# NiteRider Sentry Aero 260 Tail Light



## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

The Commuting sub-forum is likely a better place for this post, but I thought I would mention the following nonetheless...

I picked up a NiteRider Sentry Aero 260 tail light yesterday. I commute 5 days a week. During the winter months (and often in the other 3 seasons), I am riding in pitch black conditions. In short, adequate lighting, for commuting, is critical. 

I don't mind spending money on anything commuting related, given that I save about $600 a month in parking, let alone gas, depreciation on my vehicle, etc. 

After using well over a dozen different tail lights over the past 10+ years commuting, this one appears to be the holy grail.

This tail light has a maximum output of 260 lumens (as advertised, at least). Whatever it is, it is BRIGHT. And each of the 6 lighting settings is very effective and usable, depending on the conditions and time of day/night. I cannot imagine not being seen while using this light. This thing is almost certain to power through even the most dense, blustery snowfalls. 

It has a very wide field of visibility - advertised to be 260 degrees. No more issues with visibility by drivers of cars that are at 90 degrees to me, while crossing intersections. It is almost as visible from the side, as it is from behind. 

Conveniently, it powers up in the last setting used. 

Compared to other lights I have used, the NiteRider has a superior attaching/mounting mechanism (for me at least). It is a single button light, which is much easier to use than any of the dual button lights out there. Unlike some of the other tail lights I have had, it uses the same size charger as its matching front Lumina lights (I had to carry 2 separate chargers using some of the more popular other branded lights). 

The LED lighting from the NiteRider is shockingly beautiful. It reminds me of the LED lighting on higher end vehicles. There is simply no comparison between this light and any of the other branded tail lights I have ever used. Even the most inexpensive NiteRider tail light looked incredible powered on. It is something that has to be seen side by side with other branded tail lights, to be appreciated. 

I paid somewhere in the neighbourhood of $38 CDN for it ($28 USD).

While I will obviously need to put it through its paces in real word conditions before I am able to conclusively assess it, for now, this light appears to me to be next level. 

Let me know if there is anything out there in the same league as this tail light. If there is, I am not aware of it.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Interesting design. Looks like it is intended to compete with the Cateye Rapid X3 ( 150 lumen ). Still, I have a hard time accepting the claimed 260 lumen output seeing the Niterider Aero is using COB leds ( two sets of COB panels judging from the videos ) Hard to tell just how much of that 260 is being viewed from the rear as one set of COB panels is intended to illuminate the side panels. Regardless should still make an excellent rear lamp although if I were to buy a Niterider rear lamp I'd likely go with the new Omega 300 which looks like most of the light is projected directly to the rear. 

The thing I like most about the Aero 260 is that it is incorporating some interesting modes and the side visibility of the lamp is without equal. The thing I like less about it is that the mount is not adjustable ( for aiming ). Not real important since it uses COB leds but I prefer rear lamps that can be aimed. Still, I don't think I'd buy the Aero 260 unless I could see how bright it is when viewed from the rear. Very affordable though at about $40 USD.


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## *OneSpeed* (Oct 18, 2013)

I just read a good review of this light, timely thread. It won Editors Choice on Bikerumor. He noted many of the same positive qualities you pointed out, namely the bright light and excellent visibility. 

The only "negative" was battery life so I'm curious to hear what you think about the battery life. 

(Can't wait for the lumen meter freaks to come here and start bashing this light because it only makes 253 lumens after 15 minutes of operation. Beware the evil light company lying about light output!!! Nightrider is EVIL, we should sue their ass!! Oh wait, someone already started that...)


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

*OneSpeed* said:


> I just read a good review of this light, timely thread. It won Editors Choice on Bikerumor. He noted many of the same positive qualities you pointed out, namely the bright light and excellent visibility.
> 
> The only "negative" was battery life so I'm curious to hear what you think about the battery life.
> 
> *(Can't wait for the lumen meter freaks to come here and start bashing this light because it only makes 253 lumens after 15 minutes of operation. Beware the evil light company lying about light output!!! Nightrider is EVIL, we should sue their ass!! Oh wait, someone already started that...)*


Real hard to measure output with rear lights and while I question the claimed output, I only do that because of what I already know about rear lights that use COB panel LED's. You need to remember that there is a lot of competition when it comes to new bike products so it wouldn't surprise me if some manufacturers tended to over-hype their new products ( as they've done it before...ie....Magicshine when they came out with their newer lights )

If the Aero 260 were to put out a real 100 lumen directly to the rear I think I'd be perfectly happy with that as 100 lm even from a COB panel is quite bright. I do wonder however just how long any small self contained LED lamp can run when outputting 260 ( full power ) lumen. If someone who actually owns one is not getting the full listed run time when on high I wouldn't be surprised.


