Solar Powered Bike Tail Light

I wanted a tail flasher high up for my $10,000 solar powered trike with enclosed body (Organic Transit ELF). Naturally a solar powered item is ideal but I did have to fabricate a mounting bracket since there is no exposed tubing for the included clamp. I would MUCH RATHER BUY US MADE at any price but there is no US equivalent on the market. The appearance and finish of the light is exactly as shown in the item photos, several rubber shims included. The two LEDs are not highly focused but they are pretty bright and the beam is wide enough so that no great effort is required to aim the light. I like the two off, two on flash sequence for daytime and there is also strobe and constant on. So far I have run it 4 hours in daylight and it was still bright at the end of that test. Cannot say how much sunshine is really needed for it since I always roll my solar vehicle out in the sun daily to charge its battery anyways. I no longer have to remember to turn it off to avoid replacing a disposable battery in my flasher. I use this every day so I will prevent many batteries from going to the dump. The plastic latch for easy removal of the light works well and if you keep your bike indoors you will sometimes want to remove the light to charge. The price was good, free shipping, but takes about three weeks to arrive. EDIT - after 10 months the battery pack failed. It is two 1.2 volt 40 MAH NI-MH button batteries soldered together and soldered wires connected to the circuit board. A replacement battery set is sold on Amazon for $10.00, you do the math. I may have gone through a dozen AAA alkaline batteries in the same period with a conventional tail light. The high humidity and heat in Florida kills the rechargeable batteries a bit sooner. If you live in a drier moderate climate you may get more service out of these lights. Note the red lens also faded a bit, not too badly but it did fade some from the sun. SECOND EDIT 5 years later: These charge with indirect sun like under a car port. In years of daily use the battery has never discharged completely during use, I turn it on when I leave home and leave it on for hours during my errands. It charges faster than it can discharge during the day. The second and third ones lasted me almost 2 years on average with heavy use in harsh Florida climate. Buy the one direct from China at the lowest price, maybe order 2 at a time because they keep well in storage and one could be defective or damaged.

The good stuff:THIS IS A MUST-HAVE IF YOU ARE RIDING AT NIGHT. On a scale of 1-10, if those standard red reflectors give you a visibility of 4, this will give you an 8. Much less chance of getting hit by a car at night. But for it to work, you must park your bike OUTSIDE and IN THE SUN during the day. NO MORE BATTERIES! Battery operated taillights chew up batteries super fast, seemed like I was replacing batteries about every three days. Now you can forget about that, let it charge up all day - just by parking your bike outside! Holds a charge that lets it run for at least 5 hours after dark, but that is the longest I've had to ride it in the dark so it might start to give up at 8 hours or it might actually last two nights I don't know.The bad stuff:The mounting bracket is very cheap plastic so be careful you don't break it while installing.Sometimes you get one that has a bad soldering job on the circuitry so it will be defective, but they are pretty good about sending a replacement.Other important stuff:Remember: when you install this on your bike, put it someplace where it will be VISIBLE from behind you. Don't put it on your seat post if you have a rear-wheel-mounted basket of stuff behind your seat. If you need to put it somewhere other than your seat post you might have to get a little bit creative with how you mount it because the bracket is really designed only for a seat post or something similar.

I commute to work by bike in all weather (in Minnesota, so I mean ALL weather). My bike sits outside in rain and snow. The mounting bracket for this eventually cracked so I had to rig up my own, and the button is getting a little tricky at times, but this stupid light KEEPS WORKING after six years. It is as bright as any comparably-priced battery powered light, plenty bright for nighttime rides though not the eye-burning LED bright you would get from a high-end taillight. All three modes still work as intended. I was so impressed at the longevity of this thing that I has to come back to write a review. Isn't this why we shop for solar-powered gear, to minimize waste going to the landfill? I haven't used a single battery for this (or my 3 year old solar headlight). Pretty amazing.

I haven't been able to thoroughly test this light yet, but – from basic use – it seems to do the trick! I'd like to do some visibility tests (e.g. have someone walk it up the road at night and see how far it can easily be spotted). I'd also like to test charge times and how long charges last. From simply leaving it on my bike (which typically is stored indoors), it gathers enough charge to get me through dusk as the sun sets on winter rides.It definitely feels cheap (i.e. lightweight plastic), and it doesn't seem too bright. Relative to other lights I priced, this one is dirt cheap and doesn't require batteries. Even if it isn't serious quality, it can't merit a three or four star rating for its price. (Relative to a steak, you might give a Big Mac a three star review, but you likely wouldn't relative to other fast food of similar pricing.)

This is a decent tail light for the money and I can't stress enough the importance of being seen from behind while riding.I have used it for my short 20 minute commute for about 2 weeks now and the origanal charge has not worn out yet. If there is a downside to the light it's that the bracket that holds the angle of the light is a little flimsy but can be shured up with a washer.Any light that does not need battery changes or removal for recharging is a great innovation for cyclists.

A very lightweight Tail light for my Mt. Bike, it has many clamp assy. but it's not waterproof, and has no other way to charge the internal battery. It's very bright with three different light display settings.

So i don't have to worry about not being seen in the dark although I dont think its bright enough, firm bracket so the light wont shift by accident. But its not waterproof