Got lights and batteries?
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https://www.bumm.de/fileadmin/user_up...6__English.pdf
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Better maybe. Cheaper? Nope. $145 for the light without a power source isn't cheap.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Old School…When It Wasn’t Ancient bikepacking
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
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Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
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I use my lights year-round while commuting, in daylight as well as dark. However, I'm actually starting to see the beam on the pavement again when I set out in the mornings.
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I am too
I am trying to figure out if my new light will be enough or ifI will have to get out the Chinese super bright light.
I am trying to figure out if my new light will be enough or ifI will have to get out the Chinese super bright light.
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#32
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Yeah, my wife bumped a tractor implement with her car and broke the headlight. After seeing how expensive a replacement would be, I suggested a rechargeable bicycle light, naming all their advantages.......I got the "look", and that was the end of that.
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I've seen this argument before, and frankly, it doesn't seem to hold water.
OK, so you've decided to buy and own 8 different bicycles if it would take 8 wheels and lights to equip your fleet. Your money, your choice. No argument here.
But why do you have to get a dyno system for every bike in the stable? That doesn't make sense. If you wanted to spend money on dyno lights (which you don't seem to), you could buy one system for one mountain bike to commute with in the winter. I have two commute bikes, a primary and a backup, which both have dyno lights. The other bike doesn't, and I have a couple of small lights I can slap on it for a limited night ride.
If you decide to go for a night ride, you also have:
So slap one of those lights and batteries on the bike of your choice and take off. If one of them is charged, of course.
I must have missed something. Will your current inventory of battery lights stop working if you get a different light? Why can't you put one of the other battery lights on your wife's bike? Is there some reason you have to throw out all the old lights, batteries, and chargers if you buy one dyno light?
My road bikes get ridden mostly during mid-day but I've been known to go for long rides in the middle of the night. My mountain bikes get used a lot during the winter time for commuting. I can take any bike I like off the wall, put on the lights and batteries and go for a ride without worrying about lights either. I also don't have to worry about the hassle and expense of having 8 different dyno wheels and 8 different lights and the cost that would entail.
But why do you have to get a dyno system for every bike in the stable? That doesn't make sense. If you wanted to spend money on dyno lights (which you don't seem to), you could buy one system for one mountain bike to commute with in the winter. I have two commute bikes, a primary and a backup, which both have dyno lights. The other bike doesn't, and I have a couple of small lights I can slap on it for a limited night ride.
If you decide to go for a night ride, you also have:
I have 4 lights, probably 8 batteries (I may have a few more), 4 chargers and less than $200 invested in the whole kit and kaboodle.
And my light system can be shared. My wife doesn't ride much at night...maybe once in the last 5 years...so spending the money for a generator system for her wouldn't be cost effective. However if she does what to do a night ride, which we did this summer, I would have to shell out the money for yet another generator system since her wheels aren't the same size as any bike I have. With a battery system, all I had to do was install a clamp for my battery lights and put the batteries on her bike. We were ready to go in 5 minutes.
#34
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Bicycles usually don't. Lights are an add-on...and for good reason. I, personally, won't buy a bike with someone else's idea of a light system. I keep my bikes longer than most of my light systems because bicycle lighting is, and has been, in a state of flux. I'd hate to have a bike that would have been outfitted with the NiteHawk lights I had about 10 years ago. They were a first generation LED that were weak in the extreme. If they had been integrated into the bicycle, the bicycle would likely be useless now if I wanted better lighting.
I'll admit that there is an advantage to generator systems. They are convenient and they do have better lights...now.
But battery powered lights have their advantages as well. Personally, I feel that they have many more advantages than generator systems. They are more flexible, they are far cheaper for a similar light output. If the battery system is as expensive as a generator system, the light output is far greater. Battery lights...especially the cheap ones...are easier to upgrade as well. If you are paying $145 just for the head lamp, you aren't likely to get a new lamp every time the technology gets a higher output. But at $60 per headlamp like the old Magicshine (350 lumens), it's not that expensive to get the latest version which then cost $45 for a 600 lumen light. Thanks to the very cheap lights, jumping up to an 800 lumen light is only $40. I don't feel bad about ditching the old systems for that little money.
OK, so you've decided to buy and own 8 different bicycles if it would take 8 wheels and lights to equip your fleet. Your money, your choice. No argument here.
But why do you have to get a dyno system for every bike in the stable? That doesn't make sense. If you wanted to spend money on dyno lights (which you don't seem to), you could buy one system for one mountain bike to commute with in the winter. I have two commute bikes, a primary and a backup, which both have dyno lights. The other bike doesn't, and I have a couple of small lights I can slap on it for a limited night ride.
But why do you have to get a dyno system for every bike in the stable? That doesn't make sense. If you wanted to spend money on dyno lights (which you don't seem to), you could buy one system for one mountain bike to commute with in the winter. I have two commute bikes, a primary and a backup, which both have dyno lights. The other bike doesn't, and I have a couple of small lights I can slap on it for a limited night ride.
