Portland Design Works has designed the Rackstar taillight to be a bright taillight specifically designed for bike racks. It’s a creative name for an otherwise simple bike taillight with a rack mount style mount. Retail price for the taillight is an affordable $30 and the taillight puts out 15 lumens of output. As with other rack-style lights, the Rackstar has a large form factor with integrated reflector for visibility with or without the LEDs on. The taillight features a modern USB-C charging port as well as an impressive 200 hour maximum runtime.
The Portland Design Works Rackstar is a simple yet bright bike rack specific taillight that offers long runtimes.
| Retail Price | $30 |
| Rating | 8.5 / 10 |
| Measured Weight (in g) | 74 (taillight), 15 (bracket) |
| Likes | + Integrated reflector inside the housing ensures you are always visible + Wide lens with multiple output modes to choose from + Modern USB-C charging and long runtimes in all the modes |
| Dislikes | – No multi-level indicator with confusing green light indicator for low battery status – The taillight requires cycling through modes to shut off instead of a long hold to shut it off |
| Where to Buy (US) | Portland Design Works |
MOUNTING
To mount the Rackstar taillight, PDW has integrated a standard bike rack bracket design. It is a two piece mount with a bolt-on bracket that has two bolts placed about 2 inches apart from each other. This bolts onto a bike racks mounting holes and provides a secure base onto which the light slides onto vertically. There is a tab style mount molded into the base of the taillight that slides into the corresponding slots on the mount. To remove the taillight from the base, there is a release tab on the bracket that has to be pushed down to disengage the tab that sits in a cutout on the taillight backside. The mount design means you can easily remove the taillight from a rack to recharge or while parking, while leaving the bracket in place. Note, there are also two vertical mounting bolt spots on the adapter to accommodate different rack setups.
FIT & FINISH
Visually, the Rackstar tail light has a rectangular design with a large reflector and LEDs integrated into it. It’s a fairly large taillight that is designed for rack mounting that is approximately 4” wide, 1.5” tall and 1” thick. As with other rack specific lights, the Rackstar has integrated reflectors so that it’s visible whether it is on or off. The body of the taillight is mostly transparent which lets you see the circuit board and the integrated batteries through it. There is a silver top section along with a taller red section on the bottom half with a slightly trapezoidal form factor.
On the red portion of the lens there is a honey-comb like pattern that helps reflect light from all angles, while the clear upper section has a saw-tooth like pattern to diffuse the light from the LEDs. The light has simple branding with Portland Design Works printed on top along with a low battery indicator graphic above the low battery LED. The light is controlled via a rubber power button on the bottom side and a rubber cover on the backside protecting the USB-C charging port.
The Rackstar uses a combination of three LEDs along with a large reflective surface to ensure the taillight is visible during the day or night. At first glance you would expect the LEDs to be in the larger red region, but they are actually placed along the clear upper band. They appear to be clear with the light off, but with the light on the three LEDs are bright red and reflect off the bottom red surface for more visibility. Horizontal diffusers on the left and right LEDs help disperse the light while the center LED is exposed for long distance visibility. It is a simple lens design compared to standard bike tailights but it’s still bright and has great side visibility.
USER INTERFACE
Operating the Rackstar taillight is straight forward with a single button. There is only one type of action with the button, a short press which turns the light on, cycles through modes and eventually returns to the off state. It’s an unusual design as most taillights have a long hold to turn the light on and off. With the Rackstar you always have to cycle through the three modes to turn the light back off which may take a little getting used to with no mode memory as you always cycle back to off. As far as a battery status indicator, there is only a low battery status indicator which appears as a green LED slightly to the left of the center LED. It’s another unusual choice as most low indicator lights are red to indicate something bad, while green usually means full battery. This extra indicator light is also used as the charging status light and will blink blue while charging or go solid blue when charging is complete.
LIGHT OUTPUT
Portland Design Works has programmed the Rackstar with only three modes: steady, flash and dance. All of the modes are listed as 15 lumens, which is the maximum output of the Rackster. The steady mode is just a constant illumination with a claimed 50 hour runtime. Flash mode provides a more erratic on/off pattern that is rated for with a 100 hour runtime. All the modes illuminate the three LEDs together with a bright and wide beam across the three LEDs. While the Rackstar isn’t really visible from long distances like higher output focused LED taillights such as the Ravemen TR400 or Trek Flare, it’s a nice complement that provides more safety. The integrated reflector also helps with visibility as it lights up when car headlights hit it. With the long runtimes of the taillight, it’s something you can also keep on the bike and not worry about constantly recharging.
THE VERDICT
Overall, we found the Portland Design Works Rackstar taillight to be a well made bike-rack specific taillight. PDW has created an effective yet simple taillight by combining three LEDs with a large red reflective surface for additional visibility in any condition. At only 15 lumens, the taillight is far from the brightest on the market but makes up for it with long runtimes and a large surface area with good side visibility. Modern USB-C charging and a slide-on mount make it easy to install and remove the taillight from the provided bike rack bolt-on adapter. As far as negatives, we would have liked to see a multi-level battery indicator and more intuitive long-hold to shutoff user interface instead of cycling through all modes to shut the taillight off. That said, the Portland Design Works Rackstar is a nice addition to any bike rack for additional visibility in any condition.
Disclaimer: The product for this review was provided by Portland Design Works. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and are here to help people make an informed choice before a purchase. The authors or the blog itself does not get any monetary compensation from the product manufacturer or third-party websites/vendor links that are posted here.