If you’re a driver, you’d probably laugh if someone asked you which lights are most important on a car: headlights or taillights. That’s because you understand the role and importance that each of these has every time you’re in traffic and you need to be safe. Since each of these lights has a specific and equally-important role, you can never afford to sacrifice any of them. Then why would you compromise when riding a bike? The price you pay for buying front and back lights is nothing compared to the additional safety granted by these items.
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Top 7 Best Bicycle Tail Light Comparisons
Brand | Details |
|---|---|
 Blitzu Cyborg 168T Bicycle Tail Light | |
 Stupidbright SBR-1 Bike Tail Light | |
 Nkomax Smart Bike Tail Light | |
 Planet Bike Superflash Taillight | |
 Cygolite Hotshot Bike Taillight | |
 Portland Design Works Danger Zone Tail Light | |
 Luditek Bike Tail Light |
Bestselling Bicycle Tail Lights 2021
Headlights vs. Taillights
If you’ve never purchased a bike light before or are completely new to the field of cycling, you’re probably wondering what’s the difference between a light that’s mounted on the front side of the bike and one that goes in the back. Is one better than the other? The short answer is no, because each of these 2 lights has a separate role and if you buy one, it doesn’t mean you won’t need the other.
Lights that are mounted on the front side of your bike are typically brighter and whiter/yellow-ish and their main purpose is to help you see the road ahead. A taillight, on the other hand, is generally orange or red and it’s designed to make other cars notice you when they are driving behind you, making it one of the best accessories for bike safety. They also have a lower lumen output, because they don’t need to be bright enough to grant obstacle and road vision.
Arguably, some people will say that front lights are more important, because when cars are coming in close from behind, they will often spot you because of the reflectors on your bike’s wheels or because of your helmet. However, considering that taillights are a very inexpensive investment, they are definitely a worthy purchase.
When you’re caught in the middle of a rainstorm or the visibility in traffic is very low due to factors such as fog, a taillight will do a much better job in signaling your presence on the road. Reflectors should never be considered a substitute for a taillight, because they cannot mimic its power. Tail lights are brighter, they are battery powered and can even flash, which automatically makes them more visible.
It’s true that depending on when you’re at, one light could be more important than the other. For instance, if you’re riding your bike in the middle of nowhere, on an off-road where there’s little to no traffic, it’s more important for you to see the obstacles in front of you than to have a tail light that signals your presence.
While we can’t positively say that one of these lights is better than the other, we’d like to leave you with one final consideration: since you don’t have eyes in the back of your head, is it easier to avoid an obstacle in front of you or something that’s slowing gaining up from behind you? When you’re a cyclist, always keep this in mind: the more blinking stuff you’ve mounted on your bike, the better.
Top 7 Best Bicycle Tail Light Reviews
Blitzu Cyborg 168T Bicycle Tail Light
If you already own the 168H Cyborg headlight, it would be a shame not to match it with the 168T taillight. And even if you don’t, it’s still a great product to enhance your safety during nighttime or low visibility conditions. Since it’s USB rechargeable, you will eliminate some additional overtime costs that arise from constantly purchasing new batteries. Due to its design, the 168T taillight can provide visibility at a 260 degrees angle, which ensures that whatever cars come up behind you will notice that you’re on the side of the road.
Being IPX4 certified, this waterproof tail light is able to withstand drizzle, rain or snow and still be fully functional. Its versatility allows you to attach it to everything from belts to backpacks. It features 6 different lighting modes that are suitable for all kinds of traffic situations: strobe, high and low flashing, steady low, medium and high. Depending on the mode chosen, the battery life will differ. For instance, you can get about 6 hours of battery power when the light is set to low and it can go down to 1 hour and 30 minutes on high.
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Stupidbright SBR-1 Bike Tail Light
The SBR-1 light is a very versatile taillight that can be mounted on pretty much anything, from your seat post to your bike helmet, skateboards, backpack or wheelchair. Even if the light is not USB rechargeable, it only needs 2 x CR2032 batteries that are included in the package, but they are also quite inexpensive when you need to purchase them later on. The manufacturer promises about 50 hours of battery life before new ones are required. Even if the light is very compact and lightweight, it manages to also be very bright, thanks to its high-quality LED.
There are 3 very important features which need to be highlighted. First of all, the light is able to grant vision at 180 degrees, which should also make you visible from diagonals and sides. Second, the casing is very rugged, being made from high grade aluminum. That makes the product very durable, being capable to withstand shocks cause by drops. Third, there is an O-ring that meets the IPX5 waterproof rating and it carefully protects the light from possible water leakage into the product.
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Nkomax Smart Bike Tail Light
The Nkomax taillight is design to grant visibility of up to 150 m, although we’re not very sure why you’d want that much information about what’s going on behind you, as the main purpose of such a light is to have the cars coming in from behind see you. The COB LED is combined with the EnSca lens to make sure that you are visible to others. Since it integrates an intelligent sensor, the light will automatically turn on when it detects low visibility conditions and turn off when there is enough brightness outside. When you decelerate, the sensors will also active the brake light. Even if the sensors will activate and dim or intensify the light in certain situations, the manual mode requires you to switch the light on and turn it off manually.
