Considering upgrading my lighting
 

Hey all,


I live in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada (Vancouver Island). The climate here is pretty conducive to being able to commute to and from work by bike year round (unlike my old home in Saint Paul, Minnesota, how I miss Minnesota), however it's very cloudy and rainy here all winter, plus the sun disappears at 4:30 PM at the height of winter. My commute to and from work varies between 6 and 18 kilometers each way, depending on the route I take.

Currently my lighting is provided from a Planet Bike 1 Watt light and a small blinky light out front and a 0.5 Watt Planet Bike Superflash Red Tail light. I ride to and from work mostly on city roads which can vary (depending on the time of day) between very busy and totally dead. The 1 Watt Planet Bike light is pretty bright and has a good run time, but it's way too focused to be effective as a head light. Despite the fact that the roads have street lighting, some sections of the road are pretty poorly light, and there is often a lot of debris on the road.

I'm contemplating three options.

The first is to buy a generator hub and wheel and install it on my bike, something like this (http://harriscyclery.net/product/har...pokes-2982.htm). Then the question is what light do I buy to go with it? Something like a Lumotec 171 Oval Plus or Lumotec IQ CYO, or maybe a Phillips Saferide LED (if I could find one). I'd keep my Planet Bike light on the bike, and just use it as a flashing light to make me more obvious to drivers.

The second option would be to get something like a Light and Motion Urban 500. It seems like it's super bright, but I'm a bit concerned that basically it'll just be a much brighter Planet Bike-like light, with a narrow focused beam and won't light up the road surface effectively enough. As another negative, I'm also pretty bad at remembering to do things like recharge batteries and then re-attach said items to their rightful place.

The third option would just be to keep on doing what I'm doing.

While I don't currently have any plans to do any long distance touring, I am considering the idea of biking from Vancouver, BC up to Oliver, BC next summer for our families summer vacation. I don't expect to be biking in the darkness then, but I think it's good to be prepared. I somehow doubt my wife will go for it though.

So I'm looking for comments on my three proposed options. If you're in favour of the first option, then I'm looking for suggestions / comments / discussions on the merits of various lighting solutions. Most of my ride is through a moderately hilly area, where speeds range from about 15 km/h on prolonged uphills to in excess of 55 km / hour on downhills (although those are usually short lived).

Thanks,
Brad

That was my situation almost to the letter. Got myself Cygolite Hotshot 2 Watt tail light instead of Superflash & Lezyne Super Drive instead of Planet Bike Blaze. Very happy with the Hotshot and expecting to receive the Lezyne this week. I am sure it'll work out just fine.

I like as a fairly inexpensive option, my Fenix L20 light mounted on my helmet. REI currently has it on sale for 45 or 46 bucks.

Cheapest route is to do nothing, but since you claim to be absent minded when it comes to recharging batteries, then a dynohub and light do make sense. Can't help you on selection, though, as I have no direct experience. Peter White has beam shots of the various dynolights that he stocks on his website.

Dynohub is great! I got one a winter ago, and it's always ready. I went with the IQ Cyo R, and while it doesn't put out as much light as some of the floodlights on the market, you'll find it's much brighter and has a larger road track than the 1W beamer.

I like this setup so much, I've got another one ordered for the spare bike; this time I'm blowing the budget and trying the Edelux. Stay tuned...

Thanks pdlamb! :) I'm also not sure if I want to get a dynohub tail light or stick with my rechargable unit and have the option to add a secondary light to the front. That'd be overkill, but might be fun. :)

Go with the "both" option. There's no such thing as too many tail lights! although that picture floating around a few days ago with 25-30 blinkies started to look like an invitation to steal the bike. Pawn shop owner / fence: I'll give you $50 for the bike, and $5 for each of the blinkies.

If money and weight are not issues, get the generator hub and light. However, from a cost/weight standpoint, some of the new LED lights are hard to beat. In addition to the L&M Urban 500, the Niterider MiNewt 600 cordless and similar lights from Serfas and Lezyne are great options for relatively inexpensive, powerful lights. For a bit more money ($250) -- but still much cheaper than a generator setup -- you can buy 1000-lumen LED lights with a separate battery pack with longer run times.

I have the Planet Bike Beamer 3 and love it. going on a full year with a lot of riding in the rain and it still works great and still on the original batteries. They have a Beamer 5 now that sells for about the same price as the 3 on Amazon. I got my Beamer 3 for $17.00 last year and would recommend it to anyone looking for a nice handlebar mount led light.

This is the way to go. I have a dynohub and Planet Bike dynolight along with a Dutch taillight. I really like the always-on lighting.

However, I'm sorry I didn't spring for a slightly better headlight. Actually the IQ Cyo R is what I should have purchased. Seems to be a great light for $110. You could also pick up its close relative, the IQ Fly, for about $85.

If you go with a dyno, the headlight I'd suggest is the Cyo variant with the longer range. At your descending speeds, you need to see stuff with some reaction time. The eDelux is a "tuner" Cyo with even more output and a durable glass lens, but the price nearly doubles again, so the Cyo looks like the best buy.

If you're considering a battery-powered light, I'm pretty sold on my S-Mini flashlights. They're small enough to pocket. They come in two variants: XP-G (somewhat more focused beam) and XM-L (sort of an intermediate-flood beam). I prefer the XP-G and it's approximately the equal of my Cyo, probably better. Amazing for a 45-gram light :thumb:

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/f...Mini/SMini.jpg

If you want to look into the S-Mini option, you'd need protected 18650 lithium-ion cells and a charger, plus a CycleBlock to mount it in (and I recommend rubber-banding it down so it doesn't sneak out). So you're out the door at about $80 or so. Be aware that the runtime on full power is on the order of 2 hours, so you do need to keep up on your charging routine.

In any case, the flash mode on your 1W Blaze would be worth keeping it around for, it does catch peoples' eye before they pull out in front of you on a descent.

I have a Shimano dynohub and CYO N+ headlight on my rando bike and a dyno-powered tail-light. I plan to replicate this setup on my commuter, which is currently similar to yours. I love the beam of the CYO N+, and particularly like not having batteries/charging.

On the rando bike I have backup battery lights front and rear, but probably won't bother on the commuter.