Dynamos vs. LEDs (Re: Cyclist Explodes! (NW Cambridge Plans))



Rob Morley <[email protected]> writes:

> I did that with one of the SO's front lights, although it was
> because of a tendency to jump off rather than a concern for security
> - a self- tapper through the bottom of the lamp and into the bracket
> is all it takes to stop them from parting company, and you can still
> remove the top to change the batteries.


And then some scrote will steal the top.

--
colourless green ideas sleep furiously
 
In article <[email protected]>,
August West <[email protected]> writes:
|> Rob Morley <[email protected]> writes:
|>
|> > I did that with one of the SO's front lights, although it was
|> > because of a tendency to jump off rather than a concern for security
|> > - a self- tapper through the bottom of the lamp and into the bracket
|> > is all it takes to stop them from parting company, and you can still
|> > remove the top to change the batteries.
|>
|> And then some scrote will steal the top.

That's why I wire the lights on. With decent-sized batteries, that
needs doing only annually for a 20 minute commute (i.e. c. 30 hours
use).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
 
Nick Maclaren wrote:

> Yup. i am interested in what you say about the SON, but it is quite
> pricey, even for me!
>
> What really annoys me is when there is a choice only between cheap and
> nasty and expensive and gimmicky, or where to pay for an ordinary but
> usable device I have to pay gimmicky prices.


At £55 the Shimano Ultegra 370 dunohub is half the price of the SON and
much better than half as good. Roos has one on her hack/commute bike
that Santa brought her for Xmas a couple of years ago and it's run
flawlessly since.

http://kinetics.org.uk/html/shimano_hubs.html

It's not /as/ nice as the SON, but it's a sound bit of kit that does
what is needed.

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 protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
 
"Nick Maclaren" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Peter Clinch <[email protected]> writes:
> |> Brendan Halpin wrote:
> |>
> |> > Nearly all dynamo kit is grottier than what you are running!
> |>
> |> That is true, of course, but the good kit /is/ there for people who
> want
> |> it and are willing to pay. I think Nick may well fall into that
> category.
>
> Yup. i am interested in what you say about the SON, but it is quite
> pricey, even for me!
>
> What really annoys me is when there is a choice only between cheap and
> nasty and expensive and gimmicky, or where to pay for an ordinary but
> usable device I have to pay gimmicky prices.


Are you saying the SON is gimmicky? Coz if you were, you'd be wrong -
there's nothing gimmicky whatsoever about it.

Shimano dynohubs are rather cheaper than SON and work pretty much as well.

As has been mentioned before, a dynohub of some description really is the
answer to your problems - the drag isn't noticable, and it's bolted to your
bike.

cheers,
clive
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Nick Maclaren <[email protected]> wrote:
>That's why I wire the lights on. With decent-sized batteries, that
>needs doing only annually for a 20 minute commute (i.e. c. 30 hours
>use).
>

Leisure cyclists... pah!

--
Jonathan Amery. When you notice a client in rapt meditation,
##### The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
#######__o The code is engaged in a deep consultation - rfc2100
#######'/ On the address, the address, the address of its name:
 
Nick Maclaren wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Pyromancer <[email protected]> writes:
> |>
> |> The question has been asked a few times now and not as far as I can see
> |> answered - if recharging lights (or using Duracells) is such a hassle,
> |> why not use a dynamo?
>
> Oh, I do. But they add effort, and have the problem that they don't
> work when stopped - and you are in more danger stopped at a junction
> than cycling along a road. Modern 'standlights' are improving, but
> are still fairly feeble - after all, even a 1 farad capacitor isn't
> going to drive a bright light for long.
>
> |> Though TBH I've said before that if the authorities are serious about
> |> getting people to cycle seriously as an alternative to driving, they
> |> need to persuade the bike shops to stop selling so much sports equipment
> |> and start selling proper roadsters with full guards, built-in lights,
> |> comfortable riding position, etc. I had to go to York to buy mine (I'm
> |> in Leeds), not exactly practical for someone who lives in Cambridge.
>
> I had to go to Holland for mine!


