Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 44,172
Likes: 6,404
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
Thanks a lot for that, [MENTION=113466]steelbikeguy[/MENTION]. I don't follow all of it, but it helps. So the lights have various different designs, so we can't generalize how they would act when treating them not as intended.
I have a sidewall dynamo and ran a voltmeter across it with no load. Just on the repair stand where I probably didn't make a lot of speed, it went to 35V.
And thanks, [MENTION=197614]fietsbob[/MENTION] for the e-bike light reference. I think I'll toss out this whole idea. There are perfectly fine battery lights, and there are more and more all the time, and they're getting better, too. I could figure out how to bolt them on well if I really need to.