On Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 10:34:44 PM UTC-8, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
On Thursday, March 9, 2017 at 12:46:00 AM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, March 8, 2017 at 6:41:38 PM UTC-8, sms wrote:
On 3/8/2017 4:05 PM, jbeattie wrote:

So, you're easily looking at $400 for a mid-fi dyno set up: $250 wheel and $150 light. None returnable in the event you conclude that the light sucks. But, at the end of the day, you have a light you don't have to charge and that runs as long as you do.

Not really. Lots of dynamo hub wheels are available for $90-125. You can
get a decent light for about $80. So you could get going for about $200.
It's not going to be nearly as good as what you can get in a $100
battery-powered light though. Or even a $50 battery-powered light. But
no one is buying a dynamo light for any reason other than not having to
worry about batteries--visibility and safety are secondary concern.

I consider the bargain dyno wheels to be too lo-fi, although they probably work nearly as well as the PD-8. Not sure about the light output of the $80 light -- but yes, the E3 Triple 2 (for sale by me) at 640 lumens is billed as the brightest dyno light on the market. Kind of underwhelming -- but you don't have to charge it, except on your credit card.

-- Jay Beattie.

Is that the one you used and had so much trouble seeing up the road/trail with when going up a steep hill or over a steep hump?

Cheers

You know, it wasn't terrible, but I think my expectations were far too high -- particularly at low speeds. I also wanted more of a stand light since part of my frequent commute involves trail and stairs. The work around is a little battery light. The LUXOS B has a somewhat better stand light and better low speed light but less total light output -- and a StVZO beam pattern. I bought a tree-limb radar system from Garmin to manage the beam cut-off issues.
-- Jay Beattie.