Commuter lights

D.M. Procida said:

Simon Brooke said:

Or you could buy solidlights 1203d
<URL:http://www.solidlights.co.uk/products/1203d.php> - see posts by
Chris solidlights passim - should be much brighter and more reliable
than an incandescent light and you won't need two. But very expensive
and I find the chunkiness/boxiness unappealing - expensive bike kit
needs to look good, IMHO.

This is not a recommendation - I haven't seen the thing let alone used it
- but LED based lighting has to be the future. I have to confess I'm
intrigued and might need to buy myself a present soon.

So there's no reason why a dynamo can't be used with LEDs? Perhaps that
would go some way to addressing the brighness issue mentioned earlier,
since LEDs need less power.

Indeed, although the LEDs need special electronics with them to give
optimum performance. Done right, they can automatically add more light
via another LED as the dynamo output increases with speed, giving a
similar effect to the twin-halogen setup which has been mentioned, but
without the complexity of wiring and switching.

Confession: I am the man behind Solidlights.

Chris
--
http://www.solidlights.co.uk/

LSMike said:

lemon entry - that's great, I'll have to remember that one!

Punchline of a very poor Sherlock Holmes joke :-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

Graham Dean said:

ok ok - I'm getting interested now... I'll be cycling to work over the
winter period (12 miles each way, mainly rural)
and I'm just thinking of building a (hack-like) bike up. It seems using a
SON might be a GOOD THING.

You may be onto something there ;-)

I have just fitted the SON E6 to the SON hub on my Brompton [DIMIHAB]
- works a treat, and I probably won't be adding a second light because
it's *really* hard to ride at much more than 20mph on a Brompton on my
commute :-)

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

"Just zis Guy, you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

On Tue, 2 Aug 2005 08:19:50 +0000 (UTC), "Graham Dean"
You may be onto something there ;-)

I have just fitted the SON E6 to the SON hub on my Brompton [DIMIHAB]
- works a treat, and I probably won't be adding a second light because
it's *really* hard to ride at much more than 20mph on a Brompton on my
commute :-)

Guy
--

I know, I know - I had to accept the inevitably of it all...
Still bloody expensive though! I'll have to sell the bike to buy the lights,
err...

Graham

Graham Dean said:

I know, I know - I had to accept the inevitably of it all...
Still bloody expensive though! I'll have to sell the bike to buy the lights,
err...

If you are not planning on doing Audaxes or similar long rides where the
extra drag might be an issue, the cheaper Shimano units do appear to be
pretty good. I rode a Ridgeback hub-geared, dynohub (Nexus - presumably
latest model) equipped bike and the drag was not noticeable. The drag of
the knobbly tyres that some people insist on fitting to bikes sold for
road use have a far more detrimental effect on speed.

Jon

Jon Senior said:

If you are not planning on doing Audaxes or similar long rides where the
extra drag might be an issue, the cheaper Shimano units do appear to be
pretty good.

Roos' general & commuter hack hybrid has the Ultegra one, it's about
£60. She hasn't reported any obvious drag from riding it, says it just
works (with a B&M Oval Senso Plus). Not doing anything monster fast on
it, but she doesn't hang about either and hasn't had any issues with it
at all (I imagine she'd say this herself but she's away for the week).

The build on the SON is probably better into the much longer term and
there's apparently a teensy bit more drag, but I certainly don't think
Shimano are short changing anyone. Good bit of kit.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

"Jon Senior" <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOT_co_DOT_uk> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Just a shame they haven't made a Capreo version of it, suitable for 20"
wheels.

What's stopping you putting the normal one in :-)

(for me on the Brompton, it was spoke count)

cheers,
clive

Peter Clinch said:

Roos' general & commuter hack hybrid has the Ultegra one, it's about
£60. She hasn't reported any obvious drag from riding it, says it just
works (with a B&M Oval Senso Plus). Not doing anything monster fast on
it, but she doesn't hang about either and hasn't had any issues with it
at all (I imagine she'd say this herself but she's away for the week).

I'm thinking of building one into a wheel for the fixer. This does of
course involve spending, which I'm desperately trying to avoid ATM.

Quoted message said:

The build on the SON is probably better into the much longer term and
there's apparently a teensy bit more drag, but I certainly don't think
Shimano are short changing anyone. Good bit of kit.

Just a shame they haven't made a Capreo version of it, suitable for 20"
wheels.

Jon

Clive George said:

What's stopping you putting the normal one in :-)

(for me on the Brompton, it was spoke count)

Efficiency. The SON comes in two models because the hub in a 20" wheel
rotates faster for the same speed than a 26" / 700C.

I didn't quite get the details (Or rather, I've now forgotten), but
there is a problem with running the generator too fast.

Jon

In message <[email hidden]>

Clive George said:

"D.M. Procida" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Clive George said:

Hub dynamo. No cells at all.

I knew someone would say that.

