noglider 

zacster specified 23rd St and 1st Ave, which is easy to find, since it's not on the bike path. I think it's a good compromise between him and us west-siders.

Glad you can be there. I will try my best to bring one or two dyno lights, but we will see.

zacster

We'll use that section of the East Side Bikeway between 23rd and downtown. It's relatively empty, and looks like it would be dark. 23rd & 1st is on the 1st Ave bike lane.

Everyone is invited!

noglider 

I just emailed Alice. She will join us. I loaned Alice my Raleigh Super Course for a few months. It has a bottle dynamo and a Dosun headlight. I guess I should bring my Bianchi Volpe back from the country. It has the dynamo hub and a Philips headlight. My Raleigh Twenty is not currently rideable. I messed up the fork, and it needs more work before I can get it back in the street.

zacster

If anybody else was looking to join, the Wednesday 3/26 light test ride is postponed until the following Wednesday due to crappy weather. I probably wouldn't have been able to make it anyway.

Same time and place. 23rd and 1st at 7:30. It may not be quite dark then, but close enough to get started. Ride will be down the East Side Greenway, back and forth if necessary, and then I continue over the Manhattan Bridge.

I've got a CYO Premium dynamo, a Lezyne Super Drive, and a cheap Keygos Chinese single battery/LED torch.

1nterceptor

Next Wed. is April 2. I should be able to make it.

hayden52

Here are some more recent data and circuits for LED dynamo lights:

Dynamo LED Light Systems for Bicycles (electronic circuits)

noglider 

I was not able to bring my Bianchi Volpe (with Philips light) from the country, and I think I'll be able to this weekend, so the postponement is good for me.

zacster

It wasn't a great day today anyway. The sun was out but the wind was a killer. And it was cold. At least we didn't get any of the snow that they predicted. Maybe next week we'll have some normal weather with temps in the 50s or 60s.

noglider 

It's brutal out there. I agree.

zacster

I found a really dark spot in Prospect Park tonight and took the bike on the path through it and I was totally amazed at the light. I wish I had my other lights with me for comparison. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow, although it won't be as warm.

01 CAt Man Do

Just to let you know I look forward to the reviews once you guys finally do get together. I was going to ask that someone bring a camera along to perhaps take some beam shots but that's when it dawned on me that with dynamo set-ups this is not really something that can be easily done.

I think I've pretty much decided that I want to own a dynamo set-up but because of the price of the lamps I want to make sure I make an informed purchase. I'll probably buy a Shimano hub ( ~$120 ) but what lamp I buy will depend on a couple factors, mainly beam pattern, stand-light ability and lastly aesthetic appeal. Added pluses would be the ability to easily connect a USB device ( cell phone ) for charging.

Going to be awhile before I have any extra money. The car needs tires and money is tighter these days. That said I'm more conservative with the credit card now than I have been in the past.

zacster

For one thing, you can get a Shimano hub for less that $120. I only paid $80 for mine. But you need to add the price of rim, spokes and spoke tape to it, plus any tools.

As for the test, I plan on bringing my helmet mounted SJ1000 cam to take video of the whole thing. You'll be able to see relative brightness. I'm still hoping that it will be dark enough there to see the differences. If not, we can have a test in Prospect Park on another night where I was yesterday (no riding tonight, it is pouring down rain).

westrid_dad

I'm not sure if you're looking for photos of beam tests within the city specifically, but if you want a general comparison of various dyno lights Peter White has a good reference page.
headlight beams from Peter White Cycles

zacster

Not everyone trusts his beam tests since he sells the lights. Not saying that he's trying to pull a fast one, but there will always be a bias towards what you sell.

In general too, beam shots are subject to the sensitivity of the camera, the settings etc... If you hold ISO, shutter speed and aperture constant the relationship between the visible light and the photo still isn't linear. That's the reason we're doing this in person, to see for ourselves. It's a long trip from Idaho, but you're invited.

zacster

This Wednesday is looking good so far. Temps in the low 50s. Far from warm and springlike, but not cold enough to stop me from riding. No rain either.

westrid_dad

hmmmm... I have a daughter in Manhattan. I could visit her, then go out and play with you guys? Decisions, decisions...

zacster

The weather looks to be good enough for tomorrow. 7:30 at 23rd and 1st Ave, Manhattan. Everyone is invited, even from Idaho.

Maybe a visit to a local watering hole is in order after the ride.

01 CAt Man Do

Spotted my first Dynamo user the other day. The guy was approaching a ( red ) traffic light ( real slow ) and the lamp would flicker with every pedal stroke. ( less than one mph likely )

1nterceptor

Still have to get home to NJ after the tests. Rain check on the pub stop, see you folks later.

zacster

I spotted someone else today too, the first time in a really long time.

For that matter, tonight's ride will be the first time for me in any kind of traffic.

noglider 

We met last night. 1nterceptor took pictures and maybe video, too. He took them head on, to see how the bike looks in oncoming traffic.

Al's bike had this flashlight with a Cree P4-WC emitter.

Mine had this flashlight with a Cree XM-L T6 emitter.

Kendra was riding my wife's bike, which has a NiteRider MiNewt. I'm pretty sure it's the MiNewt 150 model.

I wasn't able to bring any of my dynamo setups.

We didn't test how well the lights light up the road.

Zac had his dynamo setup. Very impressive. 1nterceptor's battery light is extremely compact and powerful.

I look forward to seeing the pictures or videos, whichever he took.

1nterceptor

It was nice meeting Zacster and Noglider with his buddies for the 1st time last night.
Took some pics and vids of everybody's set-up. Didn't get a chance to view all the
footage yet. Will have something put together this weekend. The reason why I wanted
to go was to see how a modern dyno light compares with a battery powered one. I've
never ridden a bike with a dyno before; but I must say that Zacster's has a really nice
light distribution.

noglider 

1nterceptor, a lot of engineering goes into the optics of the dynamo headlights. It is evident when you ride on a dark road. They produce less light overall, but in many cases, the amount of useful light is greater than with a battery light. Very intelligent stuff!

Mr IGH

Using a resistive load works for simulating bulbs but not for LEDs. When driving LEDs (or a zener) the dyno is a nearly constant current source, the more diodes stacked in series, the higher the output voltage and the higher the output power will be. I've used the booster circuit configuration to drive 4 LEDs in series for over 6W of power out of a Shimano dynohub, using a zener I was able to drive over 12W. The SuperNova triple takes advantage of this feature but only works driven from the better dyno hubs. An SA dyno will not be able to drive a SuperNova Triple, Shimano, Son, SP and SRAM can.

mrbubbles

Using a 7 led series setup in the same setup on sp dynamo. 3 xpg, 3 xpe, and one b&m toplight line plus, the standlight for the b&m activates instantly compared to being paired with a b&m front light. Currently waiting for an xp-e red led coming in the mail to replace the b&m. I have xp-e red led dynamo lights with standlight on other bikes and it puts the b&m to shame, if this is the best dynamo taillight the market has to offer, I'm very disappointed.

https://www.bikeforums.net/electronic...diy-setup.html