Dyno Lighting-I am confused
 

One of the projects for this winter is to add a dyno hub to one of my bikes. I am settled on the Shutter Precision. But I am confused about a headlight.
Any help would be great!
Thanks.

I have a Shutter Precision and use a B&M Cyo T Senso Plus headlight. It seems to work well but I haven't owned any other combinations of hubs and lights so I can't give you much of a comparison.

I ride with a friend who has a SON hub and Edelux light. We haven't ridden together at night so I don't have any side by side comparisons on that but we have ridden during the day and my B&M has daytime running lights (can be switched off if desired) together with a "senso" mode that will turn on the headlight when needed. My friend liked the daytime running lights since it made me more visible to him when I was riding behind.

If money is no object, I would probably get an Edelux II. Not quite as much light as a IQ-X, but a little more rugged. The IQ-X is what I got, and it's very bright. Next one down is a Cyo Premium. It's not really in the same class as the other two though.

The B&M lights are pretty nice. There are a bunch of variations with different features and lighting patterns. rosebikes.com, a German outfit, sells them at decent prices and gives a description of the myriad options and features. They should have a chart, but don't think they do.

So, I have two similar Lumotec IQ Cyo senso lights that I got from Rose for about $50 to $60 each, including shipping, no VAT. Rose is confusing to deal with, but they are fair and do what the say and they will fix the occasional shipping related problem.

The B&M IQ-X led light is very bright (100 lux) and attractive but about twice the price of the B&M lights that I have. Faster riders on more rural, less lighted, roads may appreciate the extra light. Looks like it competes with the more expensive Edelux in performance and styling while being somewhat less expensive.

One of mine is a Cyo premium. Advertised to be about 60% of the IQ-X light but for much less. I find it works well, but I ride in the city and I'm not all that fast. Is it the mounting hardware on the IQ-X that is less robust than the Edelux? That could be important if you're far from home in the middle of the night.

People have complained about the plastic mounting of the IQ-X allowing the light to bounce. B&M switched for aesthetic reasons. I don't use the mount because it wouldn't work on my bike, I had to use what is called the "Brompton Mount" which is metal. You can use one of the older metal B&M mounts, they aren't expensive.

B&M lights Busch & Müller: Home

Axa Lights - AXA Bike Security

http://www.nabendynamo.de/english/

Where & how do you intend to mount It?



Me: 2 eDelux 1 & the B&M Eyc-T (on my Brompton ) .. 3 bikes..


...

Spend some time drooling over the light pictures at Peter White's site, pick one, install it, and go for a night ride.


Did you have more specific questions?

I've got a Shutter Precision hub in my dynamo wheel, with a B&M Luxos for the headlight. The Luxos has been a great light but I probably should have saved my money and bought a less expensive B&M model. The main reason why I bought the Luxos was that it can be used to charge accessories, such as an iPhone, when you aren't using the light. However, I have never used the charging function. I use my dynamo light for commuting, and thought charger might be useful on bike tours, but that hasn't been the case so far.

When choosing a light, consider your terrain, your typical speed, your maximum speed, and how much ambient light is on your route. For instance, my headlight isn't super bright, so I can't safely go more than 15 or 20 mph. I don't mind, but some people will. My path is lit in all but a few places, so see by my headlight's light only a few brief times during my ride home at night. My headlight serves mostly as a be-seen light, except for the times I just mentioned.