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All dynamo powered taillights are steady-on taillights. They have no flashing mode, unlike many battery taillights, since flashing taillights are illegal in Germany, where these lights are made. There is some evidence that bright flashing lights at night can mesmerize drunk or sleepy drivers, and I'm thinking that's not so good. And for group riding, such as brevets, flashing lights can be quite annoying for riders behind you. Most Busch & Müller taillights, whether battery powered or dynamo powered have built in reflectors, for added safety in the event of wire or battery failure.

There is one caveat, however. Taillights with "Brake" or "Brake Plus" in the name will flash or pulse briefly when you apply the brakes. This is only to alert the clown driving the car too close behind you that something is happening. So urban commuters will find this a useful feature.

I do recommend that you use both a dynamo powered taillight and a battery powered taillight, if at all possible. If a wire should fail to the dyno powered taillight, the battery taillight is a backup. If your batteries fail in cold weather, the dynohub should still be working, and powering the wired taillight.

But if you can only have one type of taillight, it should be a dynamo powered taillight if possible. I've read the complaints about wired taillights. What if the wire breaks? What if I need to take my bike apart to transport it? These arguments seem silly to me. If you don't take reasonable care of your bike, things are going to break, or go out of adjustment. Just as with your brake cables, you need to be sure that your light wiring is in good condition. And if you need to frequently remove the rear fender or rack that the taillight mounts to, it's very easy to install quick connectors for the taillight wire. We sell very nice gold plated quick connects from Supernova, and for Schmidt's co-axial wire, we have their Co-Axial connectors.

For those folks who are concerned about the durability of the taillight wire, I now have extra heavy duty co-axial wiring available, the same wiring Wilfried Schmidt uses for their headlights. I have it in bulk, for those who want to make their own taillight wiring, and I have it in 1.9 meter lengths, complete with connectors attached for the headlight, and the taillight. Also, we can make up a taillight wire of any length, with the connectors your lights need. Just let us know.

All of the Busch & Müller taillights I sell have a standlight function. A capacitor inside the taillight holds a small charge that powers the taillight for a couple of minutes, such as when you stop for a traffic light. Not all brands of dynamo taillights have this capability, so be careful. Our taillights from Schmidt and Spanninga have this. But Supernova do not. Supernova taillights depend on the Supernova headlight to provide standlight power. So they should not be used with other brands of headlights.

Unless otherwise noted, all dynamo powered taillights on this page are 6 volt.

Attention! No dynamo powered taillights should ever be wired directly to a hub dynamo! They cannot take the full power of the hub dynamo, and they will be destroyed!

Years ago, dynamo lights were powered by small sidewall dynamos running on the side of the tire. It was acceptable in those days to run a separate wire from the dynamo to the headlight, and a separate wire to the taillight. But you must not do that with a hub dynamo!

To order, just call us at (603) 478 0900

Secuzed
     

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The new Secuzed taillight for 2021 can be mounted to a full coverage fender or to a seat stay. It comes with mounting hardware for both applications. Ten LEDs around the perimeter surround a reflector. It's quite bright.

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Side view set up for fender mounting. The photo is of the E bike version so ignore the 6-12v DC designation in the photo.

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Side view set up for seat post or seat stay mounting. The photo is of the E bike version so ignore the 6-12v DC designation in the photo. You would flip it over for mounting to a seat stay.

     
B&M333ALK Secuzed for Seatpost, Seat Stay or fender $42.00
     
   

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The ultimate minimalist taillight is the µ from Busch & Müller. The µ symbol is pronounced meuw, as in what your cat says to you when it's hungry. And µ stands for micro, so from here on I'll just call it the Micro taillight, lest anyone think I'm a hungry cat.

The Micro has a beautiful aluminum housing, anodized silver or black, to match their IQ-X and IQ-XS headlights. Of course they work with all other Busch & Müller dynamo headlights, as well as many other brands of headlights such as Schmidt.

The Micro comes with two mounts; one for fender mounting, and another for mounting to a seat post or a frame tube such as a seat stay. As of this writing, April 18, 2019, I don't have a photo showing the seat post / seat stay mount.

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The Micro has no built in reflector, it's a true minimalist taillight. The length is 29mm. The diameter in the center is 19mm. The diameter of the lens is 17mm. It's the smallest taillight allowed by German law for use on German roads.

The Micro can pivot on its mount. So, while the photos of the Micro taillights above show the mount positioned as it would be a little below 45 degrees on the fender, it could easily be set to mount at the very top of the rear fender. Wherever you choose to drill the two holes in the fender is just fine, provided the light can be aimed so that the light is positioned horizontally, exactly as you see in the two photos above. That way the brightest part of the beam is being projected horizontally. There's no point in aiming your taillight up into the sky, or down towards the road. And never ever mount any taillight between the rear end of the fender and the rear-most fender strut, since that can lead to cracking of the fender itself at the rear strut mount.

The Micro taillight has a standlight. FYI: Busch & Müller still makes taillights without standlights, but I no longer sell those models. The reason they make them is the German law requires a functioning headlight and taillight, but does not require a standlight. That makes sense in Germany where every bike sold has lights, but most of the people riding bikes don't ride at night, so lights without a standlight function cost a bit less. But in the USA and Canada, only people who plan to ride at night will buy dynamo lights, and so all of our dynamo lights have a standlight.