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## *OneSpeed* (Oct 18, 2013)

I'm just sayin, the two people (so far) that have used this light noted how bright it is. For some that's not good enough, they need to put a gauge on it and measure. Apparently it's notably bright. Good enough for me. Do I care if it makes 100 lumens directly to the rear? Nope. 

I'll add that I'm interested in the battery life compared to my current Solas 250. Same price. I'm quite happy with the battery life of the Solas. I'm looking for a second rear light, if this one has similar battery life and better visibility I might make the switch instead of getting another 250.

I know how bright my NR Solas 250 is, if the Sentry is similar it will be plenty bright regardless of how it measures on on a light meter.


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

Cat-man-do said:


> Real hard to measure output with rear lights and while I question the claimed output, I only do that because of what I already know about rear lights that use COB panel LED's. You need to remember that there is a lot of competition when it comes to new bike products so it wouldn't surprise me if some manufacturers tended to over-hype their new products ( as they've done it before...ie....Magicshine when they came out with their newer lights )
> 
> If the Aero 260 were to put out a real 100 lumen directly to the rear I think I'd be perfectly happy with that as 100 lm even from a COB panel is quite bright. I do wonder however just how long any small self contained LED lamp can run when outputting 260 ( full power ) lumen. If someone who actually owns one is not getting the full listed run time when on high I wouldn't be surprised.


I will let you know once I get some real ride time in on it. I suspect it may not live up to its advertised lumens rating or battery time, although I don't know one way or the other. I will give an objective layperson's review of it in a few weeks.

I am not a fan of CygoLite, front or rear. I much prefer NiteRider. For a long list of reasons. But we have already been through that in other threads. Personally I don't care what people wish to use. But it does irk me a bit to see NiteRider get the **** kicking it does on here, when my experience is to the contrary. Just trying to add a bit of real world balance.

Like I have said before, I am not a government regulator of advertising content. I am a biker who commutes daily year round, and have been doing so for years. I only care about what works well, not whether somebody is taking some liberties with its advertising claims.

Whatever its bench tested output, this light is bright AF. Trust me on that. I am concerned I am going to piss people off with it. Whatever the bench tested output is, I don't care. The thing is blinding bright. And I say that having owned and used a CygoLite Hotshot 100 and 150 (and NUMEROUS other tail lights).

If it shits the bed on battery life, that won't be great. That said, I don't mind charging my lights at work as often as it takes, so again, I don't really care that much.

As I said above, if there is a better tail light out there for commuting in safety, I would like to know about it. This thing is revolutionary, in terms of its 260 degrees of visibility. The quality of the actual light produced is jaw dropping, but I found that with all the NiteRider tail lights, regardless of cost. The other ones look like cheap red lights. This thing looks like it came from the designers of the nicest vehicle tail lights out there. Absolutely gorgeous.

I spend ridiculous amounts of money on all my bikes, in quest of the best. I have never felt the need to replace any of my NiteRider lights. Again though, the only riding I do in the dark is commuting. Night riding in the mountains in my area, especially with my daughter, is not something that appeals to me.


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## mb323323 (Aug 1, 2006)

I bought a Solas 250 and I think that dang thing is so bright when it hits the bright pulse light that I could ride by it at night if it would stay that bright. But the bright pulse is of course only on for a sec or so. I bought it to use during the day so I'd be better seen this Summer. Dunno how you guys road ride in Winter. Too cold. Mtn bike yeah b'c it's slower. And I'm in the Bay Area so kudos to those in colder areas Winter road riding!


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

*OneSpeed* said:


> I'm just sayin, the two people (so far) that have used this light noted how bright it is. For some that's not good enough, they need to put a gauge on it and measure. Apparently it's notably bright. Good enough for me. *Do I care if it makes 100 lumens directly to the rear? Nope*.
> .


