"Terry Collins" wrote:
> The caveats with hub, bracket, bottle generators are
> 1) they seem to need 15-20 km/hr to give usuable light,
> 2) you need to use myriad zener diodes to prevent bulb popping if
> zooming downhill,
> 3) they stop when you stop (some capacitor/battery combo might help
> here) and
> 4) some part has to be left on the bike (usually minimum of generator)
> all the time (theft, weather, weight, etc).
Your experience with hub and bottle dynamos may be a little out of date.
Points 1, 2 & 3 no longer apply if you get the right dynamo. Have a look
around
http://www.stkildacycles.com.au/ site, especially the schmidts
dynohub, the B&M Dymotec S6 (or S12 if the finances run that high - 70%
efficiency) and the B&M Oval plus headlight, or the Oval Plus Senso.
All these are excellent lighting gear, operate at full output at 10 kmh,
voltage regulation that works, and the Oval Plus light has a capacitor that
functions as a standlight when stopped.
Point 4 is a bit academic, as dynamo lights are not really bicycle bling
gear that thieves look out for, and they need tools to remove them, unlike
those very portable battery setups.
>
> OTOH, now it would be interesting to see a system driving good leds
> compared to the old incandescent bulb jobs.
That'd be the B&M D'Topal Senso Plus on the same site. LED light that has a
100,000 hour service life, shines at 2.5 kmh and runs of a 6V dynamo Mind
you, at $125, it's beyond my lighting budget.
--
Cheers
Peter
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