Originally Posted by
cyccommute
You are completely missing the point. Even on a bicycle with a simple drivetrain, there are dozens and dozens of things that could go wrong that would be fairly simple to fix in daylight but impossible to fix at night. Flats are only one thing...and random at that. You could have a bolt come loose, spokes break, brake pads slip, chain break, flats and many, many other things that can happen completely at random. You could even drop something...keys, glasses, wallet, gloves, etc...while doing something else that your generator light would be useless to help look for. Having a light that you can turn on and leave on is extremely helpful and comes in handy. At the very least, you should carry something that you can use as a back up in case something happens to your main light. Stuff happens.
I guess after living in Germany I believe in preventative maintenance for cars and bikes (
e.g. switching out the alternator (lichtmachine) on a car at a preset mileage to prevent failures). Breaking down on the autobahn is a punishable offence with a heavy fine because one is creating an unsafe situation.
I feel the same way about bike commuting and alleviate concerns by:
1. Living within walking distance of my work (campus). No more than 10km away.
2. Having a fully lit cyclepath/cyclelane on the commuting route.
3. Riding a bike with minimal points of failure.
4. Keeping the bike in good working order, which is very easy with FGSS.
5. Not dropping anything because I ride with a "backpack" that gets inspected every time I use it. It would quite suck to have something fall out when I'm rockclimbing on a exposed surface and hit someone below. Another advantage versus panniers that remain on the bike at all times (like some of my colleagues).
Slightly tongue-in-cheek here, but with a "standlicht" dynamo I should be able to search the street for a dropped item, right?
Honestly, I think people increase their risk of flats because of choices they make (long distances from work without adequate cycling connections or the proper equipment).
Just my 20 øre (still in CPH).