Not sure I understand why you wouldn't care how bright it is directly to the rear since that is the primary function of what a rear light is suppose to do... Of course if you own the light and feel it is sufficient enough to be seen from the rear than I suppose that would make sense.

For me to say that a rear lamp is sufficiently bright enough to satisfy my own needs I wouldn't necessarily measure it with a light meter. All I need to do is walk a couple hundred feet behind the bike at night and then trust what my eyes see to tell me if the light is bright enough to be seen at a farther distance. If you are considering buying another Solas you might consider buying the newer Omega which should be brighter and has a similar form factor to the Solas ( although I'm sure there's nothing wrong with getting another Solas. At least all the Niteriders are affordable and should make for very good rear lights. )


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## *OneSpeed* (Oct 18, 2013)

Yeah, I'm just saying I don't care what the actual number of lumens is so long as it's sufficiently bright.


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## Vancbiker (May 25, 2005)

Cat-man-do said:


> .......For me to say that a rear lamp is sufficiently bright enough to satisfy my own needs I wouldn't necessarily measure it with a light meter. All I need to do is walk a couple hundred feet behind the bike at night and then trust what my eyes see to tell me if the light is bright enough to be seen at a farther distance.


The downside to that is it requires you to actually have the light to be able to see if it works to your needs. Hard to use that method when shopping. Some LBS's might be agreeable to allowing a test like that. I know I don't have that kind of relationship with any.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

Vancbiker said:


> The downside to that is it requires you to actually have the light to be able to see if it works to your needs. Hard to use that method when shopping. Some LBS's might be agreeable to allowing a test like that. I know I don't have that kind of relationship with any.


Yep....absolutely true. That's one of the reasons why I participate in this forum. I read what others say about the products they are using and then try to decide who seems to be the most perceptive and non-biased. If I read something that doesn't seem to add up or conversely seems to be interesting I'll start asking more questions if I feel I need for more detail.

I bought an awful amount of bike lights over the years that turned out to be junk. Some of the stuff I've bought over the years is also pretty good. Either way owning a bunch of misc. bike lights that were built using different form factors has helped me figure out which types tend to be worth owning.

Anyway, FWIW I can't just buy any light I want to try just because I might find it interesting. My pockets are only so deep.  Sometimes I get lucky and find a particular light on display at one of the LBS's. REI tends to carry a lot of the NR and Cygolite stuff. They have a "no questions asked" policy if you return something within a reasonable amount of time. Bought my Cygolite Hotshot 150 at REI. So far no reason to return it and the output is awesome. Doesn't mean there isn't a better rear lamp than the ones I own. It just means I haven't found anything yet that is so far better than what I already own that it would justify laying down the extra coin. Right now I really don't feel the need for a newer rear lamp anyway. Still, I keep an open eye just in case someone makes something new and innovated that really intrigues me.


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## Speedy-DK (Oct 28, 2014)

The NiteRider Omega 300 rear light did not do well when tested by road.cc.
The light was not tight against rain but had a water ingress issue affecting the function - a 'no go' for me as a all weather/all year commuter:

https://road.cc/content/review/252916-niterider-omega-300-rear-light


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## froze (Feb 5, 2011)

I've been looking at the NR Sentry Aero 260 myself, it seems really promising, and I like the effect the side lighting has, the side lighting seems as bright as the rear! I've never seen anything like that before. That side lighting business is something that I have for a long time hoped someone would get smart enough to make such a product and NR has done it. 

Like one poster said, even if the lumens is off, I doubt it's off by much because most non generic light manufactures are darn close, to within 50 lumens, but the fact that it has that really bright side lighting thing going on would counter any small percentage of drop off of lumens, and the side lighting makes the whole thing worth it anyways.

Magicshine is a generic light that was imported in and a brand name was created and slapped on the light, and those lights for a long time didn't put out anywhere near the lumens they claimed. I had a friend who had a MS that claimed was 1,200 lumens, my 285 some odd lumen Philips Saferide light with aimed optics was brighter! But in the last year MS has improved the quality of their generic Chinese made light and from what I've heard the lumens are much improved, most of that was due to the price point which was higher than Amazon generics but was only putting out lumens equal to $30 generics they finally wised up and increased the lumens. MS also for a long time had issues with their chargers failing and early models had batteries that caught fire, but all of that seems to have been addressed.

