Hey all,


I live in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada (Vancouver Island). The climate here is pretty conducive to being able to commute to and from work by bike year round (unlike my old home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, how I miss Minnesota), however it's very cloudy and rainy here all winter, plus the sun disappears at 4:30 PM at the height of winter. My commute to and from work varies between 6 and 18 kilometers each way, depending on the route I take.

Currently my lighting is provided from a Planet Bike 1 Watt light and a small blinky light out front and a 0.5 Watt Planet Bike Superflash Red Tail light. I ride to and from work mostly on city roads which can vary (depending on the time of day) between very busy and totally dead. The 1 Watt Planet Bike light is pretty bright and has a good run time, but it's way too focused to be effective as a head light. Despite the fact that the roads have street lighting, some sections of the road are pretty poorly light, and there is often a lot of debris on the road.

I'm contemplating three options.

The first is to buy a generator hub and wheel and install it on my bike, something like this (http://harriscyclery.net/product/har...pokes-2982.htm). Then the question is what light do I buy to go with it? Something like a Lumotec 171 Oval Plus or Lumotec IQ CYO, or maybe a Phillips Saferide LED (if I could find one). I'd keep my Planet Bike light on the bike, and just use it as a flashing light to make me more obvious to drivers.

The second option would be to get something like a Light and Motion Urban 500. It seems like it's super bright, but I'm a bit concerned that basically it'll just be a much brighter Planet Bike-like light, with a narrow focused beam and won't light up the road surface effectively enough. As another negative, I'm also pretty bad at remembering to do things like recharge batteries and then re-attach said items to their rightful place.

The third option would just be to keep on doing what I'm doing.

While I don't currently have any plans to do any long distance touring, I am considering the idea of biking from Vancouver, BC up to Oliver, BC next summer for our families summer vacation. I don't expect to be biking in the darkness then, but I think it's good to be prepared. I somehow doubt my wife will go for it though.

So I'm looking for comments on my three proposed options. If you're in favour of the first option, then I'm looking for suggestions / comments / discussions on the merits of various lighting solutions. Most of my ride is through a moderately hilly area, where speeds range from about 15 km/h on prolonged uphills to in excess of 55 km / hour on downhills (although those are usually short lived).

Thanks,
Brad