This does bring up the issue of charging. In a post above, you said that you ran batteries for 2 weeks and worried if it had enough charge to get you home. Why? I would never try to squeeze two weeks of riding out of a battery under any circumstances. I charge my batteries as soon as I get home. I have since the days of NiCd, NiMH and now with Li-ion batteries. Back in the days of NiCd, I would occasionally cycle my batteries to reduce the memory effect by using them in an RC truck...at least that's what I told my wife the truck was for But trying to squeeze the very last electron out of a battery is a recipe for being stuck in the dark.
I must have missed something. Will your current inventory of battery lights stop working if you get a different light? Why can't you put one of the other battery lights on your wife's bike? Is there some reason you have to throw out all the old lights, batteries, and chargers if you buy one dyno light?
I also think you have missed the point I've been trying to make about the flexibility of battery systems vs generator lights. I already have more than enough batteries and headlights for my bike and my wife's bike...we can't use my "normal" configuration of 2 lights on the bar and one on a helmet if we both go for a night ride but that's a minor issue. Why would I equip any of my bikes with a generator system at all?
I'm already committed to battery lights and don't see any advantage to generator lights that is great enough for me to switch over. For me, it would be a major downspec to switch. I'd be limited to one light on one bike for the cost of 3 or 4 lights that I can use on any bike I like so that I'm not limited to one bike. I have 8 bikes because I like to ride different bikes for different reasons.
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I saw the fall beer and the Halloween candy on display at the grocery store when we were there over the weekend. Too bad that mean winter is about weeks away!
#36
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The point is dyno lights are always there and always work without any additional effort or routine. Simple.
#37
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It doesn't offer any back up if something goes wrong nor does it offer any ability to use it if you have to fix something on the bike. And it is always there. I don't always need a light nor do I want nor need to carry around a light all the time.
On the other hand, battery lights don't require a whole lot of additional effort. Certainly not as as you generator guys make it out to be.
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Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
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Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
#38
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I don't need all my bikes to be equipped the same. The three bikes that I use the most are also the bikes I am most likely to need lights on, so they have dynamo lights. One of them has an annoying sidewall dynamo, so it's really just an emergency system. I have battery powered lights for the bikes I prefer to keep lightweight. I move the lights between those bikes as needed. This approach lets me balance performance (which I perceive to be superior with dynamo lighting) and cost.
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#39
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I don't need all my bikes to be equipped the same. The three bikes that I use the most are also the bikes I am most likely to need lights on, so they have dynamo lights. One of them has an annoying sidewall dynamo, so it's really just an emergency system. I have battery powered lights for the bikes I prefer to keep lightweight. I move the lights between those bikes as needed. This approach lets me balance performance (which I perceive to be superior with dynamo lighting) and cost.
One of the real benefits of a dyno system is when I forgot to charge my light or phone, I can just plug them in to charge while riding. Its also preferabl to carrying chargers and/or extra batteries for long, or multiple days.
Last edited by kickstart; 09-04-15 at 02:29 PM.
#40
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I was set last year and still am for this coming darkness. Used the 750 lm for a ride finish last week.
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Yes, lighting. I'm in the process of upgrading that right now. Still trying to find a good budget solution. My headlight is sufficient to see on my mostly well-lit commute, but I might need to upgrade it come winter. Right now, I'm trying to find 2 decent blinkies that take AAA / AA / 18650 to put on my panniers to use in addition to a steady rear light.
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I timed this just right some how. My new battery pack arrived on Wednesday, and I too saw the beam on the pavement when riding home last night. The fall Performance advertisement was waiting for me in the mailbox when I got home too.
#43
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I have both dynamo lights and battery lights on my commuter. The dynamo provides "minimum legal lights" and the Magic Shine clone (MSC), with a defuser lens, provides enough light to see by.
Tuesday this was useful. I hadn't charged my MSC for about a week and it gave up on the way to work. I still had a minimum legal light, provided by the dynamo, so I wasn't too concerned. Sure, in comparison it was just a dim glow; but I am more concerned with a ticket for no lights. I also, generally, leave the dynamo light on, so it provides a bit of a daytime running light.
Like I mentioned in other threads, the dynamo light takes a block or two to turn on; but that isn't a big deal. Even with dead batteries, the MSC will light for that long. It works for me; however, if I had to get ride of one of them (which I don't) The MSC is the one I would keep.
Tuesday this was useful. I hadn't charged my MSC for about a week and it gave up on the way to work. I still had a minimum legal light, provided by the dynamo, so I wasn't too concerned. Sure, in comparison it was just a dim glow; but I am more concerned with a ticket for no lights. I also, generally, leave the dynamo light on, so it provides a bit of a daytime running light.