Added note: I've NEVER had any issues with Cygolite stuff, in fact their batteries are superior to any other light I've ever bought. When I say superior I mean how many years will it last. I have a MityCross 480 osp, that battery is now 10 years old and still holds its charge for almost as long as it did when it was new, the longest any rechargeable battery I've had for cycling use has been 5 years till I got the Cygolite. So I can't say anything negative about Cygolite whatsoever. I still have an old Cygolite Metro that ran off of 8 D batteries using a dual beam 12.5 watt Halogen bulbs, which I changed out the long distance bulb so the max was then 14 watts; I bought that light sometime in the early 90's and used it extensively till about 10 years ago when I got the Mitycross, and that darn Metro still works flawlessly to this day; I kept it for some dumb reason even though I no longer use it. My Cygolite Expilion 400 I for my wife about 10 years ago as well the battery on that is just fine too. But my Philips Saferide original batteries failed about 5 years after purchase, but fortunately those are replaceable; a Light and Motion tail light battery died after about 4 years, and a Planet Bike Superflash died about 3 years. I've never had any issues with the Cygolite products I've bought. People I knew who bought Magicshine got dismal battery life, like 2 years! So now I'm going to try that Niterider 260 which I just ordered today, so it will take some time to find out how long that battery will last.


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## MaximusHQ (Aug 6, 2007)

I just ordered one of these Niterider Aero sentry 260 lights to replace my old cygolite hotshot light. It's the really old Hotshot, the 50 lumen one I believe. This Sentry Aero 260 tail light should be a good upgrade in output and I am especially interested in the better side illumination. I also am running a Serfas Shield on my back pack for a secondary tail light. That one puts out maybe 50-60 lumens. We'll soon see how it stacks up.


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## froze (Feb 5, 2011)

MaximusHQ said:


> I just ordered one of these Niterider Aero sentry 260 lights to replace my old cygolite hotshot light. It's the really old Hotshot, the 50 lumen one I believe. This Sentry Aero 260 tail light should be a good upgrade in output and I am especially interested in the better side illumination. I also am running a Serfas Shield on my back pack for a secondary tail light. That one puts out maybe 50-60 lumens. We'll soon see how it stacks up.


Here's my update, I ended up getting the Sentry Aero 260 because of the fantastic side illumination...HOWEVER, I also bought the NiteRider Omega 300, why? Because in broad daylight the Aero 260 was barely visible which shocked me because it's reported to have 260 lumens, my old Light & Motion put out 70 lumens and it was a bit more visible in broad daylight then the Aero 260! So I got the Omega 300 because this thing is blindingly bright in broad daylight for a far distance.

I use both at night, I put the Omega 300 on the seat bag on steady mode and the Aero 260 on alternating flash from front to side on the seat post, this combination provides a dramatic effect at night.

I've always been a firm believer in using at least 2 tail lights at night, and for awhile I had 3, but these newer brighter jobs are so intense 2 should be fine. During the day you need something painfully bright that will strobe, this strobe action of the 300 I'm hoping will wake up the cell phone user so they'll see me from a long ways away.

Neither of those two lights are expensive, the Omega 300 is $40 and the Aero 260 is $40 as well. If you can only afford one at this time I would get the Omega 300, then later add the 260, because with the 300 you can use it day or night whereas with the 260 is pretty much useless in broad daylight. I did it reverse only because I thought 260 lumens would be plenty during the day, it was not.


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

froze said:


> Here's my update, I ended up getting the Sentry Aero 260 because of the fantastic side illumination...HOWEVER, I also bought the NiteRider Omega 300, why? Because in broad daylight the Aero 260 was barely visible which shocked me because it's reported to have 260 lumens, my old Light & Motion put out 70 lumens and it was a bit more visible in broad daylight then the Aero 260! So I got the Omega 300 because this thing is blindingly bright in broad daylight for a far distance.
> 
> I use both at night, I put the Omega 300 on the seat bag on steady mode and the Aero 260 on alternating flash from front to side on the seat post, this combination provides a dramatic effect at night.
> 
> ...


I have both as well. Used them daily straight through last winter in temps as low as minus 35. They kick ass and **** all over anything made by Cygo-Lite.









Brace yourself for the old-timers who are going to chime in soon and call you a shill.


