Originally Posted by
Burton
LOL You might get the BULB for $9.00 but a decent battery to run it is another $100 and the price of the headlight assembly (reflector) for most cars will run you another several hundred dollars.
For less than $300 there are a number of 'made in USA' lights that are complete with battery, reflector, extended warranty, are more effecient ...... and weigh a lot less than any automotive halogen headlight setup. And prices are relative. The price of a decent tire is still the same - regardless of if you paid $15,000 or bought the bike at a garage sale. Lighting ain't much different.
I am certain that I could find a decent car battery under $50. And lets not try to fathom the price of car parts. A non-powered passenger side wing mirror for a cheapo Japanese econobox is $200 at the auto parts store... really? Keeps the junkyards in business I guess. As for tires...a decent bike tire is about a pound of rubber and kevlar and gets 6,000 miles and costs $50. A decent car tire is 25 pounds of rubber and kevlar and gets 70,000 miles and costs $50. The question is are those made in USA lights really made here and... really... can you really tell me that you've seen any bike light, regardless of price that is close to a car headlight? My MagicShine on high power absolutely cannot deal with much more than a light shower. Real driving rain leaves me in the same boat as someone with no light at all. At least I will be seen, I suppose. Still... I don't think the cyclist market is very well served by the bicycle aftermarket industry. Cheap helmets... that's about it. Everything else... if it weren't for the Chinese, bicycle commuting would require a six figure income to pull off. If I was making six figures I think I could afford to buy a Leaf.
H