I was quite excited to discover a new (and recently upgraded) dynamo lighting system produced by Supernova - a German manufacturer of premium lighting for bikes. This is their E3-PRO series LED lighting system. They now offer 3 models with considerably brighter LED emitters which now replace their earlier models from just a year or two ago. I'd love to build a front wheel with a Schmidt dynamo hub and use one of their headlamps for a fender mounted application.

So... I'm interested if anyone has actually seen or used one of their new dynamo powered headlights. Seems like it would be the perfect ultimate system for a touring bike or the non-stop 90 hour Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur race. Some models have already been successfully used for 24 hour MTB races. Best of all, for my purposes, I believe I could even mount the somewhat heavy but small lamp onto an alloy fender with rather minimal difficulty using their standard "multi-mount" pedestal as seen here: https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...-TripleMM.jpeg ... although it is really intended to bolt directly to a fork crown on a bike with cantilever brakes or onto front rack.

They offer one model with a single LED which uses a lens to direct the glare dramatically downward over a broad square road-washing pattern - intended to prevent blinding oncoming traffic: https://www.supernova-lights.com/imag..._blendfrei.jpg This version is still slightly in variance to German lighting laws, but comes very close. Probably my best choice...

Another version has the same single emitter but with a more conventional symmetrical circular beam pattern: https://www.supernova-lights.com/imag...ion_e3_sym.jpg

And lastly, there is a TRIPLE LED lamp-head (it uses the same CNC machined aluminum body as the other versions). This is said should NEVER be used for road use because of its extreme brightness and wide beam pattern. This is recommended only for off-road MTB race use only or perhaps only on low-traffic unlit country roads... but not for city commuting:
https://www.supernova-lights.com/imag..._e3_triple.jpg ... Not that I'm ever concerned about TOO bright a light, but it's bad karma to really piss off motorists (I'd still consider this model, even for fast road riding use - shame on me!)

The links above show the lamps illuminating a 14 meter wide road with a length of 100 meters (the length of a football field).

These are definitely NOT cheap LED lights (they sell around $250 USD). But, they would never require replacement batteries or even frequent re-charges. They even have an efficient internal capacitor to offer a "stand light" capability for several minutes when the bike is not moving. The Schmidt dynamo hub is state of the art and it too will cost another $250+ dollars.

From the examples of actual photos comparing the brightness of the beams they seem to approach the brightest of many powerful Halogen reflector-style (MR-11) bulbs... and even many HID lamps!

Peter White Cycles sells the lamps (among others) https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/supernova.asp and he offers his own actual photo comparisons of several lights illuminating a dark road beside his house https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp. And there are interesting comparisons of the various Supernova lamps on their website which is offered in both German and English: https://www.supernova-lights.com/en/products.html

The durability and long bulb life of LEDs are definitely worthy of the prices now that the technology has advanced enough to make them an extremely viable option. And with modern highly efficient dynamo hubs they may finally be the perfect bike lights I've been waiting for. They definitely seem more appealing that other comparable but less expensive modern LED dynamo powered lights - usually with ugly plastic housings such as the B&M or other lights: https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/imag...ts/B&M171y.jpg

I'm very anxious to hear any opinions or impressions.

- Thanks in advance!

You should post this in the electronics forum - C&V is all about flashlights and dynohubs and bottle generators...but since you asked, it all is way too expensive and it's all too modern looking. For $250, I'd rather buy a whole new vintage bike and wait until the sun comes up tomorrow.

If I was worried about light, I'd pop $30 for a flashlight and be done with it.

That said, If I had $850 (!) to spare, I'd get one, scavenge the innards, and stick it inside this.

I agree with sciencemonster about where this should have been posted. I have the new E3 triple and it seems to light things up quite well using my Shimano Alfine hub dynamo. If well aimed perfectly road useable IMO. BTW due to power requirements the triple does not reach absolute full brightness until about 24 MPH or 40 KPH. Per an email from Supernova 80% of full output is available at about 8 MPH.

