Originally Posted by Michel Gagnon
How does the Cateye TL-LD1000 compares to wired taillight (DToplight?) you have on the rear fender?
And one suggestion for further improvement.
For your dynamo headlight, there are two really interesting alternatives:
– The DLumotec, which is their LED version. About as bright, though a little bit more diffuse, which should not be a problem when you go fast since you have a HID also. The beauty is that it reaches full power at 2 km/h and that it never burns. For randonneuring or other such night-long forays, you could add a Schmidt secondary E-6 and get dual generator headlighting.
– The Schmidt E-6 has a more defined beam that lights the road further away. I switched from a Lumotec to a Schmidt this spring and it's incredible.
As best I can tell, I think that the DToplight is about as bright as one of the LEDs in the Cateye. It's visible around to the sides but is the brightest straight back of course, since the Cateye has LEDs on the sides I guess it's better for that too. Really, I think that it makes a nice addition to the Cateye, down on the fender I get good separation between the lights, the Cateye is blinking and the DToplight is always on solid. If I just wanted one dyno taillight (and no battery light) for randonneuring I think I would like to try out the DToplight senso multi assuming I had a rack.
You're right about the headlight, mine is the DLumotec Oval Plus. I picked it so I wouldn't have any problems with burnt bulbs but you really can't use it to see by. It's really just to help be seen by cars. The Schmidt suggestion is a good one if I needed to go long distances at night.
I was actually thinking about using the extra connections on the headlight to run wiring to the back of the bike where I could plug in a trailer. I have a Bob but I've been thinking about getting a Wike or Doggytote trailer for my Aussie cattledog and having a wired taillight on it would be nice.