Paul L.

(2 Luxeon K2's + 1 buckpuck + 8 AA cells) a little work from you = 30+ hours of usable light with the first 10 being very bright at a low cost of 50-60 dollars. So far it has been a good system for me.

Light output is roughly equivalent of 4-5 Cateye el500s when I compare the two.

Gillett

snip
(2 Luxeon K2's + 1 buckpuck + 8 AA cells) a little work from you>
snip

I would LOVE to know how to put this together. Any chance you can point us to a link for build instructions?

Gillett

Godwin

The Cygolite I ordered is comming tomorrow (pretty quick!) and I'm planning on doing my February century either tomorrow or Saturday depending on when it arrives. So I'll be able to compare the BLT, Fenix and Cygolite and let you guys know the results.

Godwin

Well I got the cycgolite today (a little too late to go on a ride however) but the thing comes with a mounting bracket that would hardly fit around my chainstay. I'm not quite sure what to do with the thing now.

InTheRain

Yep.. now you got that light that you can't mount on your bike... it seems useless doesn't it? And now, you wish you were rich or famous so that it wouldn't take such a sting out of your wallet. That dinotte 200L sure is easy to get on the handlebar in about 8 seconds (as long as you know how to stretch a rubber band.) I think the "mounting kit" on the dinotte 200L is about as easy and versatile as it comes. It's just an "O" ring. You can move it from one bike to another in less than 30 seconds.

Anyway, I hope you can send it back or find an aftermarket mounting kit. Otherwise, go Dinotte. Or... just breakdown and get the Schmidt SON. I've decided that if I'm going to get a new component for my bike, just go with simple and proven... don't try to save a few bucks and not know exactly what you're getting.

I've researched this lighting stuff alot. I've come to the conclusion that the Schmidt SON dynohub with the E6 lights are the best. And for my money, the dinotte products come in second. If you don't want to rebuild wheels and have the slight drag of the dynohub... then you go dinotte.

Godwin

Frustrated that I didn't know I wasn't going to be able to mount the light right away but I ordered a mounting piece which I would have had to order for my other bike anyway. Otherwise, so far I'm pleased, it comes with a bento-box style battery bag which I can use to keep things like maps or whatever in, it as an easily mounted switch to change the beam an I should be able to upgrade the led to make it much brighter than it currently is (which seems to be bright enough anyway).

The dinotte's a good light but I'd only be able to get 30mins at a time if I didn't have access to electricity for charging batteries and dynohub systems are great but just not for me. Money is not my biggest concern, I would have paid a lot more for a light if it was a better choice.

bmike

Why?
I've read through your blog... seems that you would be an ideal candidate for a hub system.


And only 30mins on the Dinotte? Really?
A Cygolite? OK, I guess. A friend has one for commuting. I wasn't all that sold on them quality wise. Last thing you want is to be a hundred miles from home and have to question your gear.

InTheRain

30 minutes on a dinotte, huh? I've never had mine run less than 90 on high power. Of course, that's with 2000 mAh Ni-MH batteries. I've gotten 2 hours out some 2900 mAh Ni-MH. I've never run it with alkalines. I've seen the cygolite... it comes nowhere near to "lighting up the night." You'll be OK as long as you keep the speed under 10 mph on totally dark roads or trails. With dinotte 200L I'd say you're safe at up to 15-18 mph. The 600L or the Schmidt dynohub... those lights "light up the night."

Godwin

I've done my share or night riding with a light dimmer than the cygolite, I know what I'm up against. I use rechargeables most of the time but I'm not going to be able to when I've been on the road for several days. A led upgrade should make this light much brighter.

mattm

if you want serious lighting, go with a dynohub (new ones have less drag, aren't "sidewall" style) & a schmidt E6 light, or maybe two.

that's what i'm doing anyway. for long brevets, and general long rides, i don't want to ever have to worry about batteries (or that a car can't see me). plus batteries fill up land-fills way too fast!

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/dynohubs.html

InTheRain

Why not use the cygolite as a backup instead of your primary light?

Godwin

Because so far I haven't been able to find another light that will run at 100 lumens (after upgrade) on alkaline batteries for more than a few hours.

My original point starting this thread was that I am planning on doing a 3000 mile ride later this year without access to electricity and will involve a good amount of night riding. Other lights I have seen are better and I wish I could use them for this but they wouldn't last more than a few days at most then I would be completely in the dark.

bmike

My last post in this thread and I'm un-subscribing.

Why are you overlooking a dynohub?

InTheRain

3000 miles without electricity? Where are you going?! Are there stretches of 3000 miles on this planet that have no electricity and are still accessible by bike? If so, you wouldn't catch me riding there without a Schmidt SON dynohub and at least two backup lights! This sounds more like a tour than a long distance ride.

Remember, no electricity means pitch dark. With a light that only puts out 100 lumens, I don't think you need to be concerned about how fast your wheels spin with the current hubs. How fast are you planning on riding during the night?

More power to ya! I hope to hear your trip report.

Godwin

Because I'm admittedly being stubborn about it, if I have to I'll do it but since most of my riding will be during daylight hours I'd rather take my good racing wheels and not have the slight drag of the dynohub when I'm not using it. I don't see why everyone gets so offended by this topic, I don't make fun of others for not using racing bikes and equipment, I'd just rather do it this way you guys can do it your way. If I remember correctly there were plenty of riders in the PBP this year not using dynohubs and they rode through the night.

Of course homes and businesses along the way will have electricity, but I'm not stopping there, I'll be stopping for 6 hours max a night in a bivy. Please stop replying to this thread unless you have something constructive to add. I'll update when I finish the upgrade on my hi-flux. Thanks to all who were helpful!

