Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets - Bike generated lights

Heyo Gang,

I've recently bought my first bike in 20 yrs and wondered if they still make headlights which run by the bicycle's generating power. If so,do they have any drawbacks? Thanks in advance; and thanks to peak oil we should soon have more members!!

The Dude

Yep, only they are a lot brighter and have less drag than you remember.
See here (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/schmidt-headlights.asp) and here (http://www.stkildacycles.com.au/products_lightsSafety.htm#dynamo) for a little info on commercial light.
The drawback can be they go out when you stop. Some lights have a capacitor powered "standlight" which shine dimly for a few minutes when you stop. I just use a battery powered blinky as well.
See Martins pages here (http://www.pilom.com/BicycleElectronics/BicycleElectronics.htm) for DIY circuits and see my dyno light in sig for DIY builds.

Yep, only they are a lot brighter and have less drag than you remember.
See here (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/schmidt-headlights.asp) and here (http://www.stkildacycles.com.au/products_lightsSafety.htm#dynamo) for a little info on commercial light.
The drawback can be they go out when you stop. Some lights have a capacitor powered "standlight" which shine dimly for a few minutes when you stop. I just use a battery powered blinky as well.
See Martins pages here (http://www.pilom.com/BicycleElectronics/BicycleElectronics.htm) for DIY circuits and see my dyno light in sig for DIY builds.
+1
Even the lowly tire driven bottle dynamos work fine. After about about 15 minutes I forget about the slight drag. I use the 2 LED headlight circuit shown on Martins page with SSC P4 Z-power LED's. The Cree XR-E LED is even brighter but they came out after I built my headlight. I have more light from my dynamo and LED system than I had when I was fighting batteries and an MR-16 20-watt halogen light.
+1 on the blinkie. Here is my setup.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/HPIM0395.jpg

http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/light.jpg
The 15X30 lens on the right is the same one used in Martins single LED headlight project. the one on the left is a 10 degree narrow lens. Both produce a very good beam pattern both right in front of the bike and long distance. Reflective road signs are brightly illuminated from over a mile away. The bridge rectifier and capacitor are in the headlight as shown in the photo below.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r154/n4zou/light4.jpg

Sweet,

Thanks for the ideas!