Originally Posted by Rowan
That peace of mind is really worth a lot more than dollars, too.
+ infinity. I hate worrying about this stuff. Aside from bulbs I just get on the bike and go.
The EL500's will work well. Its a reasonable $$ to get started. If you like riding at night, you can upgrade.
As for drag, I'd like to run some simulations on AnalyticCycling and look at watts that I can put out (estimated, I'm not running a power meter), and how many the wheel is pulling from me. I just can't see how the wheel (which I run with or without the lights) is going to slow me down that much. Losing more weight and increasing my strength / weight ratio will do more for me than worrying about drag... and I live in VT - which means I climb no matter which direction I go - and 1 foot per mile (off) and 5 feet per mile (on) seems miniscule to me.