Originally Posted by
cyccommute
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.
Doubtful, particularly when that cost is considered as part of the TOTAL cost for the bike... Many people routinely spend that and more, already, for battery lights.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
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.
Really, the batteries in my cars (and most didn't even get stored in garages) lasted three or more years in precisely that scenario. And yes I know the batteries have different chemistry. I expect my machines to be ready to ride whenever the urge strikes me. Running around fetching batteries (and making sure they are charged), just so that they are 'stored' in the 'proper' environment is codling (in my book) a device that is meant to be used outdoors...
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
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.
If I were talking about passive reflectors
instead of active lights I would agree with you. However, I am talking about them being used
in addition to active lighting. The dyno headlight and tail lights I selected were chosen in part because they incorporate reflectors as well as active lighting components. I also have reflectors on my front and rear wheels. And until I switched to my current GR-10 pedals, my pedals had reflectors as well.
I built the following bike up to be a general purpose means of transportation, day or night. I ride in a variety of conditions at night (and ride predominantly at night in the summer) and its basic set-up with reflectors has ensured that I have never had a problem with drivers seeing me.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
An active light source trumps a reflector in any situation.
Patently not true. During the day, they are the single best visibility tool a cyclist has, bar none. And at night they shine brighter than ANY bicycle light because car lights are much brighter (particularly high beams)...
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Reflectors only work if they are hit by a light source that is coming from the right direction.
Yes, but they work from a fairly wide angle (good for the day), and at night the vehicles that one most want to see the reflectors will have their lights squarely in proper angle for the reflector.
BTW, Can you provide a link to those $24 headlights and $11 batteries? I am collecting a variety of lighting and plan on performing controlled tests of their actual light output and light patterns.