jan 26 '13 at 16:33
  • @Robert dark surroundings are not the most dangerous ones. The biggest problems seeing cyclists from my drivers seat is when it rains and there is light from oncoming traffic. – trailmax Jan 26 '13 at 18:49
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I'm afraid that while I am very focused on safety I wouldn't pay anywhere near that. I am more concerned with bright front and back lights and wheel lights for side visibility.

I'm less concerned with a light for signalling as with visibility.

Rory Alsop
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You get much better visibility from blinking/ flashing lights. Steady lights tend to fade into the overall background "noise" of other lights at night. Where as a flashing light makes you much more visible. I would say spend $50 on a good bright set of lights that flash, like these http://ecom1.planetbike.com/3040.html. The turn signals (hand signal) and brake light seem like over kill to me.

Wadelp
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    Blinking lights catch your attention better, but solid lights are easier to judge distance by. Check out the relevant question on this: "Which is safer, lights which blink or emit a steady beam?" – nhinkle May 28 '13 at 17:34
  • Not to resurrect an old thread, but I would add: as a cyclist and motorist, I don't expect turn signals on bikes and probably wouldn't be sure that a flashing light was a turn signal instead of just a flashing bike light. If the rider is visible, I will be looking at their arms for signals. – CCTO Oct 20 '21 at 20:43