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Old December 7th 17, 08:20 AM posted to rec.bicycles.tech
SMS
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Posts: 9,477
Default New B&M 100lux headlight.

On 12/6/2017 7:00 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Wed, 6 Dec 2017 06:46:01 -0800, sms
wrote:
Yes. The trade-off needs to be made. I'm sure we'd all run out and buy
a dynamo light if it was possible to build one that was adequate for
the riding conditions we experience. Unfortunately it isn't yet
possible to build such a dynamo light.


Good grief, Steven. What bull**** you spout. There are people around
the world riding pefectly contentedly all night long on bikes with
dynamo lights- and have been for decades, even before the advancements
of LEDs and computer designed mirrors and lenses.

Now, for some reason *you* don't find those satisfactory. That's fine.
But that's about you and your preferences, not about the lights
themselves.


No, it's not about *me*. I don't pretend to know what's best for
everyone else, nor do I dismiss the needs of of others simply because I
don't have the same needs. By the same token, I do recognize that
cycling conditions vary by location in terms of traffic, street
lighting, road conditions, terrain, driver quality, and infrastructure.
These are real differences, and anytime someone proclaims that "dark is
dark, it's the same everywhere," it's clear that they have not thought
things through. Lighting needs vary based on all of these factors.

At least in the U.S., people have NOT been riding perfectly contentedly
all night with dynamo lights, at least not very many. Dynamo lights have
never been popular here. You could probably count the number of shops in
the U.S. that sell dynamo lights and wheels on two hands and two feet. I
don't know of a single shop in the entire Bay Area where you could walk
in and buy a dynamo light and a dynamo wheel. It's not because riders
here are uninformed about what is available, it's because what's
available is unacceptable so shops don't bother with it. Now you might
find a couple of bicycles with dynamo wheels from Breezer, but that's
about it.

I just came back from a meeting tonight, where we discussed a proposal
for new bicycle infrastructure that would be an east-west path through
most of our city, including linking the current and new Apple campuses
http://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/public-works/transportation-mobility/bicycle-and-pedestrian-travel/bicycle-transportation-plan-implementation/junipero-serra-trai.
The first question I asked was "will it be lit?" I received a somewhat
evasive answer. The route would run along Santa Clara County Water
District right-of-way, and they generally don't allow lighting in
riparian areas. However in this case, it's just a drainage ditch not a
stream or creek so they might allow it. It matters. This would be a
heavily used commute route that would definitely not be used just from
dawn to dusk.
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