legot73

So I'm still waiting for my dynamo hub from PeterWhiteCycles.com. Apparently the lights are still to be shipped from Germany, and I have it set up to ship as one order. The hub isn't much good without the lights, anyway, since my current light has a 6" cable.

In the meantime, I have a front bottle dynamo light that is running off the Schwalbe Silento tires, which have a strong track on the sidewall to turn the dynamo. Even with the small track, I have problems with it when wet.

So here's my question. Would it be better to:

a) keep running the bottle dynamo, 3w front light with slick tires
b) switch to my studded tires and run a 5 led front light until the new stuff arrives (2 weeks or so?)

The temp is dropping from 60 to 20s and 30s tonight, and lots of precip.

CastIron

B. Good studded tires ain't cheap.

PaulH

I'd go for b).

Paul

Portis

I must be stupid. I can't understand your question.

legot73

Consensus is for the studded tires (b) with the smaller light. I'll switch them out tonight to handle the ice that is forecasted.

Portis, to reword my question, I could either run my Nokian Hakka 106 tires, but couldn't power my bottle dynamo with them (i.e. no 3 watt headlight, just an led), or keep running my current setup with the bottle dynamo and slick tires (better light, no studs). Unitl my dyno hub and Lumotech Oval arrive, I can't do good lights and studded tires.

Of course, the crappy bottle dynamo will still be mounted with the studded tires, so I'll give it a try, but I'm not expecting good results.

Thanks for the feedback. Ride safe tomorrow.

Hezz

How long are your rides. IF they are no more than 2-3 hours in length you would be better off to scrap the generator type of lights and get a good rechargable battery type. They are brighter and easier to use. A ten watt halogen will throw a pretty good beam of light.

Of course if you do long rides you may need the generator setup.

Portis

+1

Unless your ride is extremely long, I would get a good battery powered light. I run a couple sets of them at 30 watts, plus run studs when needed. I wouldn't want an either/or option. Crashing because of ice or crashing because of low light, neither are good options.

I understand that your issue might be temporary, but neither seem to be good options.

randomgear

Legot73,
Do you have experience running a sidewall dynamo with the wire brush wheel instead of the rubber wheel?
Been thinking about getting one, would like to know if they actually work well.
I like the idea of just getting on my bike and riding, with no worries about whether or not I charged a battery recently. I still plan on keeping my Planet Bike 3 beamer on the bike for when I stop at traffic lights, and as a backup

legot73

random, the only dynamo I've owned so far is the Wave bottle dynamo that came with my bike. I don't like it.

I put the Nokian 106 tires on last night in prep for all the snow and ice on the way. The bottle dynamo is working with them, for now, but I'm a little nervous about snow. I'm going to double up with the PB Beamer 5 and dyno light until the better stuff arrives.

I considered a better battery powered light, but decided on the hub dyno system for a few reasons:
1) I'm bad about charging stuff
2) I would be stingy with the lights if they had batteries, and I want to run them on all but clear, sunny days.
3) One less setup/breakdown step for locking up, the lights will always be there.
4) I won't have to remember to bring them along if I leave when it's light out, but return when its dark.
5) They're "bright enough" for me to see and be seen where I ride.

No doubt, the battery powered lights available right now are a good bang for the buck in the $100-$200 range (to me, at least). With the possibility of a little extra $$$ this time of year (Birthday, Xmas, Bonus, etc.), I might go ahead and get one in addition to the dyno setup, maybe a helmet mount to compliment it and switch to other bikes with no setup.

PaulH

Once the dynohub wheel arrives, you will wonder why you rode so long with the sidewall bottle.

Paul

fatbat

could you get an appropriate voltage battery to run the 3W front light?

Small 7.2V batteries are cheap at the local radio shack.