Customer Reviews

Planet Bike Blinky Super Flash Tail Light

5 star:		(195)
4 star:		(36)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Length:: 1:56 Mins

Currently, I have four bicycle taillights in my possession, including the new Cateye Opticube. The superflash is by far the brightest. Interestingly, it is also the smallest and weighs in at a diminutive 53 grams. When I first opened the box, I was actually disappointed as I expected something 2-3 times as large. Planet Bike truly hit a homerun with the Blinky Superflash.

With the incredible brightness of the main LED, this light is visible from a distance on a sunny day at noon. I haven't seen anything like it. In addition to the sheer intensity, visibility is enhanced by an interesting flash pattern that combines two smaller LEDs to produce a Morse-code-like signal.

As far as I can tell at this juncture, there are no design flaws with the Superflash. For my purposes, however, I would have preferred a larger clip for use on my backpack.

Pros
Extremely bright
Small
Built-in reflector
Sturdy housing

Cons
Could use a slightly larger clip for attaching to a backpack (very minor)
Too directional (i.e. not enough spread)

I have tested countless rear bicycle tail lights. No tail light so far is without problems. Planet Bike makes very good products. To be considered a great tail light a few requirements must be met: Easy, secure mounting, great optics for viewing straight on and from the sides, and a durable, quality switch. Planet Bike has a good, not great mount (the light tends to jiggle in the mount, which may simply be a quality control issue, not a design issue), very good straight on optics, and average optics from the side. Where is fails is in the switch category. I have purchased 4 of these lights, and two of them have defective switches. The light will change modes (from on to off to blinking) when you hit minor defects in the road. 3 stars for the light (very good straight on viewing, average side viewing), 3 stars for the mount, and 0 stars for the switch, arrives at the 2 star rating. They need to either use a Cateye type switch, or a Princeton Tec Swerve type switch.

I had to toss my otherwise serviceable Blackburn rear light when the brittle plastic mounting clip failed after about two years of use. Determined to purchase a quality replacement, the Planet Bike brand was the obvious choice. Like the well-worn Planet Bike headlight I've been using, this model taillight is made from a durable plastic that resists cracking from normal patterns of wear, such as accompanies attaching and detaching lights from their mounts when parking bikes. Anyone who rides a lot in the city knows that leaving lights attached to parked bikes is a bad idea. Since the Planet Bike people are avid cyclists, their designs reflect this consideration and the result is durable mounting systems. It is also worth mentioning that this light is extremely bright, rivaling car taillights for visibility on dark streets. A very fine piece of gear from a company run by enthusiasts and definitely not the last item I'll buy from this company.

I have used the Superflash since it hit the market last year. Planet Bike has definitely hit a home run with this one. It's very affordable, cheaper than the much-vaunted Cateye LD-100, but it's brighter than everything but the DiNotte($150+). I use a Superflash on my seatbag, and one on the blinky strap on my Bell Metro helmet(another excellent product). Those two lights get me plenty of respect from motorists.

If money is no object, buy the DiNotte. It's the best light available. 140 lumens of red flasher will get the job done. But using a couple of Superflashes is an excellent choice. Bright, attention getting, lightweight, affordable, and made by a company who gives money to bicycle charities. I love it.

Planet Bike is a great company, and this is a very bright light...but yesterday when I was biking to work, it fell apart while going down a curb. I have a rear suspension bike and the light was clipped to a soft trunk bag, the curb was a standard size and I was not going very fast. So I can not see how a much shock was transfered to the light itself. Luckily I was on the pavement so I heard the sound of the lens section and batteries hitting the parking lot.

When I put the unit back together, it worked immediately. However, it is not acceptable if an important piece of safety equipment can fail in normal use, and you may not necessarily notice it. I would rather have a light that was half as bright, but I could be confident it would not fall apart hopping down a curb.

