More lighting

Simon Cooper said:

I'm in the market for some lights for my wife's bike. She rides a
reasonably short 4 mile ride home each night, mostly strretlit and mostly on
good roads. Once in a while we take another parallel unlit, worse road,
where she struggles to spot the bumpy patches/ice/whatever at the same kind
of light levels I can cope with. Nothing too bad.

Conceptually she likes the idea of dynamo lighting, it's always there on the
bike and doesn't eat batteries, but she'd also be amenable to charging a
pack for something like a light and motion Vega (is there a tail light
available for that?)

Looking to spend $40-$80. So considering the Union dynamos that QBP carry,
Sigmasport ellipsoid, Night Rider Road Rat, Nite Hawk Nomad, Andy Muzi's
cheap Indian dynamos... I've found dynamo drag to be significant on some
bikes in the past. But fancy rechargeable systems aren't quite as
convenient, and many seem to lack a rear.

I'd pair up something like the Cygolite front ( like what's at
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=17645 ) with any of
the numerous LED blinkies.

Yeah, I also like the idea of dynamo lights, but for a 4 mile commute
with street lights, you can get by. I'm guessing that translates to
about half an hour ride or less; you can forget to recharge the battery
and still make it home the next night. Or run it on one lamp instead of
both, and charge it weekly.

I really like the VistaLite super nebula (or something like that) rear
flasher. Two AA batteries last about a winter for me, and the 5 LEDs
are really bright. I dragooned my wife into a test run late last year,
really for me to see how bright it was against a AAA Cateye flasher. It
was enough to turn off her worry button when she saw just how visible,
bright, and attention getting the VistaLite is. (I had to promise her
to run it when it's dark, regardless of whether the Cateye was on or not.)

Pat

I like dynamos on my very short run city bikes, but for daily commuting
in-town, any reasonable quality LED is the way to go. It's about being
seen, not seeing so the LED is perfect and battery life is great.

Twenty bucks and shopping the on-line sales should turn up something
that'll work just fine.

I also recommend, if you're in the market for tires, to get your wife
some with the reflective stripe on the side--they greatly improve
visibility and don't require batteries.

landotter said:

I also recommend, if you're in the market for tires, to get your wife
some with the reflective stripe on the side--they greatly improve
visibility and don't require batteries.

A good idea, but even better are small dots of reflective tape on the
insides of your rims.

Matt O.

Matt O'Toole said:

landotter said:

I also recommend, if you're in the market for tires, to get your wife
some with the reflective stripe on the side--they greatly improve
visibility and don't require batteries.

A good idea, but even better are small dots of reflective tape on the
insides of your rims.

It depends--if you can find that super bright prismatic sticker stuff,
then it's indeed fantastic, but the tape from my local auto store is
fairly lousy.

I first saw the reflective tires in Amsterdam in the evening, twas
pretty cool seeing all these white circles moving about without having
to visit a "cafe". :P

Simon Cooper said:

I'm in the market for some lights for my wife's bike. She rides a
reasonably short 4 mile ride home each night, mostly strretlit and mostly on
good roads. Once in a while we take another parallel unlit, worse road,
where she struggles to spot the bumpy patches/ice/whatever at the same kind
of light levels I can cope with. Nothing too bad.

Conceptually she likes the idea of dynamo lighting, it's always there on the
bike and doesn't eat batteries, but she'd also be amenable to charging a
pack for something like a light and motion Vega (is there a tail light
available for that?)

Looking to spend $40-$80. So considering the Union dynamos that QBP carry,
Sigmasport ellipsoid, Night Rider Road Rat, Nite Hawk Nomad, Andy Muzi's
cheap Indian dynamos... I've found dynamo drag to be significant on some
bikes in the past. But fancy rechargeable systems aren't quite as
convenient, and many seem to lack a rear.

Noticed Target now have a Scwinn branded dynamo set for $9.99. It looks
very similar to the cheap WalMart one I put on our tandem, which gives
adequate light...

Any opinions welcome.

I recall you asked about generator sources a few days ago. I didn't
have time to dig them out back then, but here you go:

In addition to The Third Hand (and others) as a source for the Union
set http://tinyurl.com/86a34

and The Yellow Jersey (whose website seems to be down today) you can
find generators at http://www.bikelite.com/RAKN5RK.htm Although I
have no firsthand knowledge, ISTR someone posting here that they were
satisfied with that product. However, I'd prefer one with a separate
headlamp, both because you can learn online about the optics of various
recognized headlamps, and it's important to be able to adjust the
orientation of the headlamp separate from the orientation of the
generator. I'd also stick with the 6 volt, 2.4 watt (or 3 watt)
halogen bulbs so you can get good light and use standard replacement
bulbs. I'd ask about whether the bulbs are flange type or threaded.
(Reflectalite is a good source of bulbs:
http://www.reflectalite.com/index.html )

St. John's Cycles in Britain has a great selection.
http://www.sjscycles.com/store/vIndex.htm?cat208.htm
I haven't ordered from them, but I've ordered other stuff from Britain.
It doesn't seem to matter that an ocean is in the way. (The AXA has a
reputation for being quite good at a low price, last I heard. Early
ones had problems with shafts rusting and locking up, but supposedly
they switched to stainless steel and solved that.)

Also, Harris Cyclery has Shimano hub units. They're more expensive and
more trouble due to the wheel build, but perhaps worth considering
http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/lighting/shimano.html

They also have two Dymotechs (one very expensive) at
http://harriscyclery.net/itemdetails.cfm?id=1580

There are some bike shops in the US that carry generators. I've found
them in old neighborhood shops (where I've gotten them cheap, as NOS
merchandise) and I've seen them for sale in utility-oriented shops (as
opposed to trendy-racy shops). As an example, Citybikes in Portland,
OR caters almost exclusively to transportational cyclists, and has new
and used generators and lights. http://www.citybikes.coop/lights.htm
And interestingly, I once stumbled upon a bike shop in an Amish area
that had a great assortment of lights, including generators.

