Howdy all,

I got me a custom dynamo wheel with a Schmidt SON hub from Peter White this Christmas and it's about time I get the lights as well. I'm leaning heavily toward the "Busch & Müller LUMOTEC IQ2 LUXOS U" and one of the B&M tail lights because of the included USB charging, the handlebar button, and the rear brake light monitoring.

My questions:

1. I will likely mount the light using my fender bolt. However, this will put it just behind my cantilever brake cable. Who has done this and does it make a noticeable change to the beam?
2. Has anyone used any other mount for this or similar light?
3. Which tail light would you suggest? I understand that there is some restriction with the Luxos for monitoring the tail light. Something about it not being allowed to ground to the frame. How does that factor in to the light selection?
4. Do these lights come with the appropriate wires?

I'll also take any additional advice you can offer.

Thanks.

In a typical arrangement, the cantilever cable will be too close to the head tube to clear a light placed behind it. So, you might want to scrounge up one of those old U shaped front reflector brackets, will fit through the cable and allow the light to be mounted in front of it.

Brilliant!

If you can't scrounge up a free bracket, I believe that one of the headlight makers offers a bracket made specifically for canti brakes, so one way or another you're covered.

I am using a much cheaper light, axa pico 30, but I just bent he mounting bracket that came with the light to get it in front of the brake yoke. I have also mounted them on the front of a front rack. For rear lights I prefer the fender mounted ones. They are a little tricky for running the wire but I love the lower mounting. Welcome to the world of dynohubs. They totally rock.

BTW someone on eBay is selling new nexus dynohubs for 35.00 no shipping. Cheap way to get your feet wet eh?

Mounting a dyno light on a bike with cantilever brakes can be either easy-peasy, or, well, difficult. Both mine ended up with the mount shown on this B&M light:
Busch & Müller Lumotec


It's available separately, if you go fish. (I'm too lazy.) I had to bend the part that mounts to the fender bolt with a vise and large pliers to get the right angle. The mount goes under the brake straddle cable and then pops up to hold the light. IIRC there are a couple different mount lengths, so you can use a longer one if the brake cable is further out in front.

There are many more headlight mounts to get in addition to what shipped with the Light,

Some are made to use at the fork crown with cantilever brakes .. B&M , Schmidt, also thru PJW Cycles.

+ you can change the length of the transverse Cable to clear the New Mount without advesly effecting Braking

[although internet based mechanics read stories of the tiny % difference that makes and think it's drastic,
though less than 1%.]




..

Page link: Mounting Lights from Peter White Cycles



Note in the case of that light, that is not the stock bracket..
there are others that are U shaped so go, down under the transverse cable, then Up to mount the Light..



...

I have two Luxos U lights; I think they're great. It puts out tons of light, and it provides a decent trickle charge when the headlight is turned off.

Its main drawback is lack of durability; some folks have broken off the spade wire attachments, or had the wiring board break loose inside after an impact, or just straight broken the plastic housing in an impact. Schmidt's all-metal lights are more durable (but more expensive and no included USB charging).
Personally, I haven't crashed with mine so they're both in great shape.

Its other quirk is the light pattern. The Luxos has a large reflector that puts out a very wide beam. However, this results in some jagged "artifacts" in the beam (cutoffs, and bright/dark spots), usually out on the sides. The center/top area is very bright, and should be focused on the trail about 100' ahead. If you do that, then the huge beam covers both sides of the path and beyond. It's an exceptional field of light, compared to the round reflectors on most battery lights. A high mounting position (above the wheel, or on the handlebar) gets you the most of this huge field of light.

MOUNTING:
It comes with the shaped wire hanger required to mount the light to the brake bolt at the fork crown, and permit the brake cable to pass through.

You can use the same mount to put the light on the front of a rack, as I did on my Rivendell.


Or, you can use this mount to put the light up on the handlebars, like I did on my Foundry Auger.


Or, you can mount the light to just about any horizontal bolt on your bike (like, on the fork leg or the side of a front rack) using something like this. Many folks have created their own by using one of the arms from a vintage Weinmann centerpull brake, hence the "Wingmann" name of the Soma product.


TAIL LIGHT:
You can use any dynamo tail light with the Luxos U -- except for Supernova taillights; they use a different wiring system.
If you're mounting it to a rear rack, I really like the B&M Toplight Line Brake Plus, the first one listed on Peter White's page.
Or, the B&M Secula Plus can be mounted to a fender, seatstay, or seatpost.

WIRING:
Your headlight will come with the wires required to connect it to your dynamo hub.
However, dynamo tail lights DO NOT come with any wires; you have to buy those separately. Peter White sells wires in three lengths, with the required connectors already crimped on.
Or, you can buy the connectors and wire yourself. The wire is nothing special, but the connectors are smaller (2.8 mm) than you'll normally find at your local hardware store.

Many people just use multiple zip ties to attach the wire up the fork leg to the light, and then along the frame back to the tail light. It's customary to run the tail light wire along the down tube, then up the inside of your fender or along the chainstay and then up a leg of your rack.
I've had great success gluing the wires to the frame with Shoe-Goo adhesive. I attached it with lots of zip ties at first, and then cut them off after the adhesive had dried. Shoe-Goo works great because it sticks well to both painted/powdercoated metal and to the wires, and it's easily cleaned up by pilling it up with your fingertip when you want to remove it. It leaves no marks.
If you have a metal fender with a rolled edge (like Berthoud or Honjo), you can tuck the wire into that edge. Other folks use aluminum tape (for furnace ductwork) to stick it to the inside of the fender.

Lots of good info there.

My B&M Lumotec IQ Cyo Premium T Senso Plus headlight came with a wire for the taillight that already had 2.8mm connectors crimped on. So some do...

I clamped mine to the front fork before I added front low riders. Lower is better. With a normal front rack you've got a good spot or handlebar mounts work.

Not saying that this is the absolute truth for all lights, but lower is better doesn't work for some or most of the newer lights.

"Most of the dynamo powered headlights I sell are designed to meet strict German standards for bicycle lights. In a nutshell, the standards exist to ensure that the headlight beam illuminates the road surface without blinding oncoming drivers and cyclists. The beams are brightest at the top, and become progressively dimmer towards the bottom. The road closer to the rider needs less light to appear as bright as the road further away. These progressive beams are like an automobile's low beam. In order to work as well as possible, the beam is designed with the height of the headlight off the ground as one of the parameters. If the beam is too low, the ground near the rider gets more light than is optimal. If the headlight is too high, the ground near the rider gets too little light. However, mounting too low is far worse than too high.

So these German lights are all designed to work best when mounted at the fork crown, just above the front tire of a normal bicycle with 26" or 700c wheels. You can position them higher or lower, but the further you get from the top of the tire, the more the beam is compromised. Mounting at the handlebar still works well, but if you mount the light too low, the beam deteriorates badly. So I recommend against mounting lights at the level of the front hub, even though many people find that to be a very convenient location for a headlight. It may be convenient, but the beam will be poor."

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/light-mounts.php

I think that mount comes with the light I'm looking at which means it should be an issue! Sweeet!

THIS! This is a font of info! With this, I will make purchases and install! Thank you!

I'm pretty sure the BuM taillights come with wire. I had a Luxos on my cantilever-equipped bike, and mounting it wasn't an issue

Due to the way the fork crown and canti brakes on my LHT are situated I had to bend the B&M-supplied mount until it was closer to 90-degrees then turn in upside-down and fit it under the canti line like so:



Of course this is an IQ Cyo and not Luxos but AFAICT the mount is basically the same.

Works fine but there is a shadow of my front tire that extends in front of the bike. Not a safety hazard though. I know this exact 90-degree style of mount is one of many B&M makes but I didn't want to wait for one to ship so I DIY'd it with a bench-vice.

You appear to have a missing strand on your straddle cable, just so you know. Should probably replace that.

Thanks for pointing that out, but I just checked and the cable is fine IRL so it's just an artifact of the way the light hit the cable in the image believe it or not. Weird though because it does look like it's missing in the picture.

Nice hack.

Some folks have to mount them that way because the lower headset cup protrudes past the fork crown and gets in the way of the bracket in the upright position.

When it comes to bang for your buck I would say a B+M Cyo Premium (80 Lux) is one of the best deals @ €50-60. The Luxos (@ €80-120) apparently has a slightly wider beam but not by much and it is quite big and fragile in some regards. I was really tempted to pick up an IQ-X since it has a slightly higher output @ 100 Lux for €80 but less useful for what I had in mind.

You see, I just mounted a Cyo Premium and a Secula Plus today. Already have a Cyo T Premium (with extra daytime LEDs) on another bike and I just love the look of the Secula on a fender.

The rear light comes with this and the front light comes with a hardwired cable to the dynamo with plugs to the rear.



Cyo Premium that I built into a vintage light.


Cyo T Premium - Notice the extra row of LEDs underneath.

Another advantage of the Secula rear light is that it is extremely visible from all angles without being blinding to anyone. The reflector and built in fresnel lens means you are never directly looking at the LED but I would say it is visible in a 270 degree angle.

Oh and don't forget SON's new fender mounted light:

It's just expensive AF @ €75.

On this bike of mine, the cantilever straddle cable goes over and around the light's mount. I had to use a longer bolt to mount the light.

The lights do come with the required wires. I've had to extend them, depending on how I route them, and I do that by splicing extra wire onto the supplied wires.

Best to check on the lights before ordering. My two BuMM tail lights came without wires, but did have the lugs included.

Agree. I've ordered 3 B&M head lights and 4 B&M tail lights (changed my mind on style), and none of them included the tail light wire. The wire was available separately, and was inexpensive.