Planet Bike Grateful Red bike tail light

I've had pretty good luck with Planet bike lights, although the switches on a couple of older ones I've had died after several years. Those were the older design, where there was no button, and you just pressed in on the plastic to activate the switch, so maybe the newer lights with real switches are more durable (although, all flashlight and bike light switches seem to die eventually). Anyway, this light is about perfect - the switch has an actual button, it has steady (very bright) and two flashing modes - one that I'd call "crazy obnoxious seizure-inducing," and the other that's a nice calm, slower flash - a very nice touch! And it comes with a rack mount. It also incorporates a reflector. Most importantly, it takes AAA batteries, so you can buy rechargables and a recharger and spend next to nothing over the years on batteries. I can understand why some people like USB-recharger lights, but if you live in a city, you might want to bolt the light onto the bike with tamper-resistant screws. You can do this with PB rack-mounted lights by putting in a metal L-bracket that goes behind and over the top of the light, then you can just take the outside half of the light off of the bike when you need to change batteries (the red half of the light, that contains the batteries and LED bits, pops off, leaving the black half with no electronics attached to the bike).

First impression out of the box: I found them to be a little small as they were almost half the size as the original light my bike came with. The light came with two AAA batteries already in and ready to go. There is a big soft blue button on the back side of the light that is very easy to find. I found the light to be much brighter than the original light my bike came with so at that point, I did not care about the size anymore. Mounting: It came with a rear rack mount as well as a seat post mount. Installation to the rear rack mount was very simple and took about 5 minutes. Although I didn’t need the instructions, the images are very straightforward. 3 settings: Steady, “Superflash,” and Courtesy. -Steady is just the light at 13 lumens without any effects. -Superflash is a flashing or strobing light at 13 lumens. -Courtesy is a pulsing light that goes from 4 to 11 lumens. For people who ride with daytime lights, I can’t say the light is really noticeable in the daytime but it works as a reflector. It may be more noticeable on cloudy days or maybe early in the morning or evening. *This light DOES NOT turn off automatically after a minute of being stationary so you do have to manually press the button on the rear to turn it off and on. Waterproofing: The light is rated at IPX3 (protected against water spraying at a 60 degree angle) and has a rubber or silicone gasket so although not completely waterproof, it should be fine in the rain. I personally live where it doesn’t rain very often so I’m not too worried about it. Overall, it seems like a good sturdy light. I often ride on bumpy roads so I would like to see how well it holds up in the long run.

I believe I hit on the ultimate lighting package for a road bike, at least for me. The following system hits all my requirements: 1. Flashlight/headlight is aluminum body (tough) and BRIGHT. 2. Everything performs double or triple duty. 3. Headlight and taillight can be installed and removed one-handed. 4. Everything can be removed quickly. 5. Everything is certified waterproof with the flashlight having the highest rating. 6. Nothing moves around while riding. 7. No wires or battery pack. 8. Most components are rechargeable. 9. Critical units can be re-batteried if necessary on long rides. 10. Secondary taillight/headlight can be very easily moved to another bike. HEADLIGHT: The Uelfbaby 1000 lumen rechargeable flashlight is a very robust and clever design with the USB charging port sealed behind a rubber o-ring. I have an expensive tactical light that's 700 lumens and this is quite a bit brighter and whiter, it's easily as bright as an average car high beam. It does have a slight "bullseye" of light, which is not a problem while riding. It's IPX7 so it's submersible to one meter. The Uelfbaby takes a 18650 rechargeable battery, which can either be charged by USB or on a separate charger (not included). This is a much better flashlight than I was expecting, though I would only run it as a weapon light as a last resort... I haven't tested it with recoil and it doesn't have a momentary function, but it does have a strobe setting and it's retina-scorching enough to use as a deterrent against humans or dogs. It comes with a really slick mount, which looks like plastic but it's actually very dense rubber which holds the light perfectly, plus the light can be installed and removed with one hand. The Uelfbaby comes with a rechargeable taillight which is actually pretty cool but I'm using it as a backup. PRIMARY TAILLIGHT: I recently put a Grateful Red on the back of my rack, it's the perfect size and brightness, and can also be installed and removed with one hand. The GR takes 3 AAA's and it's the only non-rechargeable in my system. It performs double-duty as a reflector. SECONDARY TAILLIGHT: I run a Blackburn 2'FER (not the XL) on the seat tube in tandem with the Grateful Red. It's super tiny, it runs a long time on a charge, and it's EXTREMELY bright for its size. Unlike the GR it has dual white and red settings, so it can be used as a daylight strobe as well as a backup headlight or flashlight. It attaches with a heavy rubber strap so it takes two hands to install, one to remove. CONCLUSION: The Grateful Red and the Blackburn 2'FER pulse differently, and together they demand almost as much attention as a police car (literally... On one of my first night trips I had a guy slow down just to tell me he was amazed and saw me from a mile away). With the thousand lumen Uelfbaby torch out front, I don't believe there is a better system. Buy it, now. Now. Three, two, one, now. Buy it now. :-)

This light is quite bright and is an excellent value for money. My unit is mounted at the distal end of my bike rack, in a spot usually reserved for a reflector, but there are quite a few other mounting options, with the hardware needed included. This is actually my second Grateful Red; the first began to work intermittently after about two years. I filed a warranty claim, answered a few questions and sent a photo as requested, and a replacement new unit was sent out promptly, at no cost. This kind of support is sadly quite rare these days and Planet Bike has earned my loyalty. In summary, the Grateful Red is a great product from folks who stand behind what they sell

This is a super reliable bike tail light. I tried one of the rechargeable tail lights, but the battery was extremely small. This significantly reduced run time of the light. I would always forget to charge the light, so many times, I had to go without it. When the rechargeable light fails, it just quits. The Grateful Red is powered by two AAA batteries, and the estimated run time is 150 hours. The best thing is that it fails slowly, and this gives you plenty of time to switch out the batteries for a fresh set. I was concerned whether 13 lumens of light was enough, but it is plenty of light output for a tail light. Also, the mode switch appears to be well-sealed against moisture intrusion. The best thing is the name...Grateful Red. I like it. Very clever!!