Finally, in case you haven't seen it, this is a good source of info on
generators: http://www.myra-simon.com/bike/dynotest.html

Oh, and regarding the cheap Target unit: I put a similar generator on
the bike of a novice bike commuter. I did change the vacuum bulb for a
halogen. I was quite impressed. The optics were surprisingly good,
perfectly suitable for her city commute, and the generator is still
working well about three years later. (Of course, we don't know that
_all_ cheap generators are good.)

Hope this helps. Good luck.

- Frank Krygowski

landotter said:

Quoted message said:

A good idea, but even better are small dots of reflective tape on the
insides of your rims.

Quoted message said:

It depends--if you can find that super bright prismatic sticker stuff,
then it's indeed fantastic, but the tape from my local auto store is
fairly lousy.

Just look for 3M. There are other good brands too, but 3M Scotchlite is
the industry standard, and always a good bet.

Matt O.

"landotter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I like dynamos on my very short run city bikes, but for daily commuting
in-town, any reasonable quality LED is the way to go. It's about being
seen, not seeing so the LED is perfect and battery life is great.

For my London bike I totally agree, however, it's distinctly more
countrified round here, and streetlit only in the loosest sense of the word.

Quoted message said:

Twenty bucks and shopping the on-line sales should turn up something
that'll work just fine.

Right now her $20 LED Cat-Eye isn't doing enough for her.

Quoted message said:

I also recommend, if you're in the market for tires, to get your wife
some with the reflective stripe on the side--they greatly improve
visibility and don't require batteries.

I've not seen many of those recently, WalMart had one in a ISO 571 size, but
there aren't many 700C unless you go out to find them.

We've decorated most of our bikes with reflective tape here and there, I
think they're pretty good. Our tandem has scotchlite backs to the seats,
which are really good.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Simon Cooper said:

I'm in the market for some lights for my wife's bike. She rides a
reasonably short 4 mile ride home each night, mostly streetlit and

mostly on

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

good roads. Once in a while we take another parallel unlit, worse road,
where she struggles to spot the bumpy patches/ice/whatever at the same

kind

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

of light levels I can cope with.

Noticed Target now have a Scwinn branded dynamo set for $9.99. It looks
very similar to the cheap WalMart one I put on our tandem, which gives
adequate light...

I recall you asked about generator sources a few days ago. I didn't
have time to dig them out back then, but here you go:

I was more into replacement rollers in that post, but Yellow Jersey mention
parts.

Quoted message said:

However, I'd prefer one with a separate
headlamp, both because you can learn online about the optics of various
recognized headlamps

Since most of the German stuff (which the article below discusses) is 6v,
2.4W, it's mostly interchangeable anyway.

Quoted message said:

I'd also stick with the 6 volt, 2.4 watt (or 3 watt)
halogen bulbs so you can get good light and use standard replacement
bulbs.

St. John's Cycles in Britain has a great selection.

That's certainly a comprehensive list!

Quoted message said:

Also, Harris Cyclery has Shimano hub units. They're more expensive and
more trouble due to the wheel build, but perhaps worth considering

I have to say I can't be doing with rebuilding the wheels for this. I'd
like to believe that I could do so just fine, and that the only obstacle
would be getting new spokes for the wider flange hub...

Quoted message said:

There are some bike shops in the US that carry generators.

As I mentioned, QBP has Union sets, and Shimano dynohubs, so just about
anyone should be able to get them. I plan on talking to LBS if I go the
dynamo route.

Quoted message said:

Finally, in case you haven't seen it, this is a good source of info on
generators: http://www.myra-simon.com/bike/dynotest.html

That looks an interesting read, thanks.

Quoted message said:

Oh, and regarding the cheap Target unit: I put a similar generator on
the bike of a novice bike commuter. I did change the vacuum bulb for a
halogen.

I think they're functional, and will give enough light to ride by, but I was
a bit disappointed at first with the light output - perhaps as you say,
changing the bulb (I've always used bulbs.com) would be worthwhile.

Simon Cooper said:

I'm in the market for some lights for my wife's bike. She rides a
reasonably short 4 mile ride home each night, mostly strretlit and mostly on
good roads. Once in a while we take another parallel unlit, worse road,
where she struggles to spot the bumpy patches/ice/whatever at the same kind
of light levels I can cope with. Nothing too bad.

Conceptually she likes the idea of dynamo lighting, it's always there on the
bike and doesn't eat batteries, but she'd also be amenable to charging a
pack for something like a light and motion Vega (is there a tail light
available for that?)

Looking to spend $40-$80. So considering the Union dynamos that QBP carry,
Sigmasport ellipsoid, Night Rider Road Rat, Nite Hawk Nomad, Andy Muzi's
cheap Indian dynamos... I've found dynamo drag to be significant on some
bikes in the past. But fancy rechargeable systems aren't quite as
convenient, and many seem to lack a rear.

Noticed Target now have a Scwinn branded dynamo set for $9.99. It looks
very similar to the cheap WalMart one I put on our tandem, which gives
adequate light...

Cateye HL-EL500
<http://www.cateye.com/en/products/viewProduct.php?modelId=17&catId=7&subCatId=2>.
It uses 4x AA batteries that are good for >20 hours. You can buy
alkaline batteries in 4 packs at the 99¢ store or get a set of
rechargeable ones and charger for <$20. She can carry a set of
batteries with her in case her light poops out.

I wouldn't bother with a dynamo.