Front dynamo light.

vernon said:

I have a new Union bottom bracket generator that I am considering fitting to
my Galaxy for some night riding in the future.- I might have a go at a
300km Audax before the end of summer and I'm not fast enough to complete the
distance in daylight.

Which fron light would prove to be a value for money purchase?

Please don't suggest anything that invokes the Yorkshire war cry of 'How
much???!!!'

-=V=-

std B&M lumotec round, with a 3w bulb (how much???!! 😉 )if you opt to
run a battery powered rearlight

--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

Quoted message said:

Which fron light would prove to be a value for money purchase?

I bought, years ago now, a Union bottle dynamo and that came with a set
of lights. Those lights work perfectly well for unlit roads and served
me well for several years. Did the BB dynamo not have lights with it?

Quoted message said:

Please don't suggest anything that invokes the Yorkshire war cry of
'How much???!!!'

DLumotec Plus, I just want to imagine you going purple ;-).
--
del 8-)

vernon said:

Which fron light would prove to be a value for money purchase?

B&M Lumotec, think it's about £15.
Lumotec Oval is generally considered a better bit of kit, and is £19.
Add about £15 to either for a standlight option, or alternatively just
get a cheap one LED white flasher for your bars to do a manual operated
variant.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

del said:

DLumotec Plus, I just want to imagine you going purple ;-).

ITYM Solidlights 1203D in that case! ;-)

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

DLumotec Plus, I just want to imagine you going purple ;-).

ITYM Solidlights 1203D in that case! ;-)

That'll produce several colour changes and dip into the infra red.
--
del 8-)

Peter Clinch said:

vernon said:

Which fron light would prove to be a value for money purchase?

B&M Lumotec, think it's about £15.

for three !

--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

B&M Lumotec, think it's about £15.

for three !

--
/Marten

Really?
where from?
TerryJ

Peter Clinch twisted the electrons to say:

Quoted message said:

del said:

DLumotec Plus, I just want to imagine you going purple ;-).

ITYM Solidlights 1203D in that case! ;-)

Don't go for half measures now, spec the 1203DR for that extra #25 worth
of purpleness!
--
These opinions might not even be mine ...
Let alone connected with my employer ...

TerryJ said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

B&M Lumotec, think it's about £15.

for three !

--
/Marten

Really?
where from?
TerryJ

current rrp is 8.90 euro's. Note that this is the basic round version
without switch or standlight or fancy packaging. I still have old stock
for 7.95 E

--
/Marten

info(apestaartje)m-gineering(punt)nl

in message <[email hidden]>, Alistair Gunn

(') said:

Peter Clinch twisted the electrons to say:

Quoted message said:

del said:

DLumotec Plus, I just want to imagine you going purple ;-).

ITYM Solidlights 1203D in that case! ;-)

Don't go for half measures now, spec the 1203DR for that extra #25 worth
of purpleness!

It's an ugly bugger, isn't it? I like the technology, but there's no way
I'm going to put a lump like that on one of my bikes!

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Human history becomes more and more a race between
;; education and catastrophe.
H.G. Wells, "The Outline of History"

Simon Brooke said:

It's an ugly bugger, isn't it? I like the technology, but there's no way
I'm going to put a lump like that on one of my bikes!

That's not the real problem for me, it's more that it won't mount onto
the same brackets in the same space as the lamps I've got on the 'bent
and the Brom. Bah! (still, think of the money I've saved ;-))

--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Simon Brooke said:

As I understand it the dynamo drag is related to the amount of power being
drawn. LEDs are supposed to be very much more efficient than halogen
lights. Does this mean that, per unit of illumination, an LED setup will
cause less drag than a halogen setup?

I don't really know is the basic answer, /but/ given the drag you get
from a decent hub is, in real terms for the utility cyclist, on the
order of bugger all, I think it's fair to say almost everyone would opt
for more units of illumination for whatever power you can usefully pull

Quoted message said:

Related question: the basic DLumotec costs 47 euros in Germany, or £45 in
Glasgow (60 Euro/£65 with sensor switch and standlight). The Solidlights
1203 costs £155. What are you getting for your extra £100, and is it worth
it?