     
     
B&M332ALK Busch & Müller Micro taillight in Silver $76.00
     
B&M332ALK-01 Busch & Müller Micro taillight in black $76.00
     
Rack Mounted Taillights
     
     
The rack mount taillights all mount to a rear rack or horizontal bracket with two holes either 50mm or 80mm apart. I sell some brackets to allow mounting taillights onto racks without suitable mounts. All of the rack mount taillights I sell will mount to racks with 50mm spacing between the mounting points. Some taillights are adjustable, allowing the light to be mounted on racks with only 80mm spaced holes. Such racks are rare in North America.
     
Toplight Line Plus
     

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The Toplight Line Plus uses a fresnel lens to spread the light from two LEDs into a line across the width of the light, providing increased surface area for the light, and making it more visible at a distance. There's a red tab on the bottom which you can press to switch off the standlight when you park the bike. It does this by discharging the standlight capacitor. At only 92mm wide, this taillight fits the newer, narrow pannier racks that are becoming more popular.
     
B&M323ALT Busch & Müller Toplight Line Plus $47.00
     
The Brake Tec version will pulse briefly when you apply the brakes.
     
B&M323ALTV-A Busch & Müller Toplight Line Plus Brake Tec $68.00
     
Toplight View Plus
     

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Not quite as bright as the very bright Toplight Line, seen above, the Toplight View is still quite bright and will get the attention of drivers. The light from two LEDs is spread across the top and bottom of the taillight with a reflector in the middle. The photo below is overexposed, so the bright sections, top and bottom appear yellow, but in reality glow a bright red.

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B&M321ASK-02 Busch & Müller Toplight View Plus $27.50
     

Brake Tec version of the Toplight View Plus

     
B&M321ASKV-02 Busch & Müller Toplight View Plus Brake Tec $44.00
     
     
     
Toplight Mini Plus
     

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Only 92mm wide. The Mini has a single bright LED in the little housing at the top, and the rest is reflector. The LED glows red, of course. The taillight wire ends must have the little 2.8mm female connectors, which we sell. The mounting bolts aren't electrically grounded, so you must use a 2 conductor wire, but it means it's impossible to create a short. Let us know how long you need the taillight wire to be. We'll make sure you have the right connectors.

     
B&M322ALK Toplight Mini Plus $35.00
     
Toplight Line Small
     

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This is a big picture of a very small taillight. The mounting holes are 50mm apart, just like most other Busch & Müller taillights. The single LED glows bright red, so don't be fooled by the clear lens. And the optics in the lens spreads the red light across the width of the lens, so the driver behind you sees a lot more than just a point source of light. This has a standlight, so it will stay lit for several minutes after you stop.

No taillight wire included.

     
B&M53234ASK Toplight Line Small $31.00
     
Dynamo powered taillights must only be connected to the headlight. When the headlight is switched on or off, the taillight will be switched on or off as well. Then the taillight will only get the power it needs, and won't be damaged by the full power of the dynamo.
DToplight Flat S Plus
     

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The Toplight Flat S Plus is an inexpensive dynamo taillight with a wide light pattern, large reflector and a standlight.The Toplight Flat S Plus uses a single LED instead of two, but has the same "LineTec" technology which uses a series of mirrors to spread the light from the LED across the width of the taillight, so your eyes see a line of light rather than a point source. 50mm bolt spacing. While the LED itself is small, it's still very bright and the optics makes for exceptional visibility. Mounting bolt spacing adjustable, 50mm or 80mm. Wiring not included.

     
B&M329ASK-02 Busch & Müller Toplight Flat S Plus $25.00
     
DToplight XS Plus
     

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The Busch&Müller DToplight XS Plus for 6 volt dynamos mounts on a rack with either 50mm wide studs or 80mm wide studs. Wiring not included. This replaces the DToplight Plus which I no longer import. As of November 2009, the XS Plus has been upstaged by the new Toplight Line Plus taillight. See above. I will continue to stock the DToplight XS Plus, for those people who prefer its distinctive look. But in my opinion, the Toplight Line Plus, at about the same price, is a better choice.

115mm wide

XS Plus taillights can ground via the fixing bolt on the left side. So, when running two wires, be sure not to create a short. Wire power to power and ground to ground between the headlight and taillight.

     
B&M325ALK-02 DToplight XS Plus with standlight $
     
Not compatible with the Luxos U headlight.
Fender Mounted Taillights
     
   

Fender mount taillights require two holes drilled in the rear fender. The holes should be 5mm in diameter, one above the other, 20mm apart, center to center. Care should be taken to mount the light so that the brightest part of the beam is horizontal, putting it at driver's eye level. Where you mount the light along the curve of the fender determines where the beam is aimed.

I only recommend mounting fender-mount taillights on high quality fenders such as Stronglight, Honjo, Gilles Berthoud, or Esge/SKS. Some other fenders, particularly those made of only plastic, are too fragile and will easily crack when you mount a light on them.

By the way, everywhere else in the world, fenders are called mudguards. Oh, those silly foreigners!

Secuzed
     

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Ten LEDs around the perimeter surround a reflector. It's quite bright.

     

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Side view set up for fender mounting. The photo is of the E bike version so ignore the 6-12v DC designation in the photo. This taillight is strictly for use in 6 volt dynamo systems, and must only be wired directly to the headlight.

     
B&M333ALK Secuzed for Seatpost, Seat Stay or fender, wire included $42.00
     
The Secuzed also comes with a mount for either seatpost or seat stay mounting.
     
Mounts for Lights

Go to: Mounts for most lights

   

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This page updated: Monday, May 20, 2019

Peter White Cycles LLC
24 Hall Rd.
Hillsborough, NH 03244
USA
603 478 0900 Phone