Right, well, if you want to argue that your light could suffer mechanical failure a dynamo won't prevent that. But it's not worse than any other kind of light in that regard. A battery light that you have to take off the bike could get smashed, dropped, or if you leave it on the bike stolen. I had a frame break on my once while riding it - there's nothing 100% unbreakable. But you could get a wheel smashed, stepped on, etc while it's in the rack to.

Most of them are though. That's usually where they are designed to be mounted, with the option to mount elsewhere if you want. But it far more unusual. If I try to account for every possibility these threads get way to long.

I actually did walk my bike home when I was biking with my dad this summer and he tried to take a turn to soon and flatted his front tire by smacking into a curb. He was...lol, this is seriously just what happened - he couldn't see that well because the batteries in his light were getting low and he hadn't replaced them in a while.

My front dynamo light lit up the road in front of me perfectly fine while walking home at walking pace. You gotta remember - you don't need much light to walk with. The light was dimmer than usual, but plenty of light for a walking pace. (It's a Cyo.)

I couldn't agree with you more on the second part of your statement - urban situations with intermittent lighting are absolutely the worst. Far worse than being out in the country with no lighting.

On the first part, you were saying you could rig up two lights with a dynamo, and I was agreeing that it's not worth it. If it's for more light, I haven't found the need, but if you did for some reason I'd still rather use a completely separate light for reduncancy if I was going to go to all that trouble.

There's definitely a point where having more light is not an advantage. But that gets a little...pendantic?

Can you even hook up 2 dynamo lights to a dynamo hub? I know you could with halogens, didn't think you could do it with dynamo's. I guess I could say there's no point for me to do that.

[QUOTE=cyccommute;17176245]Shaped beam patterns...I don't necessarily agree that the German light pattern is that good...

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I think the only spec that's actually German putting not more than a tiny amount of light above the horizon. Otherwise the manufacturer designs it how they want.

As I've written before, in my repeated experience own both, a good shaped beam is just better than an unshaped one. One can argue that they'd like somewhat more light above the horizon than the German spec, that's not really an argument I care to get into. As long as the beam is shaped to have a smooth light pattern, and even amount of light everywhere (basically) in the beam, and doesn't have a hotspot, it works for me. If someone wants to come out with an american shaped beam that does that but doesn't meet the German spec I'd give it a shot without thinking about it.

I agree completely, and have written before that I think dynamo lights before the Cyo were crap. A few people will disagree, but that's what I think. I bought a bike that came with a dynamo, thought the dynamo was useless, then they announced the Cyo and I bought one intending to return it if it didn't do the job, but it worked pretty well. First light to put out enough light to actually ride everywhere by, imo.

The only reason, in my opinion, to have a dynamo light before that was if you have a very niche use for it, or for the novelty factor. I know some people used them for 24 hours races when you couldn't buy a light with a battery that lasts long enough. Maybe if you lived somewhere where if your light went out it was so cold you could die, you'd bring a battery light and also a dynamo. I dunno, point is, I agree that it's only been relatively recently that dynamo's are good lights to ride with. Before that they were crap. (I suspect if you go back far enough, you might find a time when they were useful, back when battery technology was terrible or non-existant).

I've found the overly bright front blinking lights annoying as heck, but living in Minneapolis where there are a ton of bikers on the streets, I've found low power front blinking lights helpful in easily seeing cyclists. Dunno what else to add.

As for the amazon light, you're probably right. I was thinking about it because I have somewhat different requirements than the OP - long battery life, looks cheap so I won't feel weird leaving it on the bike, and as a secondary light to a main steady light.

The only drawback is that if you're strictly looking for a "best to be seen" light, I don't know if/what blink modes that light you linked to have. High power blink is obnoxious at night - not just for other traffic, but for you. It's also a light + battery rather than being integrated.

But - other than the fact that I haven't tried it so I can't personally recommend it - you're right, the OP is looking for a primary light not a secondary one, that one would increase the "be seen" visibility by a lot and also let the OP see the road.

Well, I agree with you, but I said in my post it was a far more expensive option.

The bottom line here is frankly laziness. I mean...efficiency. Yeah, yeah, efficiency. :-)

I haven't found having a back and forth asking questions about someone's need to be as productive or interesting for my time, as saying "Here are the plusses and minuses of one choice". It's a lot less work, and I get more positive feedback. My post emphasized that it was more cost effective to go with a battery light. It's a lot easier that way than trying to guess, or asking a long back and forth with the OP on a forum. It seems like the best way to go, as long as one acknowledges the drawbacks and tradeoffs that they're aware of.

Well, I disagree with you on the first part. I think since the Cyo they've gotten good enough (finally) for mainstream use. People like they're all over the place for anyone who bikes anywhere in some countries in Europe. Weren't they legally mandated or something in Germany on non-racing bikes?

I'm just lazy, and it's to much work for me to have a long back and forth guessing what the OP's needs are and aren't. If someone says they want a light for their high speed racing bike or in group rides, or they're just looking for a casual light for backup and they don't bike that much, I don't recommend a dynamo light.

But otherwise it's just to much work to guess. OP says they their first night ride - of 40 miles. 40 miles is a long ride. That's not someone who dusted off their hybrid in their garage and took it out for a spin or two.

I just assume the OP is smart enough to make their own decision based on their own needs, and I don't see a gain in spending 2 pages trying to figure out what those are. I personally own a $800 bike for commuting to work, and have $300 worth of dynamo stuff on it, been thinking of getting a new front light and that would bump it up for $400 for me. I decided it was worth it for me. I more expensive bike didn't get me anything I felt was important, but more money on the light did get me less hassle in needing to charge stuff. (Ironically I use a battery rear light because I preferred a blinking light and hadn't seen the toplight plus - I just go with whatever works best for me).

If someone wanted to say halogen vs led, led is just better. If someone wants to think about battery vs dynamo, there's no "better", it just depends on your priorities, needs, and preferences. You have no idea what the OP is like - maybe they're a broke college student and a dynamo system is absurd. Maybe they're a millionare and they're going to have their butler go out and get whatever light they want. It's just easier for me to say "here's an option" and let the OP figure it out than try to guess or have a long back and forth to figure it out myself.

Plus, it's more interesting for the OP. Their priorities might not have any use for a dynamo light right now, but later they will, and if I didn't mention it they never would have heard of it. Who knows.