B
BtC
Guest
My LED tailight (4D Toplight Senso Multi) finally arrived and it now
completes my rig powered by the Schmidt hub and the IQ Fly headlight. It is
alot wider than I thought and on the positive side, it is a highly visible
light and reflector array (which sits just nicely on my brand new Tubus
Cargo rack which so far is living up to its reputation for real quality).
I got everything connected and I was dismayed to note that the standlight
feature on the tail light was not functioning.
Sadly, most of the "exploitation" I had read on this model gave the
impression of a standlight function for this light. (For those not familiar
with these lights, they have options of "senso" which senses the light
levels and decides if the light should be on or not, and the option of
"plus" which is a standlight or capacitor which is charged by your dynamo so
that standing at lights, it gives you about 4-7 mins of light before the
capacitor discharges.
However, the tail light I bought does not have a standlight function. Most
if not all of the fault for not properly reading the documentation and
reading more widely rests with me.
Instead of giving an alternative to batteries, it requires a battery to act
as if it were a standlight. So instead of being independent of batteries,
it still requires them if you want to be visible standing at traffic lights.
Originally, I thought I needed a senso only for the front, as I figured that
the headlight would supply current to the tail light when the headlight
sensed poor light. My LBS advised that the senso function was necessary for
both the front and the rear lights. Hence, I went for a tail light which
also had the senso function which was the model I bought.
In retrospect, I suspect I was right about the tail light being a slave to
the headlight - c'est la vie. If anyone can confirm this I would love to
know.
Anyway, the caution is that I went to unnecessary expense for something that
is less environmentally friendly and ultimately less practical. This model
cost significantly more than the standlight models without the sensor, so
hopefully this raises awareness others thinking about a dynamo hub and
lighting options.
Happy trails,
BtC
completes my rig powered by the Schmidt hub and the IQ Fly headlight. It is
alot wider than I thought and on the positive side, it is a highly visible
light and reflector array (which sits just nicely on my brand new Tubus
Cargo rack which so far is living up to its reputation for real quality).
I got everything connected and I was dismayed to note that the standlight
feature on the tail light was not functioning.
Sadly, most of the "exploitation" I had read on this model gave the
impression of a standlight function for this light. (For those not familiar
with these lights, they have options of "senso" which senses the light
levels and decides if the light should be on or not, and the option of
"plus" which is a standlight or capacitor which is charged by your dynamo so
that standing at lights, it gives you about 4-7 mins of light before the
capacitor discharges.
However, the tail light I bought does not have a standlight function. Most
if not all of the fault for not properly reading the documentation and
reading more widely rests with me.
Instead of giving an alternative to batteries, it requires a battery to act
as if it were a standlight. So instead of being independent of batteries,
it still requires them if you want to be visible standing at traffic lights.
Originally, I thought I needed a senso only for the front, as I figured that
the headlight would supply current to the tail light when the headlight
sensed poor light. My LBS advised that the senso function was necessary for
both the front and the rear lights. Hence, I went for a tail light which
also had the senso function which was the model I bought.
In retrospect, I suspect I was right about the tail light being a slave to
the headlight - c'est la vie. If anyone can confirm this I would love to
know.
Anyway, the caution is that I went to unnecessary expense for something that
is less environmentally friendly and ultimately less practical. This model
cost significantly more than the standlight models without the sensor, so
hopefully this raises awareness others thinking about a dynamo hub and
lighting options.
Happy trails,
BtC
