I'm with Steve. I think you're vastly underestimating the reliability of generator systems, especially the front. There's a fairly short wire connecting the generator to the light, especially if the light is mounted mid-fork on the right side, but even mounted on the fork crown or mid-fork on the left. Road repairs can be fairly straightforward, as long as you've taken care not to make your wire-to-blade connection a weak link, and you'd probably have beefed this up after fixing a couple of flats and having the wire come out of the blade when you remove the wheel. I solder mine, but getting a good crimper should be enough. The blades available in the US don't fit the connectors on the Schmidt hub that well, too loose or too tight, so they might need to be jimmied with a small screwdriver to fit.
If you install your own system it should be road-maintainable for the most part. The generator is going to generate power as long as the wheel is turning, and you just need to get that power to the headlight. If the headlight is an LED, it is unlikely that anything short of a severe accident is going to prevent it from putting out light. It may mean taking a little electrical tape to connect the wires to the generator, but that really shouldn't be a big deal. Randonneurs rely on these systems for extreme events like PBP. They are required to qualify for these events by completing a series of ever more brutal distance rides. These rides are not easy to complete in a season, and being disqualified from one might mean not being able to compete for the rest of the season. They may rely on backup systems, but they expect their main lights to carry them through the event. In comparison, I'm taking a short commute of several miles in a heavily-populated urban environment. I carry a battery-operated taillight in case of a failure back there I can just pop it on my bag; I've never had to use it. I haven't had a flat tire in several years, which I attribute to riding in the lane and not in the debris, yet I still carry a pump and patch kit, but I've never carried a backup headlight. I'm that convinced that my generator lights are going to work. On Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 2:59 PM, Andy M-S <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The middle one looks bombproof. The other? A chunk of wood or metal > sticking up just right. You whack it but don't go down, your lights > are out. Or maybe you take a spill that peels the insulation off a > wire or two. Or suppose someone in a nasty mood or neighborhood > decides to see how strong that wire is. Or if you're running a > Shimano hub, suppose that the plug gets pulled off the wire. > > I've crashed once with my generator hub and all was well. But just to > be on the safe side...I carry a small flashlight. It's also good for > repairing flats, if need be. > > On Aug 23, 6:38 pm, Steve Palincsar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Sat, 2008-08-23 at 12:59 -0700, Andy M-S wrote: > > > There are more failure modes than bulb burnout. Suppose that > > > something snags and damages the cable to the hub...in most cases, > > > that's not a road repair and you need some way to limp home. > > > > I've got close to 20,000 miles on bikes equipped with hub generator > > lighting systems. I've never had a cable snagged and damaged, and I'd > > be hard pressed to see how something like that would happen in a way > > that wouldn't be an outright crash that would damage your fork. It's > > not like the wires are draped all over the place like overhead power > > lines. > > > > What would it take to damage the lamp wire on this setup: > http://flickr.com/photos/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/2669027878/sizes/o/in/set-72157... > ? > > > > How about this one: > http://flickr.com/photos/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/326010212/sizes/l/in/set-721576...? > > > > Here: > http://flickr.com/photos/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/1526014621/sizes/l/in/set-72157...? > > > > Sure, it's possible to have a mishap. But it's rare. > > > -- How often I have lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Bicycle Lifestyle" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/bicyclelifestyle?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