What I'm wondering is how many people will say it :-)

Quoted message said:

I'd have to get my brand new bike's wheel
rebuilt in any case, and the whole business (rebuild, lights, dynamo)
would work out expensive I fear.

Well, you never mentioned a budget. What is it?
TBH I wouldn't rebuild your new bike's wheel, I'd get a whole new one.
(you'll need new spokes anyway and the new hub is obvious).

Keep the old wheel with an inflated tube and tyre so that you can
swap it on if you find you have a puncture when leaving for work at 3pm.
(and carry that LED spare light.)

Quoted message said:

Somebody
mentioned some very cheap ones based on the older shimano hubs a few days
ago. Yes, the older shimano ones had more drag than a SON - but the
difference isn't noticable when riding IME.

From wiggle a M:Wheels Nexus hub with mavic rim, 85ukp for the wheel
if you make the total order above 100ukp. M:Wheels are hand finished.

Martin.

--
Typed by monkey #27662472869676 on typewriter #7552416572242
When emailing me, please include the word Banana in the subject line.

In message <[email hidden]>

Arthur Clune said:

D.M. Procida <[email hidden]> wrote:

: See, this is the kind of thing about dynamo lighting which makes me feel
: it's the province of the eager tweaker who has the skills and
: inclination to get it all perfect rather than the fit-and-forget kind of
: person.

I couldn't have put it better myself. I don't want to do my own wiring. I
just want it to work.

I would put it the other way around. The dynamo its fit and forget,
it takes a while to fit it though.

With my current rechargeables (the dynahub was posted from wiggle today),
it is fit and remember how long you have used it for, does it need
recharging, are you going to leave work with the battery still at home on
the charger, has the battery died again from overchargeing/full discharge.

Martin.

--
Typed by monkey #27662472869676 on typewriter #7552416572242
When emailing me, please include the word Banana in the subject line.

On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 23:24:10 +0100 someone who may be Martin Dann
<[email hidden]> wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

With my current rechargeables (the dynahub was posted from wiggle today),
it is fit and remember how long you have used it for, does it need
recharging, are you going to leave work with the battery still at home on
the charger, has the battery died again from overchargeing/full discharge.

There are "intelligent" battery charges that largely solve charging
problems. One of these can be at home and the unintelligent charger
that came with the lighting set left at work if necessary for a
boost.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me by using the RIP Act 2000.

David Hansen said:

There are "intelligent" battery charges that largely solve charging
problems. One of these can be at home and the unintelligent charger
that came with the lighting set left at work if necessary for a
boost.

Yep, just need to buy a set of these lights and you'll be sorted!
http://snipurl.com/grah

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

Tony Raven said:

Yep, just need to buy a set of these lights and you'll be sorted!
http://snipurl.com/grah

Oh aye, I'll take two of them! Good grief, I thought my *bike* was
expensive.

For those of us using prehistoric Ni-Mh batteries and paltry 5W lighting,
there are lots of good battery chargers available from model shops. I've
been using the Ripmax Pro-Peak Prodigy digital charger with great results,
after the "smart" charger that came with my Vistalites died after a couple
of months' use.

Becky

Jon Senior said:

They're also apparently "the No.1-choice for 24 hour races." despite a
maximum burn time of 4 hours!

My #1 choice for a folding bike would be Len Rubin's $10k titanium
Brompton copy (http://www.ufbusa.com/). However I actually ride a
standard L3 Brompton.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

in message <[email hidden]>, Tony Raven

(') said:

Arthur Clune said:

Tony Raven <[email hidden]> wrote:

: My #1 choice for a folding bike would be Len Rubin's $10k titanium
: Brompton copy (http://www.ufbusa.com/). However I actually ride a
: standard L3 Brompton.

Pete Eland (Velovision) has a Ti Brompton (in fact, I think he has
two) at the moment, and I hope to get to ride one later this week 🙂

An all Ti one? The current Ti B still has the main frame in steel with
just forks, rear triangle and seatpost in Ti. Len Rubin's by contrast
is an all Ti frame. Drool...fold....drool....unfold....

....and it doesn't even corrode when you drool on it!

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; When your hammer is C++, everything begins to look like a thumb.

Simon Brooke said:

Or you could buy solidlights 1203d
<URL:http://www.solidlights.co.uk/products/1203d.php> - see posts by
Chris solidlights passim - should be much brighter and more reliable
than an incandescent light and you won't need two. But very expensive
and I find the chunkiness/boxiness unappealing - expensive bike kit
needs to look good, IMHO.

This is not a recommendation - I haven't seen the thing let alone used it
- but LED based lighting has to be the future. I have to confess I'm
intrigued and might need to buy myself a present soon.

I've used a borrowed 1103 (comparing it with my own Lumotec and bottle
dynamo, EL-300, and 10W halogen running on NiCds (not all at once)),
and am trying to persuade myself I can justify the cost of a 1203D and
hub dynamo. It's a lot of money when what I have is adequate for the job,
even if it would be clearly nicer (similarly a recumbent).