On 2018-02-07 07:22, jbeattie wrote:
On Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 7:16:12 PM UTC-8, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 6 Feb 2018 21:56:16 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 2/6/2018 1:52 PM, sms wrote:
My wife's Lezyne Deca 1500XXL stopped taking a charge, at all.
Taking it apart, I saw that the batteries were made in July
2015. Not too good for it to stop working that soon.

Some of my bikes have dynamos that are 30 years old. They just
keep going and going and going...

And I doubt that your generators cost $150 ($180 with a box)
either :-)

My generator and light cost almost five times the price of my little
L&M Urban 800 all-in-one, which produces more light. Hub was $110 on
sale at Western Bikeworks (SP PD8), and the Luxos B was around $120
OTC from Clever Cycles in Portland. Throw in time for building front
wheel. I got the all in one on sale for around $45.

Now, the battery life on the Urban sucks, and forgetting to charge is
a reality -- so it's not as convenient as a dyno light, ...


That is where external batteries shine. The one on my MTB is inside a
sturdy ABS box which is bolted down in a protected location (on the
custome-made rear strut) so it can take the rock hits and occasional
crashes. The one on the road bike rides in the right pannier though
eventually that'll also get an ABS box underneath the rack. The road
bike has 8x 18650 Li-Ion, the MTB has half that. I can ride 4-5h on the
road bike with full lighting which should suffice even for longhaul
commuters. My rides are usually in that range. When I return home the
bike gets parked and plugged in. Simple, just like people with electric
vehicle do. You could have a 2nd pack at the office though I don't see
the need.

With light I mean serious light, MagicShine class. All the
self-contained flea-watt thingies I've owned and have seen so far can't
compete. The ones I owned all broke in due course when riding on rough
terrain. External battery packs are cheap at around $20. What helps to
keep them in good health for many years is not to top them off to 100%
but have the charger cut off at 90% or a little less.

I keep both bike batteries charged at all times. So yesterday when I
decided spur of the moment to use the MTB instead of the road bike all I
had to do was to transfer the toolkit and lock over to the (identical)
right pannier, hop on and head out into the wild yonder.


... but I can
switch it around between bikes. I've been switching between two
bikes for commuting lately due to mechanical issues. One bike has a
through-axle and the other doesn't, so switching dyno lights would be
impossible. I'd need a dyno hub with 15mm through axle which, on its
own, can cost as much as $200.


IMO not worth it. They probably also weigh as much as a decent external
battery.


... I would also have to get a handlebar
mount since there is no through hole on the crown of either of my
disc bikes.


Handlebar mount is better anyhow. It puts the light higher so drivers
can see you better, often even through the windows of other cars. The
only time a lower mount is better is in fog but then I'd go even lower
and mount an extra light at axle height. We don't have fog often enough
to warrant that effort.

The most impressive light was a MagicShine on steroids on the helmet of
a road bike rider. I thought a Union Pacific locomotive was coming.


... I miss that and once I get a bar mount, I'll go back to
using my Luxos B on the commuter, but I'll also use my little
flea-watt back up blinky on the bar. I think low watt flashers or
pulsing (rather than bursting flash-bulb) flashers are good in urban
bicycle and car traffic.


A blinky back-up is a good idea. Not at night though.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/