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01-13-08, 09:07 PM
I've been running the standard, crappy union generator set on my bike for the last six months. The set came with a 2.4W halogen headlight, a .6W incandescent taillight (think flashlight bulb) and a crappy bottle generator with a mounting bracket for running on the sidewall of the rear tire.
The damn thing never worked when there was the slightest bit of precipitation. If the roads were even a little damp from the prior day's rain, the light would fade in and out. And when the damn thing was kicking out power, it would burn out taillights any time I got going faster than 20mph. I solved the bulb burnout problem by purchasing 150mA bulbs instead of the 100mA bulbs that the system was supposed to run on (which caused my headlight to run dim as a consequence.
So I finally purchased and installed a new front wheel with a Shimano DH-3N71 generator hub, which is the nicer hub that Shimano manufactures.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/mayorbrotherdan/Bikelight019.jpg
I kept all of the old lights and mounting brackets. The only thing that I changed is the generator.
I've only taken it around the block, but the improvement over the old generator is astounding. The headlight is much brighter than it was with the old system. At 5mph it's kicking out more lumens than it was at 20mph with the old generator. It remains to be seen if the taillight bulbs will hold up to the higher output of the new generator, but the system seems to work great.
The drag is unnoticeable. It was kind of a pain to ride with the old generator, as I could feel it slowing me down. But the hub generator might as well not be there. Anyone that has shied away from running a generator due to the drag is really missing out.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the way to go with lighting systems. It's cheaper than a comparably bright battery powered system, and it doesn't really slow you down.
The damn thing never worked when there was the slightest bit of precipitation. If the roads were even a little damp from the prior day's rain, the light would fade in and out. And when the damn thing was kicking out power, it would burn out taillights any time I got going faster than 20mph. I solved the bulb burnout problem by purchasing 150mA bulbs instead of the 100mA bulbs that the system was supposed to run on (which caused my headlight to run dim as a consequence.
So I finally purchased and installed a new front wheel with a Shimano DH-3N71 generator hub, which is the nicer hub that Shimano manufactures.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y30/mayorbrotherdan/Bikelight019.jpg
I kept all of the old lights and mounting brackets. The only thing that I changed is the generator.
I've only taken it around the block, but the improvement over the old generator is astounding. The headlight is much brighter than it was with the old system. At 5mph it's kicking out more lumens than it was at 20mph with the old generator. It remains to be seen if the taillight bulbs will hold up to the higher output of the new generator, but the system seems to work great.
The drag is unnoticeable. It was kind of a pain to ride with the old generator, as I could feel it slowing me down. But the hub generator might as well not be there. Anyone that has shied away from running a generator due to the drag is really missing out.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the way to go with lighting systems. It's cheaper than a comparably bright battery powered system, and it doesn't really slow you down.