Portland Design Works

Radbot 500 Tail Light

The Portland Design Works Radbot 500 Tail Light is, well, mechanized radness. Think of it as your own little personal robot, hellbent on keeping you safe at night. Sadly, though, the Radbot is limited to shining bright light, not ballistics, so this little guy is only preventative. If push comes to shove out there, you'll want the Kimber Pepperblaster.

Portland Design Works' Radbot 500 tail light lives up to the image that its name conjures. Like a sentient, robotic protector from inattentive drivers, the Radbot 500 has more bells and whistles than you knew you could have, but now that you have them, you can't let them go. At the heart of the system is 0.5 watt Nichia red LED and a built-in "Euro" precision reflector. The reflector jams a death-ray sized beam of pure light out to the eyes of distracted drivers, and, even better, it meets the EU standards of visibility (seen over 500 feet away). The Radbot is powered by two AAA batteries and is housed in a water-resistant case.

The Radbot 500 features three strobe settings — zZz pop, cornea blitz, and rock steady. We know that the names tell a visual story, but because they're so cool, we'll break them down for you. The zZz pop displays how it sounds. The output swells to a crescendo of light before going "pop" into a dazzling array of strobing madness. Cornea blitz acts as a complete attack of the senses. This setting is such a blitz to the periphery that it's nearly impossible to ride along undetected. Rounding out the settings, rock steady is just a fun way to say solid beam. Remarkably, the Radbot can blink for around 30 hours per battery cycle and can go for around 15 hours on steady.

For easy attachment, the light comes with mounts for your seatpost and seatstays. PDW also included a backpack clip if you think that your bike is too pretty for mounting hardware.

The Portland Design Works Radbot 500 Tail Light is available in a 36x40x82mm size, and it includes rack, seatpost, and seatstay mounts. The light also includes two AAA batteries.