I used battery lights for years, but after I bought my first dynamo set up a resolutely abjured all battery lighting for other than very occasional use. I do have a couple of battery headlights and several rear lamps, blinking and steady, that I’ll use as backups to my dynamo lights, but for regular use dynamo lighting is really the cat’s pyjamas. There were at least 2 occasions when despite good planning I ended up riding home without my battery lights; once taping a $4 Walgreen’s flashlight to the underside of my left drop bar and the other time foolishly trying to make it home without lights in the deepening twilight — I bent the fork of my custom Riv on a curb.
A dynamo need not be too expensive, either. You can get inexpensive dynamo hubs from Peter White, tho’ these do require a wheel build; OTOH, I recently saw a couple of hubsets or wheelsets with front dynamos for quite low prices on this or the boblist and these do come up from time to time. You can also use a bottle dynamo that runs off the tire sidewall or off the brake track on a rim. Peter White has a low-priced bottle that is said to be decent as to drag, and I am tempted to try one myself for a possible forthcoming beater, except that I already have a Sanyo BB dynamo; you can find these on eBay. These power modern LED headlights just fine. Someone makes a tiny, very efficient modern bottle — everyone has heard of it, but I can’t place the name. It puts out less wattage than standard bottle or bb or hub dynamos but enough to power a modern LED headlight, at least sans tail light. What’s the name, for heaven’s sake? Aside, in the past I even used a couple of cheap old fashioned Union or Sanyo bottles; they weren’t nearly as bad as the caricatures;* rather like climbing a very slight grade or riding against a 10 mph wind — say a tooth bigger in back. You do have to align the roller properly with the tire or wheel, though. * duck://player/9MAkl8tEsnA On Tue, Oct 22, 2024 at 11:14 AM Michael Morrissey < [email protected]> wrote: > Hi Everyone! > > What is everyone using for commuting lights now? Does anyone have a newer > bike light that they would recommend? > > I'm still using a small collection of Knog lights that are almost 10 years > old. The best Knog is the rear "Mid Cobber" which I like because it has > great side visibility. > > https://us.knog.com/products/mid-cobber-rear-bike-light?srsltid=AfmBOorGX4I4f_iHFYweZh8Fla90pITwyr-LNcd4h0C12REsy3W46gb2 > > Unfortunately, the Knog lights use a lot of magnets and rubberbands to > stay on to the bike, which are flimsy and heavy. Does anyone have > recommendations for ones that use GoPro mounts or Garmin "quarter-twist" > mounts? > > Has anyone tried the laser bike lane feature of bike lights like this? > > https://www.niterider.com/products/sentinel-250?srsltid=AfmBOoqN5bEUPvnHYnx6vZEhz9N7lztnbuobhGiZABn0b_1eJJyk7Iof > > Has anyone tried the brake light built into this? > > https://magicshine.com/products/seemee-300-smart-tail-light?srsltid=AfmBOoqhD2ONU3diO4qtDomju20xxwP2hcV-pmZzcH1HvA3IzZKvb48y > > Otherwise, should I go to dynamo lights? Dynamo lights are so expensive > and I wouldn't be able to switch them back and forth between my Rivendell, > my backup bike, and my other beater bike. > > Thank you! > > Michael > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/5f5afe84-ed08-4bd8-9308-47a1ef9292cen%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/5f5afe84-ed08-4bd8-9308-47a1ef9292cen%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Patrick Moore Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Executive resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, letters, and other writing services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *When thou didst not, savage, k**now thine own meaning,* *But wouldst gabble like a** thing most brutish,* *I endowed thy purposes w**ith words that made them known.* -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgu302jezAQ5xtTYLFxGRKuNC5Sna5F-EBB2scFWwTkazA%40mail.gmail.com.
