Replies (6)
even a decade ago i had bike light setup that rivaled that of cars. i recommend the ones where the light goes on your helmet and the battery in your backpack. this allows you to aim the light without the weight of battery on your head. the other benefit is it still works if you get off the bike.
you also need a blinking red tail light and reflectors on the wheels so they rotate in circles and let cars see that you're a bike.
Germans make good lights but i used American ones.
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one downside to a light on your head is if you try to speak to anybody you blind them.
you can have a second light on the handlebar using same logic - light head is on the bar and battery is elsewhere on the frame. lights with integrated battery are heavy and tend to slide and not maintain where you aimed them.
the handlebar light can illuminate the ground directly in front of the bike while the helmet light should be the more expensive one and can illuminate further and be aimed in different directions.
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The new shit seems to be a dynamo in one of the wheel hubs that fires a USB C hub and mounted lights. Endurance riders swear on it and they’re slowly becoming an option on modern gravel bikes meant for bike packing.
Too much hassle for me though, I don’t like too much stuff mounted on my bicycles. I have a battery pack and two lights in my top tube bag. Now I need to look up easily pluggable lightweight spoke reflectors, that was a good suggestion!
I really should wear my helmet on these rides. Would you use a normal headlight or a special one that’s attached to the helmet itself?
back when i used to do night rides here in US, the Dynamos seemed to be a German thing
Germans love their Mechanical engineering !
i am neither in favor of or against dynamos. i think it may be good as backup in case your battery dies. for example you could have a battery powered main light on the helmet and dynamo powered secondary light on the handlebar or something.
as everything German though i recall dynamos being expensive. batteries are cheap because they are Chinese, but they are a pain in that if you miss a season they may deplete and become inoperative whereas a Dynamo doesn't need constant topping up to stay functional.
if i was German and wanted to support German engineering i would probably find a way to integrate a dynamo into my setup but if i recall correctly German Dynamos were never for high power lights like the ones used by Mountain Bikers. so if you're addicted to power like me they may not be for you.
also does the dynamo powered light turn off when you stop at an intersection ? i wouldn't want to go invisible at an intersection !
Almost forgot - only helmet light lets you see tree branches before they take your eye out
of course you should wear eye protection regardless
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