Six jours

I don't think anyone's offended. It's just that you seem to want a light that will last forever, provide tons of light, not cause any drag, and will be perfect for 5000 mile rides and also criterium racing. And also that you went to a long-distance forum and promptly started insulting the Dynohub, considered the ne plus ultra of lighting by many/most randonneurs.

So we can't decide whether to try education or ridicule.

bmike

well i guess my unsubscribe didn't stick.

i guess my problem is that you posted asking opinions, and i don't really see anyone recommending the cygolite throughout the thread. (maybe 1 person? not sure).

yeah, you can ride anyway you want, and true - plenty of people rode PBP with battery lights. i'm sure plenty of people rode it on bling carbon bikes and fast racing wheels too. but PBP is an event, not a solo, self supported endeavor (as i think you are undertaking). it has drop bags for batteries and backups, shops along the way, rest stops, and 3000? 5000? other riders out there with you on a well marked course.

so what are you doing? hopping from town to town in which you'll buy new batteries or recharge your spent lights, or traveling light and fast without access to power, sometimes through the entire night, sometimes for several nights in a row?


you also don't really seem to understand the 'drag' from a dynohub. its not really there, you don't have to build it with 40 spokes, and it can be built on any rim you want.

you seemed to ask for a light that would run indefinitely with little access to electricity.

the way i see it you have 2 choices:

change batteries or recharge batteries
generate your own power





i guess i'm not offended by your choice, i'm offended by the fact that you seemed sold to do what you want, despite the fact that people have given you some good ideas based on what you posted you were trying to do (and people who posted here have lots of long distance experience)

i'm not a SON snob. i ride with bat lights around town. when i do centuries that might run into the night or longer events i equip with the schmidt...



if you were sold on the cygolite - why not just buy it then post a review about it after you night ride test it? why ask for people's opinion then just ignore it?

i'm curious to see how your set up works. good luck.

Godwin

Woah, I sincerely never meant to insult the dynohub, sorry I gave that impression. I know how valuable a tool it is to many here I'd just rather not use it myself if I don't have to. I guess I could have worded things differently, basically I wanted to find out the latest/best technology available to randonneurs like those doing the PBP. Very sorry I gave that immpression.

Godwin

Sorry I really made a mess of this. I also asked a couple or other forums their opinions on the matter at the same time and someone in the electronics forum mentioned the hi-flux, I looked into it and it seemed good. I didn't ignore anybody's opinion I actually looked into every light and system mentioned including the hub system and decided before I did that I wanted to explore the new led technology. I wasn't looking at a light that would last forever, just all night, lights like the dinotte can't do that. I was looking for a light that I would have to change the batteries frequently, just not that frequently. I'm not even sure I'm going to do this ride, I'm moving from Halifax to Calgary late this summer and thought I might try getting out there by bike. I'm going to be training hard and trying a lot of different equipment before then. I have a couple of people who might be riding different parts of the way with me but most of it will be solo. I know it's risky and a little crazy but I like it that way.

Six jours

No worries, mate, it's all light hearted as far as I'm concerned.

FWIW, I do believe the Schmidt hub to be cutting edge/state of the art/etc. despite the fact that generator hubs have been around forever and have a "bike-boom junk" reputation in some quarters. The Schmidt hub really is of tremendous quality (I'd compare it to the best from Campy, etc.) and doesn't add enough resistance, with the light off, to be felt. (Bicycle Quarterly did a test wherein they found that Schmidt 20 slowed a rider by an average of one tenth of a kilometer per hour. I can still ride with the same people I always could.)

By the same token, I can understand why one would not want to equip his racing bike with one, as it doesn't fit the look. But...if you are going to take your racing bike on a multi-thousand mile tour without ready access to electricity, you had better get used to the idea that you're going to have to add all sorts of uncool crap to it -- or get a second bike.

Hocam

+1 to Six jours

I think this is more of an image problem than a drag problem.

Besides, you're doing this ride to see if you can do it right? Why not see if you can do it with less than 2 watts of power sucked out of your legs during the day and 6 at night? It will solve all your lighting problems, and some people have figured out how to wire them up to a cell phone and laptop charger.

bmike

here's my old 'racing' style ride, certainly had an image problem with it:

Godwin

Agreed, it is a big part and I know how stupid that is although if it were all image I wouldn't be toting a Carradice. I also feel slicing and dicing my good set of wheels would be tragic (sorry for the choice of words). I might do it with my older set at some point but I want to see if it can be done without doing that first. I also know how the littlest thing like knowing there is a slight added drag can make my mind feel like quitting (if that makes any sense).

Lighting seems to be a hot topic right now, there is a heated discussion going on in the electronics forums right now.

bmike

to each his own...

but you don't need to slice and dice. mail your good wheels ahead. build a new front wheel for the dyno.
added drag? add or remove a water bottle? use aerobars? don't get a good nights sleep? ride on the tops and not the drops? lose 5 pounds? run at too high or too low PSI? run into something in the night and lose your wheels... etc.

jan heine did pbp in 50 hours this year, with fenders, a handlebar bag, a dyno, and he was on an old steel frame.

seriously though - write up a full review of your tests. post some beam shots. share how it works.

check the latest issue of BQ... riders who used battery lights for PBP were 3 times more likely to switch to generator lights if they could do it again...

and PBP is 1200k. you are planning 3000 miles.

Godwin

Will do.

Won't do ( I weigh 125 (: )

I'm keeping my awkward mouth shut until I have some results to post. Thanks guys.