With the IPX6 standard, the light is waterproof and dustproof, to add to the lifespan of the product. The batteries can be charged via an USB cord and, on a full charge, they should last about 20 hours. The mounting strap’s length can be adjusted, to provide you with extra options on where to attach the light. In order to install the light, position the bracket on the cushion track and tighten it with a strap. After having cut the excess strap, rotate clockwise to fix the light to the bracket.
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Planet Bike Superflash Taillight
The Planet Bike tail light is a viable option that helps bikers stay safe and visible on the road. Powered by ½ watt Blaze LED and 2 eXtreme LEDs, this 7 lumen light isn’t the brightest one of all, but can still be enough to put you on the map. There are 2 different operating modes: the steady one will provide you with about 60 hours of runtime, while the superflash mode should keep the battery alive for about 100 hours. Thanks to the IPX6 standard and the vertical design, the light should stay protected against Mother Nature’s wrath.
The light is operated by 2 x AA batteries and isn’t USB rechargeable, like some of the more modern options. However, you can opt for batteries that are recharged via a special battery charger. The opinions on this matter are pretty divided, as some people want rechargeable USB lights in order to save money on batteries, while others feel that it’s obnoxious to take the light off and charge it every time.
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Cygolite Hotshot Bike Taillight
The first thing that needs to be mentioned about this taillight is the impressive 50 lumens output. If you want to be spotted from a good distance, this is definitely an option to look into, as most taillights don’t really have this intensity. Thanks to the different lighting modes, you can adjust the flash speed and brightness of the light. The steady pulse mode is ideal to alert the other traffic participants that they need to look out for you. Other modes include steady, zoom, triple flash, single flash and random mode. As advertised, this light should last more than 500 hours on a full charge, but we do have our doubt about this piece of information, especially since the brightness and mode selected often influences the battery’s drainage time.
Along with the light, you will also receive a mini USB charging cable, plus a seat post mount and a stay mount. The light is very easy to unmount, if you ever want to take with you and provide one temptation less for prowlers targeting your bike. Thanks to the included clip, it can also be attached to other items, such as your belt or your backpack. Even if the light is only water resistant (and not waterproof), customer experiences talked about heavy rain that didn’t penetrate the charging cover once tightly closed.
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Portland Design Works Danger Zone Tail Light
There’s something very threatening about the name of this product which leads you to believe that it’s some kind of relentless superhero that will always save the day when you’re cycling and want to stay visible. Powered by 2 x 0.5 watt LEDs, this little baby has 3 different lighting modes that are suitable for several traffic conditions: pulse, steady and flash. The backpack clip makes it easy to attach the light to… your backpack. Together with the light, you will also receive the Stayputnik bracket which makes sure that the light orbits around your seat post. Equipped with an UV rubber strap, you can easily unmount the light if you want to change its destination.
The light is powered by a set of AAA batteries that should give you about 50 hours of happy riding before they need replacing.
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Luditek Bike Tail Light
There are a lot of things that caught our attention when we first laid eyes on the Luditek light. We’re not going to bore you with details about USB recharging and waterproofness of the light, as most of these features are common on most similarly-priced bike lights. Let’s talk about the things that stand out, instead. First thing’s first: the brake sensor. When you’re cycling speed drops, the bike will light up powerfully for about 5 seconds. Second coolest feature: the 9 hours and 30 minutes of battery life.
The light is delivered together with a holder and an expansion clip. Whenever you charge the battery, a green LED will flash, and when the light is steady on, then you know you can unplug it. This very same indicator will let you know when you have less than 20% battery juice remaining, by quickly flashing. But wait, there’s more! You can get more information on the current battery status, by pressing the button when the light is off. If the green light stays on for 2 seconds, that means you have more than 70% of battery power left. If the green light slowly flashes twice, you have somewhere between 20 to 70% of battery life left.
A long press of the integrated button will switch the lights on and off. When the lights are on, you can select the lowest brightness (that operates as a power-saving flash) or one of the medium brightness settings (rhythmic flash, flash, slow flash or long).
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The Bottom Line
This is one of those conclusions that’s taking forever to write because it somehow feels that each of the products covered in today’s article has its own set of cool features which, if brought together, could really create the perfect bike taillight. So, instead of picking and absolute favorite, we’re going to briefly state which of the features and functions we’ve seen today are worth your time. First of all, kudos to Stupidbright for being stupid bright! You rarely expect to find a product that costs a little over $10 to be so powerful and render a visible and strong beam of light. The fact that the casing and O-ring of the product protect it up to a level where it’s both shock-resistant and waterproof really deserves another round of applause.
We wanted to give an honorable mention to the BLITZU 168T tail light because of its beam that spreads light at a 260 degrees angle. The unique shape of the product should be easily spotted by cars, pedestrians or other bikes that are coming from behind.
But, above all, we really liked the features of the Luditek product, which are extremely generous considering the low price. The mounting system allows you to lift the lights up at a 90 degrees angle, while the flashing mode can provide more than 9 hours or continuous use before recharging. Since it takes about 1 hours and 30 minutes for a full charge, you’ll rarely find yourself annoyed with how much you have to wait to be up and running (or pedaling) again. The integrated green LED indicator is useful for staying up to speed with the current battery status, so you know when to start looking for a power outlet.