dynamo lighting

PS i can atest to the virtues of running one (preferably more)
of the little single LEDs on your helmetif riding in traffic.

You get seen far better above cars and you can turn your head and
'tell' entering traffic of your presence also.
cheap as chips and get you noticed VERY well.

Flying"illuminated"Dutch


--
flyingdutch

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
Well, the bike is here, so I'll have to get used to riding it for a
few days then start the ride to work acclimatisation.

As part of that, I have to get lighting.... I have some cheap lights
to be going on with, but I want something decent.

I am very much inclining towards dynamo lighting as batteries have to
be recharged and I am sure I forgot my head once when I was running
late, so forgetting the charge is almost a given.

While that is a genuine consideration...it's not much of one thanks to
the wonders of ridiculously low-drain LEDs.

I'm using a set of LED lights (about $50 for the pair, plenty bright,
each runs on three AAA's), I have been for several months, they get
used at least a couple of times a week, and the batteries are still
going strong. I don't expect to need to remember the charger more than
a few times a year.

--
Craig Motbey
1985 BMW R65LS "The Beemer"
Dodgy second hand mountain bike "Malaria"

On Thu, 09 Mar 2006 22:06:57 GMT, "tony f"
wrote in aus.bicycle:


"Zebee Johnstone" wrote in message
. ..
Well, the bike is here, so I'll have to get used to riding it for a


I am very much inclining towards dynamo lighting as batteries have to
be recharged and I am sure I forgot my head once when I was running
late, so forgetting the charge is almost a given.

Anyone have any experience with dynamos? I know I can go hub or
bottle, I expect I'll go bottle. Any recommendations?

I'm a big fan of batteries, as their light is consistent - well, until they
go flat. When I had dynamo lights (or were they generator?), I had virtually
no light up hills, and amazing light as I sped down hills - especially just
before the electricity generated overloaded the globe. Then I had nothing.
;^)

In the 1950's I had a Raleigh with a hub dynamo which worked great, on
the down tube was a holder for (from memory) three or four D carbon
cells. When you were travelling too slowly for the dynamo to light the
front and rear lights the carbon cells took over. The batteries lasted
for ages and I presume used something crude like a diode to regulate
thier use.

I can't believe that 50 years later it is not posible to duplicate a
far more efficient system than that for a bicycle using a generator,
a few transisters and some Nicads/ NiMH (whatever) C cells. You would
think it would be fairly simple to regulate the voltage to the lights
and perhaps even use any surplus power to charge the C cells

Modern LEDS give out so much light and use so little power that a
battery of 6 each front and rear should be doddle to power.

Regards
Prickles

Timendi causa est nescire
This message only uses recycled electrons

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 10 Mar 2006 15:04:46 +1100
Poiter wrote:

Not wanting incur the roadie wrath by mentioning the "R" word but wont
your new "bike" have a 20" front wheel?

It's Giro 20, so yes. The hub dynamo needs to be special for that?

Oh, and if aus.moto can cope with Guzzi riders,
melb^h^h^h^haus.bicycles can cope with recumbent riders.

Had the first ride on it tonight, wonderful! Still working on the
setup, I think I have the seat angle and distance right as I'm pushing
against my back not my backside and not feeling like I'm sliding, but
the bars need some more fiddling.

'SON 20S hub' (http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/schmidt-lumotec.asp)
'3 Watt Luxeons' (http://users.cyberone.com.au/heal/LUXEONLEDS.htm)
'Lots of stuff on lights' (http://www.audax.uk.net/lights/index.htm)

Thanks for that!

Zebee

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 10 Mar 2006 14:11:57 +1100
SuzieB wrote:

flashing in the morning when it's getting light already just for added
visability. I bought the CatEye HL-EL400 which is great for me as I
have two main bikes that I switch between and the light is easily
moveable and can be used on the handlebars or helmet.

Easily movable is actually one of the things I *don't* want.

I really dislike the way you have to dismantle your bicycle if you go
anywhere. If it's going to be transport and not a toy, it has to be
convenient. Taking heaps of stuff off every time you stop and lugging
it about with you is ridiculous.

I've got the non-quick-release wheels and seat, any lights will have
to be capable of being left on the bike so it takes a determined thief
with tools to rip the bits off. It won't be left all day like that,
but I'm damned if it will take longer to park it than the errand
takes!

Zebee

"Zebee Johnstone" wrote:
Well, the bike is here, so I'll have to get used to riding it for a
few days then start the ride to work acclimatisation.

As part of that, I have to get lighting.... I have some cheap lights
to be going on with, but I want something decent.

I am very much inclining towards dynamo lighting as batteries have to
be recharged and I am sure I forgot my head once when I was running
late, so forgetting the charge is almost a given.

Anyone have any experience with dynamos? I know I can go hub or
bottle, I expect I'll go bottle. Any recommendations?

Personally I've been yery happy with my Busch & Muller S6 dynamo. It is a
side-wall unit but runs with very low friction. Full output comes on at 10
kmh or less, and it has a built-in zenner diode to regulate high speed
output. Using a Lumotec headlight also by B & M it gives a nicely focused
narrow beam that very conveniently illuminates the width of a 3m bikepath
and sprays some light further out. The light is easily visible to other
traffic for a full 180 degrees. I use Vistalite Super Nebula and Eclipse
LED lights for the rear, but for a headlight I got cheesed off by losing
batteries to the shelf life, as I don't ride at night very ioften, so don't
have a charging routine, but when I need the lights I want them to work.

For around town street use I reckon that a good dynamo is very suitable -
bolted onto the bike, always there and ready to go. Years ago I used the
iconic Sanyo Dynapower for many years, but the B & M system is at least as
good from a low friction point, and their light optics seem vastly better.
Cost for the S6 is a bit steep ($160 for the dynamo), but it's less than
half the cost of a Schmidt hub setup.

--
Cheers
Peter

~~~ ~ _@
~~ ~ _- \,
~~ (*)/ (*)

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 10 Mar 2006 23:30:48 +1100
Peter Signorini wrote:

Personally I've been yery happy with my Busch & Muller S6 dynamo. It is a
side-wall unit but runs with very low friction. Full output comes on at 10
kmh or less, and it has a built-in zenner diode to regulate high speed

How does it go in the wet? I've heard bottles slip?

The cost of the hub did make me blink, a bottle seems a more
reasonable proposition.

I expect I'll need lights over the next few months, but can also see
that for 3 months of the year at least I won't, and shelf life might
annoy me then. It's the convenience that draws me to a dynamo,
although I suppose it shouldn't be too hard to fix up a homebrew light
setup where the battery is hard to nick.

Zebee

Zebee Johnstone wrote:

I am very much inclining towards dynamo lighting as batteries have to
be recharged and I am sure I forgot my head once when I was running
late, so forgetting the charge is almost a given.

I had a similar idea and so I took the mounting bracket of an old
battery powered incandescent bike light and glued and screwed it onto
one of those windup LED torches. (Bought my torch from Bunnings for
$30. Its a bright five LED torch. I actually bought it for other
purposes but decided to mount it to my bike anyway. It unclips from
the handlebars easily though and still is useful as a domestic
flashlight.)

Before I commence a night time ride, I spend a couple of minutes
turning the crank in order to build up enough charge to run the torch
at high brightness for a while. Then, when I'm stopped or just
dawdling along at a low speed I turn the crank a bit more to top up the
charge.

The light lasts for hours with a couple of minutes charging, but the
brightness drops off a lot. At first its a very bright light and it
illuminates my path quite nicely, but after