Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Fine, if you just what the products to work as they are expected to without doing what is needed to keep them from premature failure, you'll just have to expect things to fail. I suspect that you fail to pump up tires because you just expect them to be full of air; that you don't change oil in your car because you just expect it to last forever; that you don't clean your chimney because it should just clean itself.
Expecting a product to be coddled by removing them from the environment they are intended to be used in is how you justify your claim. Comparing having to take a battery from the environment it is to be used in to oil changes is ridiculous... What you describe isn't maintenance, at best you are making a case that the batteries are being misused/specified by the manufacturers of the bicycle lights. Unless of course they only intend those lights to be used on stationary bikes indoors.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Hybrid and electric cars have very sophisticated systems to keep the batteries from being killed by heat prematurely. But you pay a premium for that protection and the batteries on a hybrid or electric car will have to be replaced eventually. It's the nature of the beast.
So the batteries are being used in an environment they aren't intended for? Great, not a problem with use, but a problem with the manufacturer...
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Most Li-ion batteries have protection circuits that also keep them from being damaged by heat or, more specifically, to keep them from causing damage to your house if they overheat. But, if you, as a consumer, store them over 90F for long periods of time, it's not the battery that fails, it's the consumer. If you don't want to treat them in a manner that keeps them from failing every year, then expect them to fail.
Yep, I don't expect to have to coddle my equipment. Maintanance is fine, but having to remove equipment from an outdoor tool because the tool doesn't like the heat is ridiculous.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
I have said before that I can get a full night's ride on battery power if I like. It's easy. I just carry enough batteries to do so. A single lamp on high power will last about 3 hours. If I run one lamp at a time, I get 9 hours. If I run one light at a time on low setting, I can get just as much light as you can with a dynamo light for about 6 hours. I can gang batteries together to get longer run times. I have done all night rides, several times. It's not that difficult.
Nice avoiding of my point. Do you always carry enough battery power to last all night? Doubtful. And resorting to that low setting is a cop out. Your the one claiming you want the brightest lights you can get for a variety of reasons... It isn't a question of being able to do an all night ride, it is a question of deciding to do so after one has already by out for an hour (or four) and deciding to just keep riding. Batteries don't allow that flexibility...
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
John Schubert has already covered the failings of reflectors.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Reflectors on bikes aren't
fresnel lenses either. They are
retroreflectors, specifically square retroreflectors. They can reflect back at a wider angle than a flat surface, they are still limited by the principles of optics. You can only get reflection back to the observer if they are at the proper angle and even then it is a tiny fraction of the light that the source sends out.
A car may have more light than a bike equipped with current LEDs (not overvolted MR16 halogens, however, which put out about the same light as a car light) but that doesn't matter. The light spreads out over distance very rapidly and the lumens per area drops significantly. It drops even more as it travels back to the observer.
Does not spread out particularly rapidly when dealing with the distances where it is important. In short I don't care if a car a mile away can see me...
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Nope. Not accurate at all.
Actually, yes it was...
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
"You're", contraction of "you are" as opposed to "your" which is a possessive pronoun. Quite frankly, at this point you are becoming insulting. Why should I help?
So your resorting to being grammar police and claiming insults...
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
More insults.
No, not actually. Merely an accurate description of your stated position. In short as cheap as possible with as much power as possible...
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Really, the sun's output is only a faction of a candle's output? You might want to revise that. But what does that have to do with the price of coal in Newcastle? One third is a fraction.
Yep, that appears to be the way you used the term fraction. As I said your claim was literally true, any real number can be represented as a fraction...
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Uh huh. Ask just about anyone if they want more light for less money or if they want to spend much more money for less light.
Yep, and there was a time where just about anyone who was asked would have said the earth was flat. More isn't always better, even if people choose to believe so. In this case, it actually can reduce your night vision quite considerably. With my lights I can easily see road obstructions and other issues on the road in front of me, and even on moonless nights I can see quite a bit off to my periphery without any light beyond the stars... You can't with your over powered lights, which is why you recommend a helmet light on top of the spot lights you ride with. That is just one example of how you can have too much light.
Most people can understand that basic fact, even if they let their inner Tim Allen choose bike lights for them. For instance do you use 40, 60, or 100 watt (or equivalents) in the lamps in your home? Or do you choose the 250 or even 500 watt options? Do you read by a carbon arc lamp?