Headlights

Stephen Harding said:

I have the Lumotec Plus driven by a Dymotec generator. The power
of this 3W light (I've opted to keep a battery powered VistaLight
in the back) is surprising. Very nicely focused beam that belies
it's 3W power.
...

If one really rides often at night or dusk hours, you can either
go with a low end 10W SLA battery unit for under $50 or bite the
bullet and get a quality generator. A good bottle generator will
cost you probably $75+ (my Dymotec was about $100).

Not necessarily. See http://tinyurl.com/77m8s

This Union (or Marwi) unit may have somewhat more drag than the
Dymotec, but for most people's night riding (which I'd guess is pretty
occasional) it's probably fine.

I fitted a much cheaper K-mart generator to one person's bike. I added
a halogen bulb. The headlight optics were surprisingly good, and the
unit's done well for years. IMO, the more expensive generators differ
mostly in their reduced drag, but that's not important to a lot of
people.

- Frank Krygowski

Don Wiss donwiss@no_spam.com said:

you know? said:

Quoted message said:

A good bottle generator will
cost you probably $75+ (my Dymotec was about $100).

Sheldon's selling the new Nexus hub for $90.

Plus much higher installation costs.

I can buy 32 swaged Sapim spokes at my LBS for about $20, I suspect
you can too. Of course one then has to resist the urge to build a
bicycle around the newly orphaned front hub. That can get expensive.

Jim Smith said:

Don Wiss donwiss@no_spam.com said:

you know? said:

>A good bottle generator will
>cost you probably $75+ (my Dymotec was about $100).

Sheldon's selling the new Nexus hub for $90.

Plus much higher installation costs.

I can buy 32 swaged Sapim spokes at my LBS for about $20, I suspect
you can too. Of course one then has to resist the urge to build a
bicycle around the newly orphaned front hub. That can get expensive.

And how much of your time? I suspect that most people are not going to have
the tools and inclination to respoke a wheel.

Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).

Roy Zipris said:

Among the current options, what headlights do folks recommend for
riding at dusk? I'm looking for a fairly inexpensive light that helps
announce my presence to cars, not to illuminate the road. Thanks.
--Roy Zipris

Hi, Roy. I have a Niterider for truly dark commutes in the winter, but
for what you describe my Planet Bike 1-watt LED light is probably better.
Quite bright, and easy to deal with. It is my current all-around
flashlight. The batteries last a long time, and it is far brighter than
your average flashlight. Not good enough for seeing the road at any
nontrivial speed, but great for being seen.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | "What am I on? I'm on my bike, six hours a day, busting my ass.
_`\(,_ | What are you on?" --Lance Armstrong
(_)/ (_) |

After trying quite a few options, I'm wedded to the Cateye Opticube referred
to here. They have been very durable, and are easy to see. Their wattage
is low, so they're not that good for seeing. But as noted, the most
important objective is to be seen.

"catzz66" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Roy Zipris said:

Among the current options, what headlights do folks recommend for
riding at dusk? I'm looking for a fairly inexpensive light that helps
announce my presence to cars, not to illuminate the road. Thanks.
--Roy Zipris

Low tech works for me. I first bought a more expensive NiteRyder (sp)
unit with a rechargeable battery pack. I followed the charging
instructions but the battery pack failed within a month. I switched to a
CatEye Opticube that uses AAs and have gotten much better service. I
carry extra batteries in my seat pouch.

David L. Johnson said:

Roy Zipris said:

Among the current options, what headlights do folks recommend for
riding at dusk? I'm looking for a fairly inexpensive light that helps
announce my presence to cars, not to illuminate the road. Thanks.
--Roy Zipris

Hi, Roy. I have a Niterider for truly dark commutes in the winter, but
for what you describe my Planet Bike 1-watt LED light is probably better.
Quite bright, and easy to deal with. It is my current all-around
flashlight. The batteries last a long time, and it is far brighter than
your average flashlight. Not good enough for seeing the road at any
nontrivial speed, but great for being seen.

For me, which is usually off the beaten track I ride in moolight on a
full moon and can see perfectly. I only use a headlight or tailight when
there is traffic, and rechargeable NiMh are much better than NiCad. More
capacity by about 2:1.
Bill Baka

Quoted message said:

Stephen Harding said:

I have the Lumotec Plus driven by a Dymotec generator. The power
of this 3W light (I've opted to keep a battery powered VistaLight
in the back) is surprising. Very nicely focused beam that belies
it's 3W power.
...

If one really rides often at night or dusk hours, you can either
go with a low end 10W SLA battery unit for under $50 or bite the
bullet and get a quality generator. A good bottle generator will
cost you probably $75+ (my Dymotec was about $100).

Not necessarily. See http://tinyurl.com/77m8s

This Union (or Marwi) unit may have somewhat more drag than the
Dymotec, but for most people's night riding (which I'd guess is pretty
occasional) it's probably fine.

I stand corrected.

Quoted message said:

I fitted a much cheaper K-mart generator to one person's bike. I added
a halogen bulb. The headlight optics were surprisingly good, and the
unit's done well for years. IMO, the more expensive generators differ
mostly in their reduced drag, but that's not important to a lot of
people.

I quite frankly haven't really noticed much difference in drag
between my old, cheapo *mart generator "set" (looking surprisingly
similar to that in your posted link; but then, how different can
bottle generators look?), and my current higher end generator.

Perhaps I'd notice a difference if my comparison where more direct
rather than based on my memory of how the old one ran several years
ago!

I think the primary difference between high and low end generators
is how well they regulate the produced current and how quickly they
power up (or down) the light when starting/stopping.

The old generator setup seemed to very slowly come up to full power
(light brightness) as speed increased. The new one seems fully
bright almost right off the line.

SMH

Jeff Starr said:

Bill Baka said:

For me, which is usually off the beaten track I ride in moolight on a
full moon and can see perfectly. I only use a headlight or tailight when
there is traffic, and rechargeable NiMh are much better than NiCad. More
capacity by about 2:1.
Bill Baka

So, in Baka-land there is always a full moon.

Rich is right, you really are a moron.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Jeff and Rich, you must be the two with the corn cob stuck up your ass
permanently. The full moon phase lasts about 4 days and that is fine
with me when I am riding a road that may have one car per night and my
only company is the bullfrogs croaking at each other. I suspect they
could give me a more intelligent conversation than you two. Remember,
moron twins, I live way out in the country and don't have city traffic
to worry about.
What part of nobody in 2 or 3 miles in any direction don't you
understand? A car can be seen well over a mile before it gets anywhere
near me and I can either pull off or just blink my flashlight or LED key
fob that I got as a courtesy gift from a salesman. Life is good, but
only if you can have a little fun without going all paranoid that you
may be doing something wrong.
Go out and smoke a bong of Afghani hash, have a few beers, then ride,
should be a hoot with you two uptight asses.
You might actually enjoy it and then I would be blamed for turning you
guys into drug addicts.
Life is good but the government sucks, so I work around it, even if I do
sometimes work for the DOD (don't ask).
Bill Baka

PS, I also work indoors so my night vision is not shot at night, and I
do wear dark blue/UV blockers that are also polarized, not cheap, but
good. If you don't mind looking dorky, Edmund Scientific Optics sells
some laser safety goggles that block UV, IR, the violet end of blue, and
even red down to about orange. They fit over my regular prescription
sunglasses just fine. About 60 dB attenuation for you rocket scientists
out there, and only about $15 per pair.

On Sat, 21 May 2005 15:52:22 -0400, Don Wiss <donwiss@no_spam.com>

wrote in message : said:

Quoted message said:

Sheldon's selling the new Nexus hub for $90

Plus much higher installation costs.

Sure - or free fitting on a new bike (see the shiny new Brompton over
there in the corner?).

Hub dynamos have some major advantages: they are more efficient, they
don't slip in the wet, they are less vulnerable to mechanical damage
and theft, and they require less maintenance.

I have tried bottles, bottom brackets and hubs. Hubs win, by a large
margin, for utility cycling.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

you know? said:

Hub dynamos have some major advantages: they are more efficient, they
don't slip in the wet, they are less vulnerable to mechanical damage
and theft, and they require less maintenance.

I have tried bottles, bottom brackets and hubs. Hubs win, by a large
margin, for utility cycling.

I absolutely agree. I didn't buy a Breezer bike as he puts a bottle
generator on the model without front shocks, and the dynamo hub only on the
model with front shocks. Having a very low opinion of front shocks on a
street bike I ended up bringing a Dutch city bike back from Holland. Later
they saw me post here, e-mailed me, and said that on special order they
would have replaced the shocks with a fixed fork. My Breezer dealer did not
tell me this. But too late when I got their e-mail.

Don <www.donwiss.com> (e-mail link at home page bottom).

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 20 May 2005 19:55:54 +0100, "wafflycat"
<waffles*A*T*v21net*D*O*T*co*D*O*T*uk> wrote in message
<[email hidden]>:

Quoted message said:

Then there's me doing my low-flying UFO impersonation with multitudinous
lights & acres of reflectives ;-)

^^^^^

I thought it was down to a few square yards these days?

Guy

Certainly I have a lower acreage due to loss of mucho excess mass.

Cheers, helen s

I got the Serfas SL200 as a back-up.

Interesting the number of people who've had Nite Rider problems, it was
supposed to be So Much better than Nightsun. See my saga at
http://www.epinions.com/content_176763604612