Another Tail Light in My "See Me!" Arsenal

Cygolite Hotshot 100 Tail Light

Seat stay mounted Hotshot 100

I'm a recreational cyclist who lives in a city that isn't exactly bicycle-friendly (no matter what the tourism bureau says). Consequently, I make it my policy to never go out on the streets without a tail light that I hope will catch the eye of that distracted driver behind me, even in broad daylight. The USB bike light I'd been using kept getting harder and harder to charge because of a funky USB socket, so I plunked down about twenty-four smackers to buy a new one. I chose a Cygolite Hotshot 100.

They call it the "Hotshot 100" because the light's rated at 100 lumens, and my riding partner says it's considerably brighter than the one I'd had before. Even on sunny days, my blinking Hotshot is visible at least half a mile away on what Cygolite calls the "daytime" blinking pattern. That's one of five blink patterns, in addition to a steady light setting for nighttime use. The light has a double switch: one controls the blinking pattern and the other changes the speed or, on steady, the brightness.
Cygolite ships their Hotshot with two mounts: there's a seat-post clamp and a seat-stay clamp. Since, like many cyclists I know, I ride with an underseat pack, the seat post mount didn't prove suitable. Based on the hard plastic clamp design, it appears to fit only round seat posts. The first time I used the light I clipped it on the loop at the back of my underseat pack, but the light proved so top-heavy that it pointed downward at around a 45-degree angle. With that in mind, I decided to mount it on the seat stay. I was lucky that I had a short length of leftover rubber wrap from an old computer mount, because otherwise the clamp would have been too loose to stay in place on the seat stay. As it is, the clamp is screwed all the way closed even with the rubber shim in place. The screw has a tendency to work loose on bumpy roads, so I have to check it every few rides.

The light charges with a USB cable (mini USB, not micro, which seems to bother some reviewers at the River) and so far it takes about three hours to charge. I plug it in after every use, so I can't say how long it will last between charges. On the other hand, I'm pretty certain that the claimed "up to 270 hours" means only that the Hotshot can go a couple of weeks between charges when not being used.
Cygolite also sells 150-lumen and 200-lumen versions, but this one seems to be pretty much all I need for daytime use. After more than three year's use, it's been an excellent investment.

Summary

PLUS: USB charging, multiple mounting options, noticeable even in daylight
MINUS: seat stay clamp kinda large, seatpost mount only fits round posts
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING: It's a nice, bright light that I hope will catch the eye of the next soccer mom who's busy finishing a text!

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