Planet Bike 3018-1 Rack Blinky 5- 5 LED Tail Light with Rack Mount and Batteries
December 14th, 2009
The Planet Bike BRT-5 Taillight features a reflector integrated into the lens and Scotchlite reflective side strips.
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test Filed under Bikes | Tags: 30181, Bike, Blinky, Light, Mount, Planet, Rack, Tail, with | Comments (3)3 Responses to “Planet Bike 3018-1 Rack Blinky 5- 5 LED Tail Light with Rack Mount and Batteries”
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I installed a bike rack that had a mount and standard reflector, but since my neighborhood jaunts take through traffic at times, I wanted something a little more visible to cars.
This blinky has 5 bright LEDs, two lighting options (blink or steady), and an option to clip it to clothing or bags, mount it to your seatpost or attach it to a reflector mount on your rack. Both mounts are included in the package, along with batteries. At least one of these mounts, the Planet Bike Rear Rack Taillight Mount 3108, sells separately as well.
The bracket mounted to the rack easily, and the light clip snaps into a groove. I did take the precaution of hanging the light so that it must be slid up to remove it after bending back the catch, rather than slid down.
Its obscenely bright, but that’s what I wanted, and doesn’t hang too low in the rear bracket, but fits perfectly under the rear of my Bontrager trunk rack. When I start commuting, I think I’ll get a second to mount on the seat post, and then unclip the light and attach it to the trunk-bag when it’s on the rack.
I wanted a light that was bright but not too bright. I considered some of the lights with they white broadcasting LED. From a distance they are certainly brighter but I often ride with a group and have guys who follow and that would be a little on the rude side for them. I looked at all the catz eye lights they had in stock and this one made more sense. It has 5 LED’s they are bright and they really light the entire unit up (due to the diffusion in the unit). It was more noticeable than some of the other 3 or 5 LED lights. The light has two modes, flash and continuous.
The mount is nothing to crow about. It’s a single screw system with the actual holder coming off one side. It seems a bit sturdier than some of the cheaper mounts I’ve seen but its not a quality rig by any means. It should do the job well enough.
Changing the batteries is about average. There are two slots on either side between the back of the unit and the weather seal. You get a coin or screwdriver and pop it open. Runs on 2x AAA’s (included). Snaps back together easy.
The back clip is also average when it comes to fastening to bags, clothing and whatnot. It’s a medium length clip, it holds but could come off of something other than a properly sized strap. Better than some, not as good as others.
So in summary
Pros
Bright
No serious flaws
Great price
Cons
None really for its price point.
Not as compact as other units.
Conclusion
If your looking for a good serviceable unit that is bright and doesn’t have any serious flaws for a good price this will do you well. It is an excellent value.
Pretty good–it’s nice to find a rack-mountable taillight these days. Nevertheless, this one has some issues. First, the mount places the light relatively low–sort of needs to, because that centers it vertically on the rack–but one result is that the tab that you press to release the light sticks down quite a ways. If your rack is mounted close to the tire, or if you have fenders, you may find that the tab touches the tire or fender, which can be a problem–mine just barely clears the fender. Also, the light seems heavy for the mount. On the plus side, you can interchange nearly all of the PB taillights, so this mount will nicely hold a SuperFlash as well as the light with which it ships.