There's a review in VV 21 of the Solidlights, DLumotec Oval and Lumotec
Oval. From memory the verdict was the Solidlights was best, but not
necessarily to the degree where it will fit your concept of "value for
money", and the DLumo was reckoned better than the Lumo though they're
fairly even at sustained high speeds.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Quoted message said:

Thinking about running LED headlights with dynamos...

I already do, a DLumotec, non stand light, and a Seculight plus.

Quoted message said:

As I understand it the dynamo drag is related to the amount of power
being drawn. LEDs are supposed to be very much more efficient than
halogen lights. Does this mean that, per unit of illumination, an LED
setup will cause less drag than a halogen setup?

Since I only have a cheap Union bottle dynamo that feels the same with
or without lights I can't confirm/deny the above re drag. Riders I know
who have a hub, Scmidt or other manufacturer, dynamo say that drag
isn't noticable.
Efficiency though is easily proved by walking the bike with the dynamo
engaged and the front DLumotec and rear Seculite plus both show a full
light at very low speeds.

Quoted message said:

Related question: the basic DLumotec costs 47 euros in Germany, or £45
in Glasgow (60 Euro/£65 with sensor switch and standlight). The
Solidlights 1203 costs £155. What are you getting for your extra £100,
and is it worth it?

The 1203 looks brighter, a friend runs one all the time, has a flashing
mode, has twin lights and stand light. The electronics supposedly stop
the light frying itself if it is the only light connected to a dynamo,
usually a hub job. I think that they also have a quick release so you
can remove from the bike easily when parking up, but that may be an
optional extra.

I may get one when I get a hub dynamo wheel or I may get a second
DLumotec, with standlight this time.
HTH,
--
del 8-)

In article said:

lights. Does this mean that, per unit of illumination, an LED setup will
cause less drag than a halogen setup?

Yes, but since a dynamo hub with no load still has some drag, the reduction
won't be directly proportionate to the increased efficiency.

Quoted message said:

Related question: the basic DLumotec costs 47 euros in Germany, or £45 in
Glasgow (60 Euro/£65 with sensor switch and standlight). The Solidlights
1203 costs £155. What are you getting for your extra £100, and is it worth
it?

A lot more light at higher speeds - I believe you would need two Lumotecs
and a switch to put the second one on in series to come close, and I'm not
sure the DLumotecs allow that.

Simon Brooke said:

Thinking about running LED headlights with dynamos...

As I understand it the dynamo drag is related to the amount of power
being drawn. LEDs are supposed to be very much more efficient than
halogen lights. Does this mean that, per unit of illumination, an LED
setup will cause less drag than a halogen setup?

Quoted message said:

Related question: the basic DLumotec costs 47 euros in Germany, or
£45 in Glasgow (60 Euro/£65 with sensor switch and standlight). The
Solidlights 1203 costs £155. What are you getting for your extra
£100, and is it worth it?

SolidLights lamp is very bright. Whether its worth it for you is hard to say
? I am content on more basic bulb lamps.
SolidLights is not massively more expensive than a pair of Schmidt E6 lamps,
which is often claimed to be the best light output of the conventional bulb
options.

Alternative LED is Inoled (German firm), which are cheaper than SolidLights
and come in two different power options. Peter White cycles in the US has a
web page comparing the beam patterns of the Inoled with the Schmidt E6
lamps, and discusses the power options; that might be useful in both total
illumination and beam patterns.

- Nigel

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

In article said:

Simon Brooke said:

Related question: the basic DLumotec costs 47 euros in Germany, or
£45 in Glasgow (60 Euro/£65 with sensor switch and standlight). The
Solidlights 1203 costs £155. What are you getting for your extra
£100, and is it worth it?

SolidLights is not massively more expensive than a pair of Schmidt E6 lamps,
which is often claimed to be the best light output of the conventional bulb
options.

It is possible to combine the better beam pattern of an E6 with the
efficiency of LEDs, but not off-the-shelf:
http://www.enhydralutris.de/Fahrrad/LEDWerfer0402/

Adding sophisticated driver circuitry comparable to the Solidlights would
be a lot of design work, but using the most efficient LEDs you could find
(currently the Cree XR-E, AFAIK) and a simple bridge rectifier using
Schottky diodes apparently works well (and adding an active rectifier
doesn't add a _great_ deal of complexity).
(This relies on the dynamo being unable to produce a current the LEDs
can't handle. The Solidlights can run off batteries as well, at multiple
brightness levels, carefully regulated.)