looking for a daytime rear seatpost light...

[Steve K]

Side visibility is important, as you noticed already.
The Cateye Rapid offers that too, now in its 3rd generation (Rapid X3) with full side beam and beam towards the seat.
http://www.cateye.com/intl/products/detail/TL-LD720-R/

that is an interesting change in design philosophy. My current Cateye taillights have a fairly narrow beam that requires getting the light position set up with some precision in order to have the beam directed horizontally and towards the driver's eyes. This design goes the opposite direction, radiating light in all directions (at least in azimuth) and offering no adjustment for vertical angles.

Radiating light over such a wide angle is going to reduce the amount of light reaching a particular area. I wonder how bright it will look when compared to an earlier type of design that uses a narrower beam?

I also notice that this uses USB charging. Personally, I'm not sure that I like this trend. It appears to encourage the use of non-replaceable lithium batteries. Cateye is very good about making spare parts available, and they don't list a replacement battery.
On the plus side... Cateye still lists the TL-LD630-R, which is my preferred taillight and powered by a AA cell.

 

[5S8Zh5]

2015 thread bump. Looking to upgrade my 30 lumen Cygolite Hotshot High Power 2 Watt. They now have the Cygolite Hypershot in 250 or 350 lumen. It's like a $9 and change price difference.

iirc the human eye won't be able to tell the difference between 350 and 250 lumens, is this correct?

How about between 250 and 150 lumens? $24 price difference.

 

[znomit]

I don't have the Hypershot but have a 150 and 200 Hotshot. I think there are some difference between modes which might be more significant than the lumen differences. They are all very very bright so you can't really go wrong.

 

[5S8Zh5]

I don't have the Hypershot but have a 150 and 200 Hotshot. I think there are some difference between modes which might be more significant than the lumen differences. They are all very very bright so you can't really go wrong.

Thanks.

I just read that the (two emitter) Hypershot 350 is two 175 lumens combined. So the Hotshot 200 is looking better to me.

 

[angerdan]

There are better taillights than the Cygolite ones.
Especially when it comes to 360° visibility, which is neccesary in urban areas.

Bullet™ 200 Bike Taillight

NiteRider's Bullet taillight pierces through the daytime and nighttime hours with the same visual effectiveness you've come to expect. However, the aptly named Bullet™ takes the throne within our taillight line as having the longest run time (29:15 hours total) with our high capacity Li-Po...

www.niterider.com

Sentry™ Aero 260 Bike Taillight for Optimal VIZ

The NiteRider® Sentry™ Aero 260 keeps guard both night and day with an aerodynamic shape that gives cyclists 260 degrees of visibility with a matching 260 lumens of light output featuring Optimal VIZ Daylight Visible Flash (DVF) technology. It's lightweight form factor (65g) and ability to fit...

www.niterider.com

Cateye offers good taillights too.

CATEYE [RAPID X2 KINETIC]

RAPID X2 KINETIC[TL-LD710K]

www.cateye.com

CATEYE [RAPID X3]

RAPID X3[TL-LD720-R]

www.cateye.com