Thanks for the feedback @Mσᶎ. When a light has particularly good optics I do mention it, but I agree there should be a more visible indicator of how a light performs in that aspect.

Regarding failures - bummer. Eventually I hope to implement a rating/review system where anybody could rate any light they've used, but that'll take more time to implement than I have right now. In the meantime, if the light that failed is in the database, you can leave a comment on that page regarding your experiences.

@freiheit do you have any trailer hitch mounted bike racks?

@nhinkle I've used them, but since I don't have a car I don't have any kind of rack for carrying a bike on a car.

@freiheit Gotcha. Any particular experiences (good or bad) using other people's?

I'm moving to Bend this summer for an internship, which is a bit more remote than Portland, so I caved in and got a car. I'll be biking to work, but hopefully driving to do some bike/camp/hike trips further from the city.

@nhinkle For trailer-hitch mounted bike racks, I never had any bad experiences. They can be fiddly to deal with when putting more than one bike on.

@nhinkle Probably my favorite that I've dealt with was one that looked a lot like this: rei.com/product/799931/thule-doubletrack-2-bike-hitch-rack -- bike wheel sits on trays, like the racks on the front of local buses, but held in place with hook on top tube instead of on wheel.

@freiheit Hmm that looks nice.

@nhinkle Also, when you put 6 bikes on a hitch-mounted rack made for 4 bikes by piling the extra 2 on top and strapping everything down, the whole thing wobbles disturbingly on the freeway.

@freiheit that sounds like an excellent idea that is surely highly recommended by the manufacturer :P

It looks like all of the platform type ones (like on buses) only hold 2 bikes or if they hold 4 they require a 2" tow hitch, while mine's only 1.25.

Granted for now I only need to haul 2 bikes around, but if my friends want to come... then it would be nice.

@nhinkle yeah only platform/tray versions I've seen that held more than 2 bikes were on a bus.

I saw one on the REI website but it stuck so far out to the back that I'd be very wary of using it.

Maybe I should've just gotten a bus! :P

Another option would be a roof type

Too much hassle getting bikes up onto the top of the car. Also kills mileage.

I'm fairly decided on doing a hitch style one, just trying to decide which one to get.

@nhinkle They're also a risk that you'll kill the bikes going into a garage.

@nhinkle Err, and further the kind where you take of the front wheel and use the fork to mount the bike are annoying...

@freiheit all that too, yep. Roof racks are pretty much out.

All that said, at $70-100 for something basic, it might be worth considering as a supplement to a hitch rack.

It's good timing - REI has the 20% off for members right now, so if I make up my mind soon I'll get a hefty discount on whatever I order.

Depending on pricing, maybe a hitch rack for 2 bikes and roof rack for 2 more, because 4 bikes on a hitch rack is also going to be a hassle. :)

That's a good point.

Although the 2-bike hitch racks are typically only $20-30 cheaper than their 4-bike counterparts from what I've been seeing so far. OTOH I could get a platform one which might be nice.

@nhinkle And the 4-bike racks only get annoying once you're trying to put that 4th bike on. For one or two bikes they are pretty quick and easy. Especially if it's the same couple bikes in the same order (so any rubber thingies are already in exactly the right spots and you've already figured out how to get those two bikes to sit together).

When do your new lights arrive?

UPS forecasts Tuesday for the headlight... USPS is vaguer about the taillight, but probably thursday...

Awesome! Let me know what you think.

I changed the holes my rack is mounted in from lower to upper so that it has enough clearance to mount a hotshot upright. This did involve a hacksaw, though.

I have the hotshot disassembled right now. Trying to figure out if I can clean corrosion out of switches somehow...

Did Cygolite get back to you about it?

@nhinkle I didn't bother contacting cygolite. Didn't seem worth it, since shipping costs would be most of the cost of a new light

@nhinkle add it to the list of improvements you're going to add in your copious spare time :)

@freiheit I've seen forward mounted roof ones, where there are bikes in your field of view (and they hold 8-10 bikes, or 4 bikes plus 4 kayaks). But I expect they're expensive and even worse for fuel consumption. And I don't own a car, so this is "I saw one once 10 years ago" stuff.

@nhinkle I have no idea which one it was, I took it back to the shop and got a refund. Over a year ago. But they are a cool looking light with a nice beam pattern. It's just "not suitable for use in the rain" makes a bike light one tiny step away from useless.

The design defect is the slot in the back of the main silicone cover. IIRC there's a little flap over the charging socket as well, but the rest of the light seemed to reply on the outer cover for waterproofing. So it's probably a defect in every one of those lights.

FWIW, one test I do when I'm building lights is leaving them turned on in a glass of salty water overnight. Salt means that any obvious leaks will short out anything the water gets to, making failures more obvious :)