replace reflector with taillight

Howdy forum members! I’m a new poster here.

Life has been good with my Strida for a year now. I want to replace the reflector with a taillight. In Virginia, a reflector is necessary to comply with the DOT statutes. Consequently, I’m thinking of swapping the reflector with a CatEye TL-LD560-R which is CPSC compliant. Anyone done this before? Any suggestions?

I have a STRIDA LT. Thanks for your help.

Hello invisiblehand,

at Stridaforum!

After looking at the CatEye TL-LD560-R manual here:

http://www.cateye.com/images/manual/ld560r_usa.pdf

I’d not expect a real problem, the size fits (just ~ 4 mm higher than the original reflector) and the 50 mm mounting holes should also fit.

If you want the CatEye to be detachable, you’ll have to mount the rear rack bracket upside down for easy removal.
I think the locking lever should be strong enough to hold the light in vice-versa position without lock screw and washer.
In case it is not, you could use anyway the clamps and the second supplied bracket to mount the light directly on the seat tube (and maybe leave the original reflector additionally at its place).

This tail light seems to be symmetrical, the only “disadvantages” in upside down position are the switch on the right side (instead of left) and the “CatEye” writing at the underside, I mean…
Would you insist to fix it the normal way it cannot be detached and the position of the screws (M) and the parts A must be changed for mounting (seems to be possible, but not sure without having had this light in hands).

Thanks! I had a hard time getting onto the forum. At some point in the past, I got a userid but never posted. When I actually picked up a STRIDA I returned to the forum but realized that I could no longer remember the original password. Getting a new password and logging was fruitless until I realized that the password was case sensitive. (At least, that is what I think).

Given how long the battery life is on these blinkies, I’m just going to use the STRIDA mount. Most of my trips with the STRIDA are pretty short and I imagine that it will take a long time to go through a set of batteries.

And thanks for a thorough answer!

Quick update. The installation was smooth. I did install the bracket upside down making it easier to take the light off. However, the mount allows one to install a screw with a washer to help ensure that the light remains inside the clip. I did that as well.

And the locking lever is actually strong enough to secure the light properly?
(I mean without the screw.)

Hi invisiblehand,

I also have the the same tail light and I used the mounting bracket provided by cateye. I installed it right side up but did not installed the “anti-theft” screw for easy removal.

One gripe about this blinkies is that you cannot mount it vertically unlike the Strida counterpart that have notches on all sides so it can be mounted vertically or horizontally.

Have a safe ride.

Yes. I would say it is strong enough to hold the light in place independent of the screw. I did ride the bike around the neighborhood without the screw; but given that the option was there it made sense to use it.

FWIW, I’ve decided to use the original reflector. For city riding, I find that a blinky mounted so low and under the rack does not add much illumination. Given that I tend to ride with a messenger bag I might leave a blinky there or find a way to mount a light on the saddle.

What about that?

[url]Compact front & rear lights]

Indeed. I saw that post. Mounting a saddlebag seems like the easiest option; although most saddlebags also have an attachment to a seat post. It’s unclear what I’d attach the bag to instead of the seat post.

One thing that will definitely happen is a blinkie on the rear of my messenger bag.

There is also an original Strida luminescence saddle bag available,


http://www.strida.tv/lang-en/bag/246-sacoche-de-selle.html

unfortunately it seems in France and far east only :confused:

BTW, I suppose that sharing this would also make sense … :mrgreen:

amazon.com/CatEye-5446510-Sa … B009YM2OEA

Of course, never noticed that before…just a similar thingy for bottle cages, thank you :smiley: