Commuting - Home Brew Lights: Need comments on mounting choices! Pics in thread!

Ok folks, today a nice happy box arrived for me from Nashbar. Along with two new bottle mounts for the Schwinn commuter, it also included the Minoura 'SwingGrip' which I plan to mount my Optronics MR16 lights on. I started playing with the housings after getting the swing grip mounted on the stem and came up with 4 variations of housing positions to choose from...

First up: Lights mounted under the T bar.

http://thecuda.com/Bottom1.jpg

http://thecuda.com/Bottom2.jpg

http://thecuda.com/Bottom3.jpg

Second choice: Lights mounted on front of T bar - housings hanging down.

http://thecuda.com/FrontBottom1.jpg

http://thecuda.com/FrontBottom2.jpg

http://thecuda.com/FrontBottom3.jpg

Thrid choice: Lights mounted on front of T bar - housings on top.

http://thecuda.com/FrontTop1.jpg

http://thecuda.com/FrontTop2.jpg

http://thecuda.com/FrontTop3.jpg

http://thecuda.com/FrontTop4.jpg

And lastly: Lights mounted on the top of the T bar.

http://thecuda.com/Top1.jpg

http://thecuda.com/Top2.jpg

http://thecuda.com/Top3.jpg

I'm leaning towards #2 or #3. Maybe on an angle between #1/2?

i like choice 2

It's hard to give advice because the best position depends on your body position and hand position. One thing I will say is that you'll go crazy if your lights aren't securely fastened. I'd drill a hole for each light through the swinggrip and bolt them on. Make sure you can adjust each light up and down and side to side, that'll drive you crazy too.

Are those the chrome optronics housings? How much do they weigh? Are they metal or coated plastic?

It's hard to give advice because the best position depends on your body position and hand position. One thing I will say is that you'll go crazy if your lights aren't securely fastened. I'd drill a hole for each light through the swinggrip and bolt them on. Make sure you can adjust each light up and down and side to side, that'll drive you crazy too.

Are those the chrome optronics housings? How much do they weigh? Are they metal or coated plastic?

Oh, I will be drilling the swinggrip once I make a decision on if the hole will be top-to-bottom or front-to-back.

They are the Optronics housings, they are metal. Bulbs are a pair of 20W MR16's, one is a 'power saver' 20W 8 degree spot (replaces 35W bulb), the other is a 15 degree 20W spot.

Up/Down aiming will be easy to do with the joint in the housings (as seen in photos). Left/Right aiming will be harder if I go with a front-to-back drilling.

What about mounting the lights to the Swinggrip as in choice 1, and then flipping the whole thing upside down so the Swinggrip is below the stem and the lights are on top of the Swinggrip? The lights would still be about the same height as the handlebars, but the mounts would be out of the way.

I like option 2. Any of them would work. Option 2 looks better and seems to get the lights out of the way best.

I mount my lights right to my handle bars, and I mount them UNDER the bars.
That way when i get a flat at o'dark thirty on a rainy morning I can just flip my bike over to fix the flat and not have to worry about damaging my lights.

I use a handlebar bag and had to improvise mounting my light. I used an old school metal reflector bracket that bolted through the fork. Worked pretty slick. With a little work you might get two lights mounted.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4534/2115/1600/frontlight.jpg

What about mounting the lights to the Swinggrip as in choice 1, and then flipping the whole thing upside down so the Swinggrip is below the stem and the lights are on top of the Swinggrip? The lights would still be about the same height as the handlebars, but the mounts would be out of the way.

Putting the swing grip under the stem was plan A. Wouldn't work with the Cantiliever brake housing stop where it is unless I had about another 1-2cm length stem.


I mount my lights right to my handle bars, and I mount them UNDER the bars.
That way when i get a flat at o'dark thirty on a rainy morning I can just flip my bike over to fix the flat and not have to worry about damaging my lights.

Very good point! Hadn't thought of this and certainly something to consider. Thanks for the 'in the real world' reality check. ;)


I use a handlebar bag and had to improvise mounting my light. I used an old school metal reflector bracket that bolted through the fork. Worked pretty slick. With a little work you might get two lights mounted.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4...frontlight.jpg

I originally had a reflector bracket that attached to the top of the stem that I was going to use as a mounting base. Didn't quite workout for me. And with this swing grip thingy, I've got a handy place to mount the switches too! ;)

You can mount these lights till the cows come home but
what REALLY counts is finding that ONE position that lays
the most light on the road. Until you know that you're
wasting your time.

I mounted my optronics underneathe the handlebars, I find this works best because you want them to be lower to the ground.

Keep them low and protected by the bars for protection from crashes or even the bike falling over. Also for tight places it keeps the bike lower. And if you are down in the drops they are not in your face.