Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 44,169
Likes: 6,390
From: New York, NY, and High Falls, NY, USA
Bikes: 1962 Rudge Sports, 1971 Raleigh Super Course, 1971 Raleigh Pro Track, 1974 Raleigh International, 1975 Viscount Fixie, 1982 McLean, 1996 Lemond (Ti), 2002 Burley Zydeco tandem
Dynamo lighting is generally designed to comply with German law. The law does not permit blinking lights. If you want a blinking light, you'll need to use batteries. That's OK because a lot of blinking lights don't discharge batteries fast. If the battery does discharge, you'll still have your steady lights powered by dynamo. This is my approach. On my regular commuting bike, I have one B&M headlight that has proven to be reliable. I use a dynamo powered tail light plus a rechargeable battery powered blinky tail light plus a button cell powered spoke light in my rear wheel. If either of those batteries discharges unexpectedly, I'm still good. I only have to charge the tail light once a month. The button cells last a few months, and I keep spares around.
All of the B&M headlights look great. I've used a few models.