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## MaximusHQ (Aug 6, 2007)

Thanks for the info froze and mtnbkrmike, I will see how the 260 goes then decide on the omega 300. Like I said, I also have a Serfas Shield light too. I will probably run the Serfas Shield and NR 260 this fall and look into the NR Omega 300 in the spring.


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## mtnbkrmike (Mar 26, 2015)

MaximusHQ said:


> Thanks for the info froze and mtnbkrmike, I will see how the 260 goes then decide on the omega 300. Like I said, I also have a Serfas Shield light too. I will probably run the Serfas Shield and NR 260 this fall and look into the NR Omega 300 in the spring.


In my neck of the woods at least, the NRs cost less than a decent lunch (significantly less if you order a beer). The downside is negligible, even if you hate it. After commuting year round through shitty Canadian winters since 2008, I have tried them all. I doubt you will hate it but hey, who knows. Little downside risk though.

i should add though that the battery life between charges is a little short. I don't care. I generally charge my lights daily at work so no big deal for me. But if you are looking to get days out of those lights between charges, my experience is that that ain't gonna happen. Not with the ones I have at least, riding in the temps I ride in for the distances I ride. Apart from that, gold.

Countdown for the oldtimers accusing me of being a silent owner of NR...3, 2, 1...


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## froze (Feb 5, 2011)

Tonight I went on a long 2 1/2 hour night ride and neither of the two NiteRider lights went to low battery warning. The Aero 260 was on alternating mode and I think, if I'm reading the silly light modes correctly it's supposed to last 6 hours in that mode, so I was well under the 6 hours. The Omega 300 I had on steady brightest mode and it's supposed to last 5 1/2 hours on that setting so again I was well under it's run time limit. I don't think there are many people that will push the battery that long at night anyways, this would be more for the person who fails to charge the light after every use.

My front lights, I had a low battery warning come on with my Lezyne Hecto Drive 400XL, which doesn't surprise me considering how small the light is and how bright it is, but I think the mode I had it on was pulse and they said it was supposed to last 12 hours, this was nowhere near what I'm experiencing, so I may have to contact Lezyne about it. My main light the Philips Saferide, which I replaced the original AA batteries with higher amp hour rating bats and this ran without even dropping one bar on the battery level meter, so the new high amp hour batteries I got are a nice improvement for that light.

A word about these batteries, if you want the battery to last many years you need to recharge them after every use, these batteries don't like to be fully discharged and it will shorten the years of use for the light if you do.


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## MaximusHQ (Aug 6, 2007)

*Faulty switch*

I received my NR Sentry 260 today and I am having problems with the switch. It doesn't always change modes and turning it off is a nightmare. Sometimes it registers and will turn off, but mostly it does nothing or switches modes. I guess I just got one with a faulty switch. Anyone else having trouble with the switch? The output is nice with excellent side coverage, but it lacks punch like you guys said. I'm going to have to return this one as it's unuseable like this.


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## froze (Feb 5, 2011)

MaximusHQ said:


> I received my NR Sentry 260 today and I am having problems with the switch. It doesn't always change modes and turning it off is a nightmare. Sometimes it registers and will turn off, but mostly it does nothing or switches modes. I guess I just got one with a faulty switch. Anyone else having trouble with the switch? The output is nice with excellent side coverage, but it lacks punch like you guys said. I'm going to have to return this one as it's unuseable like this.


Yup, sounds like something got screwed up in the manufacturing process and should have been detected during inspection, no fear, NR has a great warranty service program.


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## Cat-man-do (May 16, 2004)

froze said:


> Here's my update, I ended up getting the Sentry Aero 260 because of the fantastic side illumination...HOWEVER, I also bought the NiteRider Omega 300, why? Because in broad daylight the Aero 260 was barely visible which shocked me because it's reported to have 260 lumens, my old Light & Motion put out 70 lumens and it was a bit more visible in broad daylight then the Aero 260! So I got the Omega 300 because this thing is blindingly bright in broad daylight for a far distance.
> 
> I use both at night, I put the Omega 300 on the seat bag on steady mode and the Aero 260 on alternating flash from front to side on the seat post, this combination provides a dramatic effect at night.
> 
> ...


( Old timer chiming in... ) While I've never been of fan of the Niterider MTB lights that use external batteries their rep. for making decent self-contained lights speaks for itself. I have no doubt the rear lights they make are very good.