University Cycles by Mitcham's Corner sells them (I bought mine there
over the summer). It has all mod-cons, such as built in lights (battery
LED rear, dynamo front), mud guards, 3 speed hub gears (I think he'll do
more speed hub gears if you ask, but 3 is fine for Cambridge), full mud
guards and chain guard, proper handlebars for the upright cycling
position, big comfy sofa-like saddle, and drum brakes front and rear
(braking performance not affected by rain, and wear life on the brake
shoes that, so I am told, can be measured on a geological timescale).
Best all weather in-town bike I've ever owned.

Robin
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Roland Perry <[email protected]> wrote:
>In message <Wjy*[email protected]>, at 11:05:56 on Thu,
>12 Oct 2006, Jonathan Amery <[email protected]> remarked:
>> My rear light is firmly attached to the bicycle (and has a lifetime
>>that would make nmm1 cry out for joy), the front light is about the
>>same size and weight as a small bunch of keys, and the batteries
>>haven't run out since I bought it a couple of weeks ago.

>
>So why not attach the front light too, then we needn't have this tedious
>debate about how many angels can dance on an AAA cell?


The front light draws somewhat more power -- I fully expect to have
to recharge it at some point next week or so...

--
Jonathan Amery. There's an ocean of darkness and I drown in the night
##### Till I come through the darkness to the ocean of light.
#######__o You can lock me in prison but the light will be free,
#######'/ 'And I walk in the glory of the light', said he.
 
Peter Clinch wrote:
>> Rubbish, some are no bigger than a key fob:

>
> FSVO "Rubbish". The really small ones, not entirely coincidentally,
> aren't considered the really well illuminating ones
>
>> My previous post actually referred to house keys, in which case most of
>> this doesn't apply.

>
> My house keys take up a lot less space than any bike lights I'd want to
> ride regularly with.


Even on well lit roads? I'll admit that the front light I currently use
doesn't fit in my pocket, but I use it so that I can cycle comfortably on
unlit roads at speeds in excess of 20mph. OTOH, a couple of the guys I
cycled the Dunwich Dynamo with this year managed fine with pocket sized
AAA-based lights.

I don't believe lighting-related inconvenience is a legitimate reason to
avoid cycling in anything other than a tiny minority of cases, and I've yet
to meet anyone who uses it as an excuse as to why they don't cycle. There
are plenty of lights that fit comfortably into a pocket, have many hours of
battery life, and are, IME, perfectly adequate to be seen by. Dynamo
systems also solve most of the problems being suggested, although they are,
admittedly, pricey for decent systems.

Anthony
 
In article <[email protected]>,
"R.C. Payne" <[email protected]> writes:
|> Nick Maclaren wrote:
|> > In article <[email protected]>,
|> > Pyromancer <[email protected]> writes:
|> >
|> > |> Though TBH I've said before that if the authorities are serious about
|> > |> getting people to cycle seriously as an alternative to driving, they
|> > |> need to persuade the bike shops to stop selling so much sports equipment
|> > |> and start selling proper roadsters with full guards, built-in lights,
|> > |> comfortable riding position, etc. I had to go to York to buy mine (I'm
|> > |> in Leeds), not exactly practical for someone who lives in Cambridge.
|> >
|> > I had to go to Holland for mine!
|>
|> University Cycles by Mitcham's Corner sells them (I bought mine there
|> over the summer). ...

But only small ones. That was why I had to go to Holland. I could
have got the right size in York, but I wanted the Sachs gears.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
 
Anthony Jones <[email protected]> writes:
(snip)
> Rubbish, some are no bigger than a key fob:
>
> http://www.wiggle.co.uk/Default.aspx?ProdID=5360025988

(snip)

FWIW I don't carry the keyless-entry fob for any of my cars because I
find them annoyingly large in my pocket.

Pete's right, though, I found an excuse long before I got to the lights.
I'm surprised people are getting so many reasonable-capacity cycles out
of their rechargeable batteries; maybe I just bought too-cheap charger
or batteries in the past.

-- Mark
 
Anthony Jones wrote:

> Even on well lit roads?


If they end up the same size as my house keys (that's one mortice key,
one yale, and a connecting ring), then yes, even on well lit roads.

> I don't believe lighting-related inconvenience is a legitimate reason to
> avoid cycling in anything other than a tiny minority of cases, and I've yet
> to meet anyone who uses it as an excuse as to why they don't cycle.


Indeed.

> Dynamo
> systems also solve most of the problems being suggested, although they are,
> admittedly, pricey for decent systems.


