Has anyone ever encountered a way to mount a single or pair of headlights to the head tube? I have handlebar battery lights that are good enough for making others aware of my presence, but they are useless for helping me see the road/path/trail, so I'm going to make the switch to a dynamo power system. That's the easy bit.

Deciding how/where to mount is the hard bit that I'm ruminating over. What I want (or think I want) is my light(s) mounted to the frame instead of the handlebars/fork crown. Theoretically, I will end up with a more steady beam of light that wont constantly shift with every little twitch of the handlebars. To look from side to side I have a helmet light that will work.

I have about 1 1/4 inch of clean head tube space between the top tube and the down tube that I have to work with. My initial thought is that what I want is basically a long stem designed for a super-thick handlebar mounted backwards and upside down.

Any ideas, solutions, or words of advice for this first-time poster?

Thanks

I would suggest a fork mount instead. Harris Cyclery sells one.

It sounds like you're fixing a problem that doesn't really exist, but you could mock up what you think you want with some plastic zipties or a hose clamp and see if it's worth pursuing to a permanent and more aesthetic solution.

Myself, I find that having the light mounted to the fork crown is preferable to a fixed beam. Night-riding on singletrack, a light on the bar and one on the helmet is even better.

why wouldn't you want the light to move when you move the bars? If it's on the frame then when you turn the light won't be pointed at where you are about to go, they'd be always trailing behind a bit.

https://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053

These pipe hangers are perfect for mounting lights to bikes. many sizes available and cheap!

You should rap the tube with some electrical tube first to avoid scratches

I used to do this with my "high beam" super-thrower flashlight (the one at the bottom of the pic):



What you're seeing there is a DiNotte 600L bar mount with the top removed, and a cam-strap from an ancient Cateye 2-C-cell taillight in its place. Unfortunately it won't fit the head tube on my new road-commuter bike.

This was beneficial because I was mainly travelling on highways. I wanted that light's narrow, focused beam to aim where the bike was aimed, not the bars or fork. When the light reaches 150 meters out, even small steering movements send the beam alllll over the place. If I want to aim a light into a turn on a highway, that's what my helmet light is for. If it suits your needs, go for it. You can always change back otherwise.

Timothy,

This looks like it could work very in combination with a fork crown mount (perhaps modified to fit on a case by case basis). Assuming the light(s) are lightweight then vibration should be minimal. Thanks!

mechBgon,

Your previous riding situaiton is exactly what I'm trying to gear for. I don't want wild swings in the beam 50 meters ahead, I want consistency in the beam based on where my frame is moving, not my handlebars. This setup might just work for me! Thanks!

I'm going to echo the notion that you should at least try a crown mount before you go crazy with a homebrew head tube mount. There are good odds you'll find it perfectly functional.

If your bars are waving around that much, you need to learn to ride more smoothly (unless you're doing some crazy offroading in your commute, anyway).

Once moving over a couple of miles per hour the bars and fork turn minimally. Most of the steering is done via weight shift with minimal fork and bars movement per my experience with both bicycle and motorcycle riding. Motorcycles with frame mount fairings typically have lighting set up like the OP wants to for his bicycle but I never noted much difference functionally between fork and frame mounted lights once actually moving.

Mine is not exactly on the headtube, but the same concept (installation using adjustable clamps) can be used...

Dodging debris on a debris-strewn highway shoulder was part of the daily routine. Spotting it from long range, with plenty of time to avoid it, was the job of that super-thrower flashlight. Actually the photo I posted doesn't show what I described, that's the previous iteration using a TwoFish block on a Minoura Besso... sorry for the goof-up!

It's not easy to do justice to bike lights with a digital camera, but this is the Dereelight DBS V2 on a secondary highway. No exaggeration to say it had an effective range of over 100 meters in a dark environment, if it could be kept on-target.