The SON dynohub and Supernova products are great. As a matter of fact they are probably the best that money can buy. They will last you a long time and give you flawless service, but the question is this:

Are they worth the money?

I commute 10 miles each way to work, and during the winter months it's dark when I travel both morning and evening. So dependable light is important. I also ride long distance rides that often take me into the night, so that dependable light must also be efficient.

Last year I decided that the improvements in LED technology warranted making the purchases required to try out a dynamo hub and LED head unit. I nearly bought the SON hub, but after researching opinions and comparisons... I decided to go with the Shimano DH-3N80 hub. I found that most people agree that this top shelf Shimano hub is nearly on par with the SON... it's apparently so close in efficiency that you can't really tell a difference. Mine has been great. No regrets. But the SON definitely is a nicer hub, so if you want the bling factor then buy the SON. But the Shimano is half of the price of the SON.

As far as LED head units go... I bought the IQ Cyo unit. The Supernova is nice with its machined housing and all, but it is expensive. My IQ Cyo has a plastic housing that doesn't spark much excitement, but it puts out a shocking amount of light. I ride on both well lit city streets near work out into the pitch black countryside near my house, and I really don't see how you could need much more light than this unit puts out. And it cost me $105 from Peter White Cycles.

If you really want good light without worrying at all about batteries, then you really need to give dynamo lighting a go. But just know that high quality stuff can be had for MUCH cheaper than the SON/Supernova price point.

Thanks HYDRATED! and TATFIEND as well - everything you mentioned is very useful info for me!

As far as the appearance of the E3 Pro lamp head... I'm not very attracted to the "space age" Jetsons look either. But, it does seem extremely strong which is a definite plus. I'd actually consider de-anodizing the finish and just buffing the bare aluminum which could help make it a bit more in tune with a set of flashy Honjo alloy fenders.

I recently discovered that someone had even concealed the lamp head within a vintage French made "RADIOS" headlight shell. Here is a shot looking into the outer lens: https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2800/...d373ce68_b.jpg if you look carefully, it shows how small the Supernova housing is compared to the hollow outer shell in which it rests. This photo shows a top view of the outer lamp shell: https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2775/...db83d4b8_b.jpg

I'm not sure if this would be a bad idea because of the need to efficiently expel heat from a high output LED emitter. But this is actually a concept I'd been dreaming of for a long while. Here is a complete set of photos of that man's custom 650B Randonneur bike, built in 2008 by Mark Goodrich: https://www.flickr.com/photos/2364546...7622811160142/ For a lot of reasons I happen to find that particular bike quite unappealing and some of the fitting of the lighting components seem a bit messy (sorry, just my fussy aesthetics). But, just like some of my own bikes, it was built up with components spanning maybe 40 or 50 years - which I definitely can applaud.

I wonder if a company like TOEI in Japan has ever considered fabricating their own high tech lighting systems in the Classic French style. I know they had reproduced Rene Herse's unique stems for their customers' bikes. Seems like something along the lines of a "retro-modern" lighting system could have great appeal for the devoted (and obviously rich) Japanese cyclo-touring crowd as well.

I have the supernova headlight, got it from Harris, on my Trek 720. I made a bracket from bar stock aluminum so it mounts to the handlebar clamp bolt on the stem. I'm inclined to think the light is too heavy for an aluminum fender. I mounted the rear light inside the housing of a tail light, the kind that mounts to the fender; not a vintage tail light, but a new one in which I'd accidentally destroyed the LED. Of course this is an old bike, but I don't treat it as a vintage bike by any means, so I'm not too concerned with the look.

I'm using it with a Sanyo dynamo hub I traded from another BF member a couple years ago.

The light from the Supernova is pretty impressive. I run various home made LED's on most of my bikes, and the Supernova is the best by far. I'm not sure it produces more light, but focuses that light very effectively, giving me a good general light on my immediate surroundings and bright spot farther down the road.