I too use more than one rear light. I agree that the lights made to provide more side illumination tend to be more useful at night than in the day. Right now I have two lights that are pretty good to use during the day...One is the Cygolite Hotshot 150 and the other is the Leyzne Zecto Drive Max rear 250. Both have very good daytime flash modes although the Hotshot I think is likely the better thrower.. The Zecto 250 has a pretty wide beam pattern but lacks in providing much side illumination. I addressed this by using an inexpensive Cateye X3 clone ( ApaceVision G3X Pro 100 ). Paid like $14 for it on Amazon. This lamp has two rows of red COB lights and surprised me at how bright it was when on high. I have the Zecto mounted on back of my rack box so since i use a suspension seat post on my new electric assist bike there is no room on the seat post. I mounted the Apace just under the top seat stays on the seat tube. The Apace can't be seen too well from the back because of the rack box but from the sides it is quite bright. I only use it on the low flash mode. Very, very visible at night from the sides if I do say so. If it wasn't I could of used a brighter mode but then the battery wouldn't last as long.

My bike is covered from all angles since I also use wheel lights, a Planet bike amber side light on the front frame top tube and lastly my Gemini Iris on back of my helmet. The only light I use in the day is the rear Zecto ( or Hotshot ) and a front flasher. The side lighting I reserve for night time use only.

On a side note I've noticed lately that more people are using brighter rear lamps for Daytime visibility. I think the trend we "Old timers" started has finally caught on. :thumbsup:


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## 127.0.0.1 (Nov 19, 2013)

I got two niterider aero sentry 260

used them a while...bright enough but....not impressed compared
to my niteflux rz4

so...back to using niteflux all the time. 


the defect (to me) of the niterider aero 260 is the warning LED that the battery is
going low starts at 20 percent left. ridiculous..it can flash blue like it's full,
you roll out and be dead in one hour. at least the niteflux level flash is 4,3,2,1


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## froze (Feb 5, 2011)

127.0.0.1 said:


> I got two niterider aero sentry 260
> 
> used them a while...bright enough but....not impressed compared
> to my niteflux rz4
> ...


But keep in mind, the NiteFlux is 2 to 3 times (depending on model) the price of the Aero 260, so for $149 you can get 500 lumens, or for $99 you can get 250 lumens which is not a good deal considering you can get 300 lumens with the NiteRider Omega 300 for just $40. How bright is too bright though? 500 lumens makes it brighter than most bicycle headlights I see on the road; I haven't seen NiteFlux in my city ever, so I can't comment on what it looks like at night, but 500 should be shockingly bright with pissed of motorists all around you.


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## MaximusHQ (Aug 6, 2007)

Well I bought the light through Amazon so returns are easy. I'm sending it back and instead of getting that same light again, I ordered the NR Omega 300. The Omega 300 was marked down to $36 now so I saved 4 bucks, plus the sentry 260 lacked punch/throw. I compared the sentry 260 to my serfas shield and cygolite hotshot and both my old lights did a much better job at lighting up the distance, but at the expense of side visibility. I will try the Omega 300 which should give me the throw I like when mounting the light to the seat post. 
Comparing them all together at a distance of about 20 feet back, I was surprised that the Serfas Shield drowned out the other lights by a large margin. I can't wait to compare with the NR Omega 300. 
If all goes well with the NR Omega 300 this fall, then maybe I will pick up the Sentry 260 again.
I have used and had good luck with Niterider in the past. I used to run a two light Niterider HID setup for a few years. Two HIDs put out a lot of light for those days and it used to freak some people out. Ahh the good ole days.


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## KingOfTheHill (Sep 19, 2007)

I've had a NR Sentry for about 6 months now, maybe a bit longer. While I agree it is not the best during the day, I love it at night, primarily because of the side illumination it provides. Definitely bright enough from three sides at night.

I use it primarily during early morning commutes in the dark. On my ride home which is during the day, I run a Hotshot 150. I just leave both lights mounted on the bike, and charge the Sentry every three rides (each ride is about 1.5 - 1.75 hours). I do the same with the Hotshot. If one light were to fail during a ride, the second is also there as a backup.

If I lost my Sentry, I would buy it again without hesitation.


