Lights
Readers Digest Condensed Version: Get a Schmidt
Dynohub! If you've read it all before, go to the led
page to read the latest about new LED lights. This article has evolved
over time and gets edited every year or so and new technology emerges.
History
John and I have tried many different lighting systems
over the years. We have boxes full of used and discarded lights, a few
more boxes of seldom used lights, and frequently used ones mounted on
almost every bike we own. We use lights for commuting, long unsupported
rides like brevets, tours and mountain biking. If I say I like or dislike
a light in this article, rest assured I have actually logged some distance
with it. My comments are not theoretical. I also am not in the bike
business and I don't sell lights.
Everything old is new again. I'll just offer a little
history of our exprience with lights through the years.
Bottom Bracket Generators
We have each used loads of assorted generators over the
years. 25 years ago, I started with a Union bottom bracket generator.
For a long time Union was the most prevalent generator in the US. They
were quite inexpensive and relatively trouble free. The big disadvantage
to generator systems is that when you stop moving, they stop putting
out light. I moved on to a Byka which was great because it had a battery
backup in the lamp to actually keep the light powered when you stopped.
This wasn't just a standlight, but actually provided full power! It
also had a voltage regulator to prevent the bulb from being over powered
at high speed. I used the Byka on PBP in 1987. These were pretty good
at the time, but not terribly efficient by today's standards.
Sidewall Mounted Generators
When I met John back in 1992, he introduced me to highly
efficient sidewall dynamos. He rode BMB that year with an AXA, which
is rated at 35% efficiency, and was among the best sidewall units for
many years. Unlike my old union bottom bracket model, the AXA has overload
protection to save bulbs at high speed. I could not believe how well
these worked, and eventually we had them on my bikes and our tandem.
The AXA lamp placed a tightly focused beam of light in front of the
bike precisely where it is needed. It was brilliant. We used
an AXA on the tandem on BMB in 97.
But this solution wasn't totally perfect. It could slip
in wet or icy conditions (a real consideration for commuting in New
England.) Some tires worked better than others, and of course, our favorite
tires weren't compatible. Tires with a sidewall designed for a sidewall
dynamo are preferable, but aren't always easy to find, especially in
the US. And the psychological drag effect of hearing it wind
up at speed can be brutal! You have to be very careful to get alignment
precise, both for efficiency and safety reasons. But it was still our
light system of choice for commuting, brevets and tours. We even had
one on the mountain bike to use getting to and from trailheads, saving
the battery lights for trail use only. BTW, one benefit of a sidewall
dynamo, is it will work on knobbly or studded tires, unlike a
bottom bracket unit.
Rechargeable Lights
We tried many rechargeable systems as well, but for most
of our riding, found burn times for these systems to be inadequate,
or I was burned by forgetting to fully recharge a battery. There were
just too many times that I found myself pedaling home from work after
dark with a dying rechargeable battery. Cold weather can drastically
shorten battery life, and of course forgetting to recharge them doesn't
help. We each used rechargeables on fully supported events, where the
crew is carrying and recharging extra batteries. But these types of
rides are pretty rare for us these days.
My first good high power rechargeable light was a dual
12V rechargeable NightRider light purchased in 90 or 91. I bought a
smart charger that worked on house current, as well as DC from a car
lighter. I purchased 3 batteries and both the single and dual headlights.
At the time the idea was to use this for supported races, as well as
commuting. At this stage, this system is retired, as the wiring seems
to have come apart in the dual headlight and the batteries have been
used and recharged and used to the extent that they just don't have
the run time they used to. As recently as a few years ago, they still
saw ocassional use for offroad excursions at night. Nighttime offroad
riding has slightly different lighting requirements than the other types
of riding we do. Actual movement (or minimum speed) is not guaranteed
so generators aren't terribly effective, and a wide angled light can
come in handy. For these rides, we would usually carry two batteries,
since we never quite know how much juice is left in a battery. We also
keep the rides short enough so we won't run out of power. And therein
lies the problem with battery powered lights - how much time/power do
you have, and how many batteries are you willing to buy/carry?
Disposable Battery Powered Lights - More History
We've also used a variety of disposable (non-rechargeable
- buy as you go) battery systems. For BMB in 1988, I used Union lamps
from my old generator system with 6 volt lantern batteries. This worked
quite well for a while, but in 1990, I had pretty inconsistent luck
with burn time on lantern batteries, and began to explore other lights
again. Lantern batteries also aren't easy to find at convenience stores
in the middle of nowhere. I also found that cycling lights were getting
more in demand, so more good commercial lights were becoming available
and rolling your own wasn't really necessary! I'm a software engineer,
and not into tinkering. If you are into tinkering, there are plenty
of resources for tips on rolling your own lights. I'd rather create
demand for good commercially available lights and spend my time riding!
I used AA powered Nice Lights with Xenon bulbs for PBP
in 91. Unlike lantern batteries, AAs can be purchased just about anywhere,
and it's not a lot of weight to carry a few spares (vs. the spare lantern
batteries). I used two Nice Lights mounted on my handlebars, supplemented
by a Quick Release skewer mounted Cateye. I rarely had more than one
light on at a time, but did have the option to have extra light when
needed. This actually worked out quite well, as the three lights (sequentially)
got me through the first night without stopping. But they developed
a nasty tendency to slip out of the mount, and they are somewhat big
and clunky. I recently tossed my collection of Nice Lights, finally
admitting they would never get used again.
We also used NightRider Supersport 6 volt systems for
a while. This light looks very similar to their 12 volt system.
It uses the same handlebar mount, but otherwise was very different -
different lamps, bulbs, connections and batteries. The appeal was moderate
run time for a 5 watt bulb, with 5 d-cell batteries. The battery pack
fit in a waterbottle cage, although not snugly, or could be strapped
to the top tube. We must have gotten a few flaky battery packs, and
had some trouble with intermittent contacts. John had a bit of hassle
descending Middlebury Gap in BMB 96, with a bad battery pack, that caused
the light to flicker and then go out. We returned it and had much less
trouble with newer models. These lights were used on several BMBs in
the mid 90's. Despite being 5 watts, these lights don't focus the light
as well as they could and therefore some of that wattage is wasted.
We have found better lights since, so thesehave also no been discarded.
For a long time, my favorite battery powered headlight
was the Cateye Micro Halogen (HL500II). It used a special 2.4 watt bulb
(unlike any other, so you need to carry its own spares), but it did
put out a nice amount of light. It was reasonably compact and lightweight
and mounted to the handlebars. The mounting was secure, but also easy
to remove.
Rechargeable batteries have made great strides in recent
years, and one can now get much better rechargeables in AA and AAA than
a few years ago. Many of the newer LED lights come with these newer
rechargeable AA batteries, making for a more eco-friendly (non-disposable)
battery light. We have a large collection of these now that are used
in bike lights, GPS devices, wireless thermometers, keyboards and mice!
The investment still doesn't come close to that of my old nightrider
batteries, and they are not terribly bulky or heavy, so carrying a bunch
of AA spares isn't so bad. Keep reading...
New Generation Sidewall Generators
Busch
and Muller are currently producing a highly efficient sidewall generator
- the dymotecS6, as well as a less expensive and less efficient model,
the dymotec6. I've also heard very positive comments about the Lightspin
sidewall dynamo. I have not used either.
St
John's Street Cycles in the UK has the most complete selection of
sidewall dynamos I have found (Lightspin and Busch and Muller). Harris
Cyclery in the US has a broad range of lighting solutions, and a
staff that includes real cyclists with real experience riding with the
lights.
But keep reading. There is something better out there...
more on lights
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