recommendation for bike light
 

I ride at night a lot, hence the name. Anyhow I ride a road bike with skinny little tires and could use
a recomendation for a light that either runs on generator or has a very long battery lift and is very bright.
I was also wondering how the genearater lights effect performance, do they cause a lot of resistance?

thanks all

There are a few very good hub dynomo lights on the market that have unnoticeable resistance-but they are expensive. Shimano makes one that is probably the least expensive at around $250 plus the light, plus respoking your front rim.

If the dynomo price is too much to swallow, there are plenty of lights on the market that have good run times such as HID units which are far brighter than the dynomo's and last about 6 hours but cost around $400. Again pricey and how much light do you really need? The HID's are too much for the street.

So the other end of the scale are the self-contained battery units such as the Cateye EL300 which is the brightest light of it's kind on the market for around $35; the 4AA bats will last about 20 hours. These self-contained battery jobs are lights that are more intended to be seen not to see with.

The light I bought is a Cygo Metro because it was the lowest cost light I found at around $46 and is more than bright enough for street riding. It has 2 beams, one is a 6.3 watt flood and the other is a 6.2 watt spot or you can run both for a total of 13 watts. The other reason it appealed to me is that it runs off of 6 D batteries that are in a soft case that attaches to the top tube; this means that I am no longer tied to a wall as a rechargeable would be. Also with rechargeables is that if the bat dies it does so suddenly without much warning, the alky bats that I use would take about 1 hour to die and you notice it slowly dimming. The run time on Metro is 5 hours on one beam and 2.5 hours running both. This unit can be upgrade anytime to a rechargeable system by buying the Rover charger and battery then you would have 2 bat systems.

There is a new Cygo called the Rover NiCad 6 hour for about $68. This light is rechargeable only but on 6 watt low it will run up to 6 hours, but combined with the 10 watt high (16watts total) and your battery life goes to about 1.5 hours

When I commute the brightest light I need and use is the 6.3 watt flood and only use the high with the flood when I'm on a pitch dark bike path. I get my bats at WalMart and buy their inhouse brand called EverActiv and get 12 bats for $8 and they last 1 year (of course in the summer months I don't need the light).

see: www.cygolite.com

If you want the best generators around, see http://www.peterwhitecycles.com . All the lights he sells (Lumotecs and BiSi) have overvoltage protection, which means you won't fry bulbs by riding too fast. http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris offers the Shimano dynohub by itself.

The bottle generators he sells are quite good (I'm told) and fairly efficient. You still get the typical hum of a generator, and there might be some slippage in the rain. European-designed tires à la Continental have a rib on the side to prevent slippage. I would consider that good for the occasional night out. I never had the Dymotec or B&L, but with older generators, I never wore down a tire from a dynamo before it was worn down because of mileage.

If you plan to cycle a lot, the two hub generators are really where you should go. Unless you want to try your wheelbuilding skills (Sheldon Brown's page is great), you might prefer to order a built wheel. No idea of "practical" settings, however, because I rebuilt my own wheels. So here I go:

- On my commuter, I have a Shimano dynohub with a single Lumotec headlight.
- On my tourer and tandem, I have a Schmidt dynobub with a Lumotec Plus (the one with standlight function) and a secondary Lumotec. All have 3 W bulbs.
On all three bikes, I keep a tiny Planet Bike white "flasher" (acceptable substitute in case of power failure -- never happened --, work and camp light, and "safety flasher" in downtown area), and I use independent Vistalite Super Nebula taillights (2-3 on the bike).


Rating

Both dynohubs are totally silent, wether on or off.

When Off, the Shimano has a little more drag than the Schmidt, but it still is acceptable, especially for commuting. At ON, I don't mind as much the drag as the fact it "pulses" a bit at 20-30 km/h. Again, not a real factor when riding in stop-and-go traffic, but I wouldn't like it on a deserted road. I'm not sure how to describe it, but the "pulse" happens at high speed and reminds me of riding on rough asphalt.

The Schmidt has NO drag when off (it has some in theory, but nothing significant or even observable). When on, the drag is very minimal: drop your tire pressure by 3-4 psi to get a rough idea. It's also very smooth.

I decided to go with 3 W headlights and battery-operated LED taillights to avoid wiring problems between front and rear end of the bike, running wires all along the bike, wires rusting (especially in Winter), etc. I also travel either with a single bike, a tandem, or any of the above with a trailercycle and/or a child trailer, so you could see the taillight wiring nightmares...

In a nutshell, if you plan on a lot of long night rides, the Schmidt dynohub is really worth it. Add a small LED headlight as a backup and you'll be in the major league.

Regards,

See this thread:http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=48299

I have ridden with Michel at night and I can attest to the excellence of his system. Not only does it give a decent amount of light it is spread wide enough to see off your line of travel. I only have the Cateye EL300 which gives a very narrow beam, and is not strong enough to maintain my speed - I love it because I dont have to worry about recharging or batteries running down in the middle of a ride, and I dont do a lot of night riding.

Here ya go: http://www.thorusa.com/product9.htm
Give these people some buisness instead of mail order bigshots.

Wow!, so much good info to sort through. Thanks all for taking the time to post.
Much appreciated.

I have a French Soubitez bottom bracket generator on one of my toruing bikes, it mounts under & behind the BB & runs against the tread of the rear tire. operates a 3 watt halogen headlight that gives a fairly bright rectangular light pattern. It doesn't slip in rainy weather & has very little drag. I haven't had any problems with it but it does have the drawback of living in a very poor location & may not be available any more. I have a Dynohub driving a Lumotec headlight on my main Winter bike. It is silent & very reliable with no apparent drag. Of course if it ever fails, replacement parts are not available. I also recomment the Vistalight Super Nova Blinkie lights for the rear. Don