List Price: $39.95
Sale Price: $32.95
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I am an avid bike rider and am very concerned about both day and night visibility to traffic. I use a terrific 500 lumens Cygolite for front visibility and illumination. Thus said, when looking for more powerful rear illumination I did my research and chose the Cygolite Hotshot 2-Watt USB Rechargable Taillight with USB Cable.
The positives:
1. If the beam is set to be perfectly straight back from your seat post (the light must be parallel to the street) you will be seen better than ANY other rear light out there in daytime and night time. I revel at how visible it makes me!
2. I like the fact that you can control both the light intensity and speed and have five different settings.
3. Being rechargeable via usb also rocks.
The negatives (why only three stars):
1. The beam is VERY directional. If you clip it to the back of your shirt or it is misaligned you are NOT getting a bright light visible to the drivers.
2. If you have your spare tube, patches and tools in a small pouch behind your seat like most road bikers I know and you try to clipping it to the loop on the back of the pouch you can guarantee you won't have the full visibility. I had to come up with my own custom mount with an 8 inch piece of tubing and angled additional connectors attached to the back of my seat post to mount it.
3. The tiny I mean TINY screw that comes with the light attachment is used to hold the light to the seat post is the one that you use to adjust level swivel is inadequate. That sucker won't last if you need to adjust it much.
Hopefully they'll redesign this in the next release to do three things better:
1. Increase multi-directional visibility.
2. Better their clips/attachments to bike to be more durable accommodate those of us with under seat tool kits.
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I have a boneyard of bicycle tail lights strewn around my garage. I commute year round in Central Oregon, 45 minutes each way. In the winter months, when the sun comes up around 8:30 AM, and goes down by 4:15 PM, that means I'm riding in the dark, coming and going. Though I choose my route carefully, there are a couple of "tight spots" along the way where I really want to be seen. During the last year or so, a variety of truly bright tail lights have come out, visible during daylight hours from quite a distance. The Cygolite Hotshot 2-Watt USB, in my mind, is the best.Is there a noticeable difference between a 2 watt LED and a single watt? My wife, who overtakes me in her car on the way to work, says "YES!". She notes that the Cygolite is easily the brightest tail light I've ever used.
What's to like? Easily detachable/attachable. Multiple modes. Very long life on a single charge, well over 24 hours even at the brightest setting. Gotta love the USB rechargeable battery: at the end of my work week, I pop the light off my bike, charge it (2-3 hours), pop it back on, good to go for at least another week. No prying covers off, no batteries to dispose of.
What's less to like? If you belong to a group of night riders, you'll have to tone down: this light is obnoxiously bright even to some cars, much less to a fellow rider right behind you. The light intensity, in fairness, is very adjustable. Mode selection is easy, adjusting the intensity of the light took me a bit of practice, and cost me a bit of frustration.
I've been using this light for five months. I'm loving its ease of use. I'm loving that it's so bright that cars often give me far more room than I need to feel safe. It's high daytime visibility is a real plus on my recumbent. This item is a winner that has made my half dozen other tail lights obsolete. Job well done, Cygolite.
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April through August I commute to work everyday and I'm always looking for items that will get driver's attention.I really like this light. It may be the brightest LED light on the market. It is very directional but that is not a problem once mounted properly.
I have two issues with the light. First I wish it had addtional hardware to mount it on one of the seat stays. I find it limiting to only be able to mount on the seat post. Clipping it on the back of my seat bag is not really an option because of the directional nature of the light.
2nd, the light only lasted a month. The last week it worked it seemed more difficult to turn on and off and last Friday I was not able to turn it on at all. I never really got through the first charge of the light. Recharging did not change anything.
I've emailed Cygolite and I'm currently waiting a reply to see how they are going to handle the issue. I'll update my review based on their response.
Update: Cygolite got back to me with a return authorization. I returned the light (I had to pay shipping) and promptly received a light back that worked, with absolutely no explanation as to what was done. I don't know if I got my original repaired or if they sent me a replacement. On their website the product is listed as "Weather proof for all riding conditions" but the first question their customer service person asked me was if I had ridden with the light in the rain.
I found their customer service person not very personable or helpful. I don't feel that I should have paid shipping to return it when the repair/replacement was covered under warranty. I'm much happier with my Planet Bike Super Flash turbo which runs flawlessly in all conditions.
Honest reviews on Cygolite Hotshot 2-Watt USB Rechargeable Taillight with USB Cable
Some reviewers here are too much. "Not multi-directioal", "not bright enough", "the screw is too weak if you adjust too much", "the charging cover will come off". Its funny to read these reviews.LISTEN, this is pretty simple. You want a bright rear light for your bike that is (based on my online research) the brightest one (based on watts), its reliable at doing its job and will never need batteries? Then this is the baby to go. Dont let reviews confuse you, I am glad they did not persuade me off buying this puppy up. It is a great light. I have had it for 200+ miles and in the rain and it has worked beautifully. Changing the intensity of the blinking is yet another great perk.
I honestly feel safer with this one, and I can say cars stay farther away from me with this light than when I use to use 2 Planet Bike Super Flashers in the back. Think about it...2 Planet Bike's Rear Flashers still have less intensity that just one of these. Buy it...you wont regret it.
UPDATE SEPT 6, 2012==============
What happened to me was so awesome that I NEED to share it on the product's review. If you are on the fence about this light this will b the push you need and I hope you get to read it.
I just arrived from a 50KM ride; it is 8:45pm my time (Florida). At around 7:30pm (the sun had already set and it was dark) I was going at around 21mph on a bike line going south on Flamingo Rd on Pembroke Pines Florida. A driver stopped side by side to my bike and started saying stuff I could not hear over my headphones. When I removed my headphones the guy was screaming "DUUDEEE, what is that light? I've been trying to get a light that is bright and yours is bright as S***. I gladly told the nice fella: "it's a 2 watt Cygolite Hotshot" and he was like "its awesome...THANK YOU".
This made me feel very good about my purchase and cement's my feeling that this little light is super bright.
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