I've seen this argument before, and frankly, it doesn't seem to hold water.
Originally Posted by
cyccommute
My road bikes get ridden mostly during mid-day but I've been known to go for long rides in the middle of the night. My mountain bikes get used a lot during the winter time for commuting. I can take any bike I like off the wall, put on the lights and batteries and go for a ride without worrying about lights either. I also don't have to worry about the hassle and expense of having 8 different dyno wheels and 8 different lights and the cost that would entail.
OK, so you've decided to buy and own 8 different bicycles if it would take 8 wheels and lights to equip your fleet. Your money, your choice. No argument here.
But why do you have to get a dyno system for every bike in the stable? That doesn't make sense. If you wanted to spend money on dyno lights (which you don't seem to), you could buy one system for one mountain bike to commute with in the winter. I have two commute bikes, a primary and a backup, which both have dyno lights. The other bike doesn't, and I have a couple of small lights I can slap on it for a limited night ride.
If you decide to go for a night ride, you also have:
I have 4 lights, probably 8 batteries (I may have a few more), 4 chargers and less than $200 invested in the whole kit and kaboodle.
So slap one of those lights and batteries on the bike of your choice and take off. If one of them is charged, of course.
And my light system can be shared. My wife doesn't ride much at night...maybe once in the last 5 years...so spending the money for a generator system for her wouldn't be cost effective. However if she does what to do a night ride, which we did this summer, I would have to shell out the money for yet another generator system since her wheels aren't the same size as any bike I have. With a battery system, all I had to do was install a clamp for my battery lights and put the batteries on her bike. We were ready to go in 5 minutes.
I must have missed something. Will your current inventory of battery lights stop working if you get a different light? Why can't you put one of the other battery lights on your wife's bike? Is there some reason you have to throw out all the old lights, batteries, and chargers if you buy one dyno light?