Dynamo headlights - conundrum

[honesty]

Righto. I have a dynamo headlight on my commuter/touring bike - a Luxos U. I think its great. So great in fact that next week I'm converting my Audax to dynamo as well. I've decided to go for 3n80 hub as the benefits of a Son just doesn't justify the price differential (plus the LBS can get the Shimano hubs easily...) but I am at a bit of conundrum on which front light to use.

I've narrowed it down to 5 lights, a Luxos U, supernova e3 pro 2, Edelux 2, exposure revo, supernova e3 triple. I know the last to are symmetrical beams, but the bike is used more on unlit back roads at higher speeds so the extra light may be beneficial. USB charging is something I'm pretty sure I don't need on this bike, I B&B tour on it and can wall charge the GPS every night, that plus the 12 hours ish run time of the GPS means that pretty much all long distance rides are going to be covered but I'd kick myself if I ran out of power and didn't have a usb charging point to hand. Finally I want to run a tail light but it needs to mount on the back of a carridice bagman (there's a nice looking Hebie universal light mount that looks to do this) and the supernova tail light is a sexy little thing.

Oh decisions decisions!

I'm currently leaning towards the e3 triple to be honest, though the revo looks great Im just not convinced about the rear light or mounting on the fork crown, but it does have the benefit of coming with the ability to charge usb devices and you can get it in a nice package with a dynamo hub....

Anyway, thoughts?

[beardy]

that plus the 12 hours ish run time of the GPS means that pretty much all long distance rides are going to be covered

If that is the case then a battery lamp will cover your night riding too.

Without load the SON has half the drag of a 3N80 but it is still 1W more than a normal hub, which is how you will be doing most of your riding. The SP hubs are smaller and lighter and more "Audaxy".

The extra weight of your hub would cover any extra chargers or batteries needed. I already have the dynamo light ( a paltry Cyo) and dynamohub but dont fit them for that sort of riding where battery lights are, to me, the better option.

I can understand the desire to have some of this fantastic technology (that is why I have a largely unused dynamo and light) but it isnt much benefit for that type of riding and is a permanent extra (though small) weight and drag on the bike.

I would fit it for a 200k Audax at this time of year but mostly I would keep to the lightweight battery system. Unless your predominantly night riding on the bike.

[honesty]

The fit and forget benefit of a dynamo system is what wins it for me. I like having the lights on the bike permanently. I leave them turned on on the commuter bike just because they are there.

[beardy]

Will you leave the asymmetric lights turned on permanently too?

I understand the appeal, I dont know if it is because I have trouble keeping up with others but I am careful not to "handicap" myself with extra work cycling. I fitted a dynamo to my Audax bike at a time when I had a regular night ride to do but when that ride ceased, I soon removed it.
I half think that I wish somebody had talked me out of spending the money, then another half of me likes having the technology in my possession, even if I seldom use it.

Why not a mudguard rear light?

[honesty]

Probably yes. This could be a downside of them definitely. Saying that I see many many riders going through town with lights far brighter than this, and angled upwards as well, that I wouldnt feel too bad about running the light in daytime. I'm also less likely to cycle through towns with it, and currently will be training very early morning or late at night, so good lights are needed.

I thought about mudguard mounting the light, but I've got 28mm tyres and the mudguards are rather close, I just don't think there's enough clearance under them for the mounting bolt.

[stewartpratt]

I can understand the desire to have some of this fantastic technology (that is why I have a largely unused dynamo and light) but it isnt much benefit for that type of riding and is a permanent extra (though small) weight and drag on the bike.

Hm. I've pondered this recently. I can compare two bikes over my 48km commute. The fastest I've done it on my 20lb non-dyno bike is 1h36m. The fastest on my 24.5lb dyno bike (lights on) is 1h38m. Hardly scientific, but it suggests that even over a 600km ride the difference would be under 30 minutes, and that's the sum effect of the extra weight and the always-on dyno. It's a matter of opinion, of course, as to whether this is something to be bothered by or not.

Re the guard spacing for the rear light, I doubt it'll be a problem: you should be able to easily move the back section of the guard out a little on the stays to account for the bolt, regardless of how much/little clearance you have at the seatstay bridge. If you wanted to minimise it for aesthetic reasons, you could simply grind down the bolt a little. Much easier and more durable than mounting on a Bagman, I should think.

[honesty]

Re the guard spacing for the rear light, I doubt it'll be a problem: you should be able to easily move the back section of the guard out a little on the stays to account for the bolt, regardless of how much/little clearance you have at the seatstay bridge. If you wanted to minimise it for aesthetic reasons, you could simply grind down the bolt a little. Much easier and more durable than mounting on a Bagman, I should think.

Yes that would work... if I hadn't cut the stays to make it look neat. I think there may be enough left to move the guard out a little bit...

edit. having said that, I've just checked and with a full carridice bag, mounting it on the bagman would not be an option. The horizontal section has a lot of the bag resting/pressing up against it. So Mudguard mount it is (lets hope I have enough room to maneuver or I'll have to get new stays as well!)

[honesty]

Actually that does help rather a lot. Supernova don't do a mudguard mounted back light, its rack or post only. So they're out. Exposure don't do a mudguard mounted back light, its post mount only, but it is the quick snap off elastic band type mount so may actually mount it a better place on the light loop on the carridice bag. So it's either the edelux2 or the luxos u with something like a secula + or the revo with what could be a badly located rear light...

though there is the outside possibility that the radius of the post mount for a supernova tail light matches the radius of the mudguards and I could just stick it in place... humm...

[PH]

IMO the best cycle lighting involves two lights, a decent shaped beam for in traffic and a good cone beam. Not too much difference in the intensity of light or turning off the one makes the other seem too dim. My current dynamo lights are an Edlux and a Supermova E3 with the Niterider Lumina 750 as the battery light run on the lowest 200 lumen setting.

[stewartpratt]

If you could mount a little bar or similar across the rear of the saddle rails, you might be able to fix one of these to it and mount the Exposure or Supernova on that…? I've not used your bag setup, though, so I don't know if that obstructs it.

[samsbike]

Get the best you can afford as you arent likely to do it very often.

I like the supernova setups because they look nice and the rear is very, very bright.

I quite understand why you would not want a dynamo setup, but I quite like the fact that I dont have to worry about not recharging my battery lights or leave them on flashing which tends to help my visibility in traffic.

[mill4six]

My Supernova E3 pro is very bright, so bright it makes people cross and yes I've adjusted it correctly. In spite of this it doesn't really light up an unlit road at 20mph. I'd like a beam that went a bit further (but then people get really upset) and a bit wider. Don't get me wrong it's lovely and I haven't crashed yet but it could be better.

[geocycle]

I've got en edelux2 with a seculite on the mudguard. I'd say it us comparable to the supernova my mate runs. I do like the e3 tail though! I have backup battery lights as well although never been let down by the SON28. This combo is fine for use on country lanes but probably not off-road.

[tim-b]

Hi

I've posted this photo a couple of times, my apologies if you've seen my Bagman mounting solution before
I've lined the bag with Corruboard to prevent "overspill", or you could drop the light down more with longer P-clips

This also avoids the rack-mounted SuperNova cable fouling the carrier

Regards
tim-b

[honesty]

Wow. Excellent. P clips was actually my first idea but I was concerned the bag would twist the light around when mounted. Do you find that happening?