But it's fit and forget, as opposed to forget and can't fit, because
you've forgotten... That's a lot of money's worth of convenience to me,
which is why I use them.

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 protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
 
Nick Maclaren wrote on 12/10/2006 09:15 +0100:
>
> Modern 'standlights' are improving, but
> are still fairly feeble - after all, even a 1 farad capacitor isn't
> going to drive a bright light for long.
>


Being peripherally involved in capacitors that will start a North
American truck engine several times over on a single charge, I'm sure
its not beyond the wit of a capacitor to run a good "be seen" light for
a minute or two.

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci
 
Peter Clinch wrote on 12/10/2006 12:00 +0100:
> Brendan Halpin wrote:
>
>> Nearly all dynamo kit is grottier than what you are running!

>
> That is true, of course, but the good kit /is/ there for people who want
> it and are willing to pay. I think Nick may well fall into that category.
>


And costs less than the cost of replacing a headlight bulb in my Merc
which is nicely positioned to be virtually impossible without a
substantial amount of disassembly of the vehicle and therefore best left
to the garage to do.

I think from his own statements El Swear that Nick falls into the
category of people who rarely cycle and take the car instead


--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci
 
Roland Perry wrote on 12/10/2006 10:26 +0100:
>
> Removing cycle lights and carrying them with you whenever you park the
> bike is in quite a different class to carrying car keys.


But its trivial compared to carrying a helmet round ;-)

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Tony Raven <[email protected]> writes:
|>
|> Being peripherally involved in capacitors that will start a North
|> American truck engine several times over on a single charge, I'm sure
|> its not beyond the wit of a capacitor to run a good "be seen" light for
|> a minute or two.

And they are, of course, small enough to put in your pocket.

A minute or two is not long enough. It isn't rare to have to wait
several minutes at a junction or to turn right.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Tony Raven <[email protected]> writes:
|>
|> And costs less than the cost of replacing a headlight bulb in my Merc
|> which is nicely positioned to be virtually impossible without a
|> substantial amount of disassembly of the vehicle and therefore best left
|> to the garage to do.

Then you should have bought a better quality car, and not something
so outrageously misdesigned.

|> I think from his own statements El Swear that Nick falls into the
|> category of people who rarely cycle and take the car instead

That is true. It was the other way round for 30 years, and would
revert to that if the local roads ever become safe enough again.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
 
In article <[email protected]>, Tony Raven wrote:
>
>I think from his own statements El Swear that Nick falls into the
>category of people who rarely cycle and take the car instead


Yes, but because he was fed up with being injured, not because
he was unable to find a heavy enough LED light.

Just in case anyone other than Nick _is_ looking for a D-cell powered
LED light because they want it to last 30 hours without a recharge and
the various AA powered LED lights that offer that sort of life are only
bright enough to be seen by:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/inoled.asp
(I don't know of a UK distributer).

The rechargeable battery pack sold for it won't last that long,
but you could use the external pack of your choice. (As it happens
I even have a 5 D-cell pack that belongs to a 10W halogen whose
switch has failed after years of use.)
 
[email protected] (Nick Maclaren) writes:

> A minute or two is not long enough. It isn't rare to have to wait
> several minutes at a junction or to turn right.


The Busch u. Müller are good for substantially more (4-7 in my
experience), with the rear as bright as during travel, and the
front perfectly adequate to be seen by.

Brendan
--
Brendan Halpin, Department of Sociology, University of Limerick, Ireland
Tel: w +353-61-213147 f +353-61-202569 h +353-61-338562; Room F2-025 x 3147
mailto:[email protected] http://www.ul.ie/sociology/brendan.halpin.html
 
Nick Maclaren wrote:
> A minute or two is not long enough.


The Solidlights 1203D claims 5 minutes for it's standlight for example.

> It isn't rare to have to wait
> several minutes at a junction or to turn right.


Really? I've never experienced that in several years of daily cycle
commuting.

Anthony
 
In message <[email protected]>, at 14:21:52 on Thu, 12 Oct
2006, Tony Raven <[email protected]> remarked:
>> Removing cycle lights and carrying them with you whenever you park
>>the bike is in quite a different class to carrying car keys.

>
>But its trivial compared to carrying a helmet round ;-)


When I cycled, I locked my helmet to the bike (the cord of the padlock
went through it quite easily).
--
Roland Perry