Originally Posted by
PlanoFuji
Yes, FOR YOU, apparently a dyno wouldn't be economical. But that isn't the same as saying it isn't economical for others.
For
many, a dynamo light isn't economical. We are still talking about $200 or more for
a single light for
a single bike. Even if you don't have a stable, that's a significant investment when compared to $25 for a single light for multiple bikes.
Originally Posted by
PlanoFuji
Yes, we have had this conversation before. You believe in coddling equipment, I (and most people) don't. I leave the batteries on the bike in unconditioned space subject to normal heat and cold. They only come into air conditioned space when being charged. They don't last more than two years before their life span is too short to be useable. Of course, those cheap chinese batteries last even less time than that.
And 'generations' of lighting simply don't really matter. If one's current lights provide enough light NOW, the next years lights that provide even more are not needed. All too many people have started to treat all commercial goods like computers and always want the latest generation...
I know people who are perfectly happy running the same dyno set-up they purchased 10+ years ago...
No, I don't believe in coddling equipment. But I also don't believe in mistreating equipment just because I'm lazy. You change oil in your car, don't you? You lube the chain on your bike, don't you? Grease the bearings? Tension the cables? True the wheels? Pump up the tires? What part of that is "coddling" and what part of it is just protecting your investment. If you leave your batteries to cook in a garage all summer and freeze in the same garage in the winter, then it's not the batteries fault that they fail but your careless acts just as it would by your carelessness if your bearings wore out or you blipped a rim because you didn't pump up the tires.
Originally Posted by
PlanoFuji
At night reflectors put some of the much brighter light from a cars headlights back toward them. Supplementing the light on one's own bikes. This is even more so in daylight when no bike light is particularly noticeable. Unfortunately the full complement of reflectors (front, rear, front wheel, and rear wheel) are rarely installed (or kept on) bikes in the U.S.
This is not a issue of light for the cyclists to see with (their headlight does that fine), but rather an issue of improving a cyclists 'be seen' scenario. And frankly is far more important than any on-bike light sources for maximizing one's 'be seen' profile.
Okay, I see where you are coming from. I deplore passive reflectors. I think they are some of the most useless things that man has invented. An active light source trumps a reflector in any situation. Reflectors only work if they are hit by a light source that is coming from the right direction. That limits the angle at which it can be seen. Active lighting radiate out in some fraction of a sphere and can be seen in all directions. I carry what I have to for reflectors and nothing more. I don't even see the reflectors as augmentation of the active lights but only a nuisance that I have to have to be legal.