Pretty much whenever someone asks for recommendations for bicycle lighting, I recommend lights driven by a dynamo hub, despite the extra expense. A few weeks ago, I had an experience that illustrated why.

Background: I have two bicycles I ride with some regularity. My daily commuter is a 2010 Dr Dew that is kitted out with an Alfine dynohub and very nice Lumotec lights. I also have a Yuba Mundo V3 for grocery shopping and other cargo hauling. I don't ride it as often, it's larger and more obvious, and putting a dynohub on it requires getting a wheel custom-built, so I currently make do with ordinary battery-powered LED lights.

Well, a couple weeks ago, I decided to go on a shopping trip after work. I needed a few groceries, and also needed to buy some wine bottles from the local homebrew store for the homemade mead I had aging in my basement.

It was still light out when I got home from work, and I didn't expect my trip to take long, so I decided to leave my bag of lights and such at home.

I stop at the grocery store and get the few things I needed. Now I'm thinking "hmm, it's dinner time, and there's a hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint I want to try", so I get dinner. As I'm leaving the Mexican place, it's clear that the sun is going down and the light is getting dim. This is not good.

So I go ahead and buy the bottles I needed along with a six-pack of hard cider I wanted to try, and lash it all onto the Mundo. Now it's almost fully dark, and I don't have any of my lighting gear or reflective vest. And I have a ~3 mile ride home. Great.

So I make my way home, being extra cautious. Fortunately there were enough street lights to see by so I at least didn't have to worry about that, but I was neither as visible nor could I see as well as I normally like.

Thankfully I made it home without even a close-call, but it was a more stressful trip than it should've been.

Had I invested in dynamo lights on the Mundo, I at least would've had those even if I didn't have my reflective vest. A dynamo wheel has moved up my list of things to buy significantly.

And that is why I advocate dynamo lights for anyone who is serious about practical riding. You never, ever have to worry about having usable lights. If you're riding your bike, you've got lights.