Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets
Reload this Page >

Dynohub & Light for low speed riding?

Search
Notices
Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets HRM, GPS, MP3, HID. Whether it's got an acronym or not, here's where you'll find discussions on all sorts of tools, toys and gadgets.

Dynohub & Light for low speed riding?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 05-03-17, 01:08 AM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,624

Bikes: iele Latina, Miele Suprema, Miele Uno LS, Miele Miele Beta, MMTB, Bianchi Model Unknown, Fiori Venezia, Fiori Napoli, VeloSport Adamas AX

Mentioned: 16 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1324 Post(s)
Liked 927 Times in 640 Posts
Dynohub & Light for low speed riding?

I have a Cygo-Lite Rover II light of about 250 lumens on super high. A low speed the low setting is adequate. Another nice feature about the light is that it illuminates a two lane road not just a narrow section of it.

I've been thinking about getting a dynohub and light but there's one problem that I can foresee. A lot of my night time riding is at little more than walking pace along very twisty and narrow (single-track) trails in forest preserves that are shortcuts for me.

I've consider a Cygo-Lite Centauri 1700 or the Cygo-Lite TridentX Xxtra 1300 as a new light. However with a dynahub and light I wouldn't need to worry about batteries.

So a dynohub and light for me needs to be bright enough to ride single track in a forest at night and yet have a long reaching and wide beam to use on two lane roads at night at speed. Can any one here recommend such a combination that either they or a friend of theirs has used? I REALLY do not want to go to the expense of experimenting with dynohubs and lights but want to by something that'll work for me the first time I buy.

Cheers
Miele Man is offline  
Old 05-03-17, 01:36 AM
  #2  
Zoom zoom zoom zoom bonk
 
znomit's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 4,624

Bikes: Giant Defy, Trek 1.7c, BMC GF02, Fuji Tahoe, Scott Sub 35, Kona Rove, Trek Verve+2

Mentioned: 6 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 551 Post(s)
Liked 722 Times in 366 Posts
How slow exactly? Dyno lights tend to tail off between 5-8kph. Put a half good light on your helmet and you'll be fine.
znomit is offline  
Old 05-03-17, 06:43 AM
  #3  
apocryphal sobriquet
 
J.C. Koto's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Star City, NE
Posts: 1,083

Bikes: 2008 Surly Long Haul Trucker "The Truckerino"

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 11 Post(s)
Liked 3 Times in 2 Posts
I can say although I love the B&M IQ Cyo Premium I have now I would definitely NOT recommend it for any kind of twisty riding, singletrack or otherwise. The problem with this headlamp is the sharp horizontal beam cutoff works very well when travelling forward or taking normal turns on a city street but fails to project the beam into the turn when taking sharp or windy turns.

For riding singletrack I'd be wary of any headlamp with a sharp horizontal beam cutoff which includes pretty much all StVZO headlamps since, IIRC, they require the sharp cutoff.
J.C. Koto is offline  
Old 05-03-17, 09:45 AM
  #4  
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,397
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,696 Times in 2,517 Posts
I have a dyno setup on my mountain bike. It's a Supernova Pure, so not the best light, but I don't think it's suitable for slow singletrack. I've never had any trouble because of the cutoff. Problem is that I don't ride fast enough to keep it lit. I always ride with a battery light and a helmet light. One or the other would be fine.

My IQ-X has caused me problems on twisty road descents. Some people that are a lot better than me at descending mtb's in the dark might not like that, but I tend to be a lot more upright on the mtb than on a road bike. My backup handlebar light, the Cygolite Expillion has a somewhat sharp cutoff. It's a lot fuzzier than the IQ-X though.

Another edit: mountain bikers that use them seem to love their k-lites. No cutoff. Expensive.

Last edited by unterhausen; 05-03-17 at 09:52 AM.
unterhausen is offline  
Old 05-03-17, 01:13 PM
  #5  
aka Tom Reingold
 
noglider's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Posts: 40,503

Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem

Mentioned: 511 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7348 Post(s)
Liked 2,466 Times in 1,434 Posts
I've been riding with dynamo powered lights for a few years now. It works well for me and I suspect it will work well for your low speed riding. Get a light with a wide beam. There are various beam designs from B&M.
__________________
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog

“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author

Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
noglider is offline  
Old 05-03-17, 01:43 PM
  #6  
smelling the roses
 
seedsbelize's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Tixkokob, Yucatán, México
Posts: 15,320

Bikes: 79 Trek 930, 80 Trek 414, 84 Schwinn Letour Luxe (coupled), 92 Schwinn Paramount PDG 5

Mentioned: 104 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7081 Post(s)
Liked 901 Times in 612 Posts
Maybe check with Peter White Cycles.
__________________
Originally Posted by Bah Humbug
Auto-pause is a honey-tongued devil whispering sweet lies in your ear.


seedsbelize is offline  
Old 05-07-17, 11:58 AM
  #7  
Banned
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: NW,Oregon Coast
Posts: 43,598

Bikes: 8

Mentioned: 197 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7607 Post(s)
Liked 1,355 Times in 862 Posts
there are many LED lights that are not focused with a cut off , upper beam
( eDelux uses B&M patented IQ Reflector design, a benefit on the street )

the placement of the LED in the center of multiple reflectors can light up a lot of area..


I'd consider having 2 headlights, 2nd one Battery powered..

There are some pretty serious off road torches out there.

https://www.niterider.com/product/pr...enduro-remote/


....

Last edited by fietsbob; 05-07-17 at 12:07 PM.
fietsbob is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
mooler
Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets
25
03-13-17 04:23 AM
DTownDave22
Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets
14
04-01-15 10:24 PM
despoke
Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets
9
12-17-11 01:42 PM
Rhodabike
Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets
9
08-17-10 09:39 PM
PaulRivers
Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets
12
06-04-10 01:20 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.