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## Millennial29erGuy (Feb 5, 2017)

Glad to find this thread. I just ordered one for night riding after work when we hit the fall time change


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## 127.0.0.1 (Nov 19, 2013)

froze said:


> A word about these batteries, if you want the battery to last many years you need to recharge them after every use, these batteries don't like to be fully discharged and it will shorten the years of use for the light if you do.


the true killer of lithium is charging a very cold one, like freezing or below. if the charge circuit doesn't have a temp threshold to not supply current until the battery is about 40degF, you can kill one (reduce it's runtime severely) super fast

so, coming in from the winter cold, best to let it get warmer than freezing before connecting charger

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_at_high_and_low_temperatures

For best results, charge between 10°C and 30°C (50°F and 86°F)


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## froze (Feb 5, 2011)

127.0.0.1 said:


> the true killer of lithium is charging a very cold one, like freezing or below. if the charge circuit doesn't have a temp threshold to not supply current until the battery is about 40degF, you can kill one (reduce it's runtime severely) super fast
> 
> so, coming in from the winter cold, best to let it get warmer than freezing before connecting charger
> 
> ...


Right, and heat kills them too. Even if you have used the light the battery gets warm, they recommend NOT to charge NIMH batts till they cool down after being used.

So thanks for bringing that up because I forgot to mention it.


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## RS VR6 (Mar 29, 2007)

I picked one up for my road bike...mainly because it fits my aero post. I use it on the second setting...I think. I like that there is a blue LED that blinks when I turn it off. Its way brighter than the Giant Numen it replaced.


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## MaximusHQ (Aug 6, 2007)

There's a lot of useful info in this thread so thanks for sharing everyone. I did know not to charge batteries that are too cold or hot and to store lithium ion batteries with about 40% charge. At least that's what I was always told. 
I received my NR Omega 300 and only had about 2 minutes to test it in the house, but it looks good and the buttons work on this one. I'm not sure about ordering another NR Sentry 260 yet as I will be looking at all options for floody lights to put on my pack. For pack mounting I like the idea of the Orfos or Niteflux lights, but I have time to research before I decide on a pack light.


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## 127.0.0.1 (Nov 19, 2013)

I do like 'em but my beef is that I tend to not charge every item every ride, and since the blue led only swaps to red at 20% I thought that is not the greatest version of battery life indicator based on how lazy I am. I like to check all lights charge status before rollout and ....hard to tell what blue really means on these. but it is a great light, I'm just lazy


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## froze (Feb 5, 2011)

I agree the battery warning system is lacking but they had to cut cost someplace to keep the lights at the $40 price point. Sure there are a few things they could have done better but is it better to sell a vastly superior brightness for a tail light at a price that a lot of people can afford and thus keep more people safe? Or add on all the goodies to make it an idea light that only a couple of percent of the people can afford and thus less people are safe? 

I ride quite a bit at night, and over the years I have NEVER ran into anyone with one of those NiteFlux or any other expensive tail light or even a expensive headlight. In fact my set up both front and rear are the brightest, or the same, but not less than anyone I've seen out riding at night, and I didn't spend a fortune doing it. So I think NiteRider did a good job at getting superior brightness in a tail light out at an affordable price so more people will buy them and more people will be safer.


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## Ander11 (5 mo ago)

mtnbkrmike > I picked up a NiteRider Sentry Aero 260 tail light yesterday... I paid somewhere in the neighbourhood of $38 CDN for it ($28 USD).

And 3.5 years later, I just paid *$62.50* for mine here in Vancouver. That's progress, I guess... or life in Canada!

It _is_ a great light, though. 🤷🏽‍♂️


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## froze (Feb 5, 2011)

Progress? yeah, you keep telling yourself that, your drinking the Kool-Aid like everyone else it, just accept it, no big deal, is what the masses are saying. This BS is all about making middle class people poor over the entire world; the leaders in charge of this crap want to make sure that people can't afford to even buy a house, they'll have to rent, from huge rental companies owned by a few. Don't get me wrong, I'm a landlord myself, so this benefits me, but I don't agree with it because I also own a house, and everyone should have the opportunity to own a home at reasonable prices. Where I live I'm watching homes that are crappy houses that just 2 years ago sold for $40,000, and now they're being marketed for 140,000 to 180,000, that's taking out the market even for low income people to buy a house.


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