This is a nice bit of kit, a good value for the money. It's a reflector, tail light, and tail light flasher, all in one. It comes with 2xAAA batteries (installed), a clip for a (narrow) belt or other thick material (installed), a seat post mount (with a rubber insert), and a bike rack mount. I've been out of the bicycle game for some years now, so it was a surprise to me that some bike racks have a standard bracket to which a reflector or tail light can be mounted, if the light has a compatible mount. This light does. The belt clip is one solid plastic piece that slides onto the back of the light and can be replaced with the seat post or rack mount. There's a gap in the clip to fit either a belt or backpack or pants pocket, but it won't clip securely to thin material. It claims to be water proof with an IPX3 rating. There's a gasket made of a silicone like material (could even be silicone) between the reflector/lens and the body, and around the On/Off/Selector switch on the back. At the very least I'd gauge this as highly water resistant. Besides being a reflector, it has a steady tail light function and two flashing rates- Superflash and Courtesy. Courtesy is much slower, with both a slow On and slow Off pulse. Very casual compared to the frenetic flashing of Superflash. The tail light is also on in Courtesy mode, so the light is never dark until your turn it completely off. Press the button and the tail light is on. Press again for rapid flashing. Press and hold for the Courtesy Flash. Press again to turn it off. The rapid mode may be unique to Planet Bike. The top and bottom of the light flash rapidly while a "bar" of light across the width of the light flashes brighter and slightly slower, but still fast. Very distinctive and eye catching. I bought this as a backup emergency flasher for my motorcycle, in the event it is disabled at night, somewhere. As designed from the factory, the 4-way flashers don't work unless the key is in the bike. That's ok as long as you don't have to trek somewhere to get help. And even though I've replaced the OEM incandescent bulbs with LEDs, the puny battery won't last but a few hours. I'll use super hook-and-loop material to mount it when needed, to the back fender. At 150/45 hours for Superflash/Courtesy, it will do the job without leaving the key in the ignition. Three things so far, keep this from being a 5-star product for me. It uses AAA batteries and I would have preferred AA cells. The reflector is pretty tight to open to change batteries.That helps for waterproofing/resistance but it makes things a little difficult. You can use a coin or screwdriver in a couple of notches to open it, but I think that will chew up the case. I'll keep an eye on that. Lastly, it looks like the reflector can be installed upside down if you're a little distracted, and the button on the case would be on the opposite side of the button on the printed circuit board, so the twain would never meet. Test the light after changing batteries and you're good. I'll give this light a daylight test, but that's not my use case, so it's not critical. So far, I'd say it's hard to go wrong with this light.

Specifically ordered this based on its reputation and the fact that it uses regular batteries... I can carry extra batteries JIC, unlike those lame rechargeable ones. Slap in new batteries and be in your way! This unit is very bright, super easy to use even with gloves, by pushing a big button and just does its job...with old school simplicity and durability.

I had a cheap Bell taillight similar to this. It was battery powered, clipped on, and you could have steady on, slow blink, fast blink, or chasseing lights. I loved the thing. Batteries lasted forever, I liked the slow blink. It wasn't crazy bright, but bright enough to be noticed from behind, which was my goal. This one is considerably brighter, and also has the steady on and a sort of slow blink, only it goes from dim to very bright in a cycle, so it's never completely off. I much preferred the slow blink on and off of my old one as I think that's more effective at catching drivers attention. The "insane" setting chases the LEDs back and forth and is a bit too intense for riding at night on little trafficked roads. My goal isn't to draw everyone's attention a mile away, it's just to make sure that any cars approaching from the rear can see me. This has a bracket that can be used to mount to seat post, but since I have a bike lock mounted there, I needed one that I could clip on to my waistband or rear pocket. The only challenge with this, as with my old one, is remembering to turn it off when I go in stores, etc. ha. I've walked through grocery stores shopping with the thing still blinking. ha. A bit embarrassing when I realized it when I got back to my bike.

Really happy with this unit. Good features. Really bright. Several mounting options. Quality build. Slightly on the larger size but still reasonable. Love that the batteries are replaceable. USB charging is for suckers.

Has 3 modes, bright, flashing and low, in that order. Batteries were included. Seems waterproof enough. I wish that the rack bracket was a bit stiffer (currently a little too flexible for my liking). I also wish that the cover is screw fitted instead of snap fit.

Rect avant la date👍

Super bright battery operated rear back light. It comes with everything including the two types of attachments and the batteries. I attached it to my rear rack (fuji touring) and it fits perfectly! It's small but bright and it has built in reflectors which is good for road safety in general. I think its also the law in some provinces to have reflectors so thats a plus! There are three modes of lighting (solid, fast blinking,slow blink). I mostly use the slow blinking as the fast blinking is too much! The only down side is I can't screw it on to the bike rack which is good if you never leave your bike unattended. I suppose it makes it easier when you replace the batteries but I'd prefer not needing to think about it when I park.

THIS IS A VERY BRIGHT TAILLIGHT FOR MY BICYCLE. GREAT VALUE. IT EVEN SHOWS UP DURING THE DAY! I'D LIKE TO GET ANOTHER ONE FOR MY SECOND BIKE.