The reason why it fell apart seems to be that all of the weight, including the batteries is attached to the lens part of the light. If they instead put the majority of the weight on the mounted part of the light, it would be less likely for the thing to fall apart.

This light may actually be too bright for nighttime use, that's how bright it is. I try not to ever ride at night, but I often push it in the evening or end up having a flat or something that brings me home after sundown, so I've tried to keep a working tail light on my bike and only turned it on when it started getting dark. I always seem to have enough light to navigate by, and I don't worry about the cars I see, I worry about the moron on their cellphone coming up behind me. This light has changed my routine. I now turn it on anytime I'm on a busy road. Here's what changed my mind: I often ride on US 40 in Indiana, which is a lightly traveled four-lane mostly-divided highway. It gets a lot of bicycle traffic, and most motorists are aware enough to give you a little space. However, cars travel in packs and it's not unusual for someone to be "boxed" into the right lane, nor is it unusual for someone to just hold their line like you aren't even there, or sometimes even drift into you. When I started using this light (in the flash mode) I immediately noticed a change in peoples' behavior. Virtually no one passes me in the right lane now. It's such a marked change that I can tell when I've forgotten to turn it on! Apparently the bright flashing red light really cuts through to their conscious mind (because their subconscious is thinking "cop"?) and they do whatever they have to to get over. I'm buying another one for my daughter and I will insist she run it anytime she's riding her bike. A few other observations:
* I expected battery life to be short as bright as this baby is (and I don't care because if my life isn't worth the price of a few AAs why am I bothering), but so far it seems to be doing amazingly well, though I think it starts to dim a bit long before they go dead.
* Aiming the light is critical, and not so easily done. Aim the light so it's pointing straight back, not too far left/right or up/down, or you'll not get the benefit it's brightness, and clamp it down tight (which changes the aim, so it may take you several tries to get it right) so it doesn't move when you turn it on and off, which is likely because...
* The switch is kind of hard to activate, and lacks the real positive tactile feedback that lets you know you've hit it, consequently you have a good chance of crashing while you're looking back trying to figure out if you really got it switched into the right mode. (A sensible person would stop and get off their bike to do this, but hey, you know...)

I am writing this review after purchasing both the NiteRider Cherry Bomb and the Planet Bikes SuperFlash. Both lights work as advertized and are currently brighter than any other lights on the market.

At night both lights are bright and will catch any driver's eye with their flash patterns. The difference between the two lights is the NiteRider Cherry Bomb stands out during the day. I placed both of the lights on my bike and had a friend ride the bike to the end of the city block. About half way to the end you would lose sight of the Planet Bikes SuperFlash. I could see the NiteRider Cherry Bomb all the way to the end of the block. After looking at both lights the SuperFlash loses some of its light before it hits the reflector as the LED is set back from it. The NiteRider Cherry Bomb's main LED is set with the reflector and the plastic front acts as a light diffuser causing the light to be seen at a greater distance during the daylight hours.
There is one drawback to the NiteRider Cherry Bomb, the battery life. The NiteRider Cherry Bomb is only supposed to work for 40 hours before the batteries go dead. The Planet Bikes SuperFlash is slated to run for 100 hours.

If you are looking for a light to ride with at night then either light will work for you. If you commute or ride during the daytime on busy city streets and wish to have a light to be seen with, then go with the NiteRider Cherry Bomb.

This light has a very bright flash, but the mounting system is insecure and badly needs a redesign. The first time I used this light, I added some rubber bands to hold it more securely. The second time, I forgot the rubber bands, and the light bounced out of its mounting bracket somewhere on a stretch of rough road, and I lost it. There are other strobe lights that are every bit as bright as the Super Flash with a better mechanical design. Until Planet Bike redesigns the mounting bracket, I would give this light a pass.

This is the ONE light if you want to be seen at night. It is unbelievably bright. Don't get the one with the black back as that is an older model and no where as bright as this one. EVERYONE who sees this light gets one as it is the brightest they've ever seen!!