I have never noticed the lamp housing to be hot, or even warm, while the light is on. I don't think putting the whole unit in another lamp housing would be a problem, as long as it's securely mounted to metal that will act as a heat sink. My light has a pushbutton on-off at the back end; do other models have a different light switch? Anyway, access to the switch might be an issue inside a second housing.

As for how the light looks on a vintage bike... here's how mine came out on my '84 Trek 520:

All you guys talking about your super expensive lighting kits, lighting the world like the second coming got me all buzzed to upgrade from my 5 cent LEDs - I popped $10 for one of these:

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=360228722113&

I tried to do some half-hearted research to see what was out there new since last I checked, and this seems like it. The specs I saw in other auctions seemed to be like 60 Lumens. I got the 3V driver so I could run it off of 4 rechargable AAAs.

It will be a damn sight lot easier to fit it in an old housing than 25 little LEDs on a wafer board...assuming of couse the thing even works when I get it.

Very cool! Please let us know what you do with it, and how it comes out. I assume you have to do a bridge rectifier (and optional switch); do you also need a capacitor?

I have home made lights on five or six of my bikes; the light on the tandem, in fact, is based on the directions on your website (www.sciencemonster.net). I agree the Supernova is insanely expensive, but after considering how much time I spent on my home made lights, when I should have been doing useful things like vacuuming and folding laundry and such, it didn't seem so bad after all. And, frankly, I wanted to see if it was really that much better than the home-made ones. And... well, it is.

Heh...nag nag nag...you'll never be invited to my house!

I've gone all lightweight on my ten speed so this one will be battery operated. And since you mentioned it, I'm seeing how much more practical it will be to use one light instead of 25. I will miss the thrill of soldering, but it will be nice to fit everything, including the battery, in the light itself - I hope to have no wires running around.

When you say it's better, how do you mean that? Brighter?

Oh, I'm not the one doing the nagging. The nagging is what makes me think maybe I better do the laundry, and just order the expensive lights on the internet.

I don't think it's brighter, exactly; at least, I don't think it's more light; rather, it makes very good use of the light it makes. The lights I'm comparing it to are the ones I have on my folding bikes, are both based on this emitter, though with different housings. My #2 folder has the light over the front fender, see photo below. The hub dynamo in a 16" wheel puts out twice the expected voltage, and has melted quite a few LED's, so I am very cautious to use ample heat sinkage, capaciting and that kind of thing. Anyway, this setup gives a LOT of light, but it falls in rather shapeless parabola right in front of the bike. Everything within ten or feet is well lit, everything within thirty feet is visible, and there's a pretty good glimmer beyond that. I have tried a variety of different parabolic reflectors, lenses, etc but so far have not found one that focuses the light as well as the Supernova.

Needless to say I'm not about to put a Supernova on my folding bike. It may be robust enough to handle the power coming in, but I'm not risking it for that kind of money.

Of course, since I commute on well lit streets anyway, this isn't much of an issue; and I know car drivers see me very well, judging by the way they behave when they see me. In comparison, the Supernova has a very well formed beam that illuminates the lane in front of the bike fifty to eighty feet away. Much better for the bike rider's purposes, but less visible to cars unless it is pointed straight at them.

Be nice if B&M would put their IQ Cyo electronics and a compatible front lens in their Retro dynamo headlight. Maybe if enough of us email requesting it?

I will weigh in here. have the SON and I have one of the older E3 headlights. I love the set-up. Most of my riding is commuting (4seasons in PA) so available, reliable light is a requirement. I am too lazy to worry about batteries etc. so I have been very pleased with my E3 & my Schmidt hub. I have thousands of miles on both in all kinds of weather (rain, snow, sleet dead of night) and have NEVER had an issue. Below is a pic on my latest commuter (not c&v) on its first run. The headlight mount has since broken so I have switched to one from Velo Orange. So far no problems.

By way of reference, the one E3 replaced 2 halogen headlights. Hope that helps.

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