Planet Bike Blinky 1 Bike Tail Light

The blinking light helps keep me safe.

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The product arrived promptly, was easy to install and operate. A great value for the riding safety it provides.

It performs its core function fine (they all do), and is comfortable to carry in a pocket (with a caveat, see 3). Now, bad stuff:1) I had two of them shutdown in wet weather. The vulnerable part is the bottom of the unit where the battery compartment is, as water splashing from the rear wheel gets in (an identically designed front white light which is not exposed to the wheel splash is fine in the rain since it gets rained on from *above*). If this happens to you, open it up, leave to dry overnight - although batteries may need to be replaced, which is highly topical, since...2) The N-size battery is an odd choice: hard to find, about 5x more expensive than an ubiquitous AAA. In perspective - a battery set costs about 30% of the cost of the entire unit...The light comes with a zinc-chloride (aka "heavy-duty") version of the battery , which , in the 21st century, is essentially a type of a fraud (in particular, the manufacturers' stated light performance characteristics can not be attained with this type of a battery, you need alkaline)3) The switch is a tiny light-touch push button sticking out from the bottom which invariably gets pushed in a pocket or in a bag. You walk around with a blinking light in your pocket... Bike light switch should be easy enough to locate and engage if you need to turn it on while riding, but not THAT easy...4) The light can be used only in its own mount - can't slap it on your belt, your helmet, back of the rucksack, back of the bike bag, your friends bike - all those places where sooner or later you'd need to put it on. The other Planet Bike lights don't fit this mount, incidentally...5) try opening the battery compartment without some kind of a tool...Alternatives: Planet Bike's own superflash light is a much better choice, impervious to water, using common battery size, sealed well-designed switch and versatile mounting system (usually rides clipped to my pants)Knogg lights use normal batteries and are well sealed - but their mounting system in general makes them angle up or down as bike frame elements are angled. Not great, and often useless...

Love these lights!I've never seen so many complaints about a battery cover. Geez! Use a quarter, twist and open. What am I missing? I just ordered a second one of these for my wife. The N batteries are super easy to find. I just ordered 8 of them for ten bucks shipped on the bay and they last. Would you rather have watch batteries that you change once a week? The company needs ample power for bright lights in a small package.This light is solid, easy to install and no fuss!

This is my Department of Redundancy Department light. I run a Blinky 1 as a second tail light on all my bikes, on the left side chain stay. Super bright, batteries last a long time. Run in conjunction with a Planet Bike Turbo Super Flash or the Blinky 5, you can see me from a long way away.

What are you looking for in a rear bike light? To be seen.If this is all you are looking for, this is the perfect product. The price is dirt cheap and the 3 leds are bright and will make you seen at night.(I don't feel that the Knog Frog (single led) lights create enough light to really make you noticable. This is a much better product.)

Stinks because I want to like planet bike. I had one of these over the winter of 2013 for riding at night during the winter. It was bring and the right size, but after about 3 months it failed. I opened it up and there was rust and moisture all inside. I swapped out the N battery which literally took me about 8 stores to find. I filed off all the rust and got it to work for about another week. Then it died. So I figured I'd order another one. Did so, and I even took the time to try to waterproof this one. I put electrical tape smooth around every seam. I taped any area that might possibly allow water in. Well 1 week after using it I noticed that when I shut it off it would continue to randomly blink. I took the battery out and put it back. Still would do it. Then I got caught in a rain storm and guess what? Peace... It's history. I am using 2.95 one from amazon right now that has been through 2 storms and still blinks perfect. Later for this thing.