Like I mentioned in other threads, the dynamo light takes a block or two to turn on; but that isn't a big deal. Even with dead batteries, the MSC will light for that long. It works for me; however, if I had to get ride of one of them (which I don't) The MSC is the one I would keep.
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Like I mentioned in other threads, the dynamo light takes a block or two to turn on; but that isn't a big deal. Even with dead batteries, the MSC will light for that long. It works for me; however, if I had to get ride of one of them (which I don't) The MSC is the one I would keep.
#45
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I'm just getting back on the bike after 30+ years away. Had no idea where to begin so I bought a Blackburn 2'FER white/red flasher for the front handlebar. I already had a blinking red LED clipped to my hat. If I get a serious front light I'll move the 2'FER to the rear.
I like being able to choose my own rechargeable NiMH our Eneloops so that will factor into whatever I chose for a more serious front light.
Used to put an ordinary bottle generator on the 1976 Motobecane Mirage for commutes, which were often at night, and took it off for long distance daylight rides (a couple of times a year). It felt a little sluggish, sure, but did the job.
If I get serious about biking again I'll look for a utility/commute bike with built in generator for my next bike.
I like being able to choose my own rechargeable NiMH our Eneloops so that will factor into whatever I chose for a more serious front light.
Used to put an ordinary bottle generator on the 1976 Motobecane Mirage for commutes, which were often at night, and took it off for long distance daylight rides (a couple of times a year). It felt a little sluggish, sure, but did the job.
If I get serious about biking again I'll look for a utility/commute bike with built in generator for my next bike.
#46
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#47
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Even the vintage incandescent "Schwinn approved" Union dyno light on my continental will provide just enough light to not trip on something if walking the bike. The B&M cyo powered by a Sanyo rim dymo on my world tourist illuminates as soon as the wheel moves, and is to full output at a little more than a brisk walk.
Last edited by kickstart; 09-12-15 at 11:32 AM.
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No, I haven't bothered. The reality is that when it is dark i turn on the regular light (the Magic Shine Clone). Once that light is on I cant even see the dynamo lights output.
The reality is that it adds nothing. I have to look down at it to even see if it is on (it is mounted above the fender). It is so dim that if there is much light out I have to put my hand in front of it and look at my palm to see if it is on. As I often describe it, it is a minimum legal light.
Some time soon I will take pictures of the two lights on the road so you can see the difference. The trouble is that dynamo lights are hard to get good pictures of.
The reality is that it adds nothing. I have to look down at it to even see if it is on (it is mounted above the fender). It is so dim that if there is much light out I have to put my hand in front of it and look at my palm to see if it is on. As I often describe it, it is a minimum legal light.
Some time soon I will take pictures of the two lights on the road so you can see the difference. The trouble is that dynamo lights are hard to get good pictures of.
#49
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No, I haven't bothered. The reality is that when it is dark i turn on the regular light (the Magic Shine Clone). Once that light is on I cant even see the dynamo lights output.
The reality is that it adds nothing. I have to look down at it to even see if it is on (it is mounted above the fender). It is so dim that if there is much light out I have to put my hand in front of it and look at my palm to see if it is on. As I often describe it, it is a minimum legal light.
Some time soon I will take pictures of the two lights on the road so you can see the difference. The trouble is that dynamo lights are hard to get good pictures of.
The reality is that it adds nothing. I have to look down at it to even see if it is on (it is mounted above the fender). It is so dim that if there is much light out I have to put my hand in front of it and look at my palm to see if it is on. As I often describe it, it is a minimum legal light.
Some time soon I will take pictures of the two lights on the road so you can see the difference. The trouble is that dynamo lights are hard to get good pictures of.
Edit,
The OE B&M light that came with my Gazelle was the same output as the light on your Gotham. They are indeed minimum output lights that won't compare to a MS clone in any way, but it should provide enough light to ride 10 - 15 mph in the dark.
Last edited by kickstart; 09-12-15 at 11:49 AM.
#50
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No, I haven't bothered. The reality is that when it is dark i turn on the regular light (the Magic Shine Clone). Once that light is on I cant even see the dynamo lights output.
The reality is that it adds nothing. I have to look down at it to even see if it is on (it is mounted above the fender). It is so dim that if there is much light out I have to put my hand in front of it and look at my palm to see if it is on. As I often describe it, it is a minimum legal light.
Some time soon I will take pictures of the two lights on the road so you can see the difference. The trouble is that dynamo lights are hard to get good pictures of.
The reality is that it adds nothing. I have to look down at it to even see if it is on (it is mounted above the fender). It is so dim that if there is much light out I have to put my hand in front of it and look at my palm to see if it is on. As I often describe it, it is a minimum legal light.
Some time soon I will take pictures of the two lights on the road so you can see the difference. The trouble is that dynamo lights are hard to get good pictures of.
Taking a block to turn on sounds like it doesn't even meet any minimum legal specs, sounds like it's defective and not getting the power it usually would. Even for a cheap, minimum spec light.