I found cheap lights were fine in the city. There's plenty of street lamps to help out. Now I live in the sticks, the bike path I ride into town has no lights, it's up to my headlight. I immediately noticed the "laser beam" effect. My existing headlight beam was too narrow, rounding corners in the dark was exciting...That's when I bought my Phillips Saferide and discovered the joys of a shaped beam, the light is used efficiently and there's plenty of light across my front. I'm not interested in the cheapest solution that satisfies the cops, I want the lowest cost solution that works, $30 flashlights don't cut it, my $150 Saferide kit was a bargain.

Who pays $135 for spokes and labor for a wheel rebuild? $32~$36 for spokes and $50 labor is what it costs in Chicago and Denver. For $135 you could find a complete dynohub wheel. Compare that to a $100 battery pack, one lasts for 50k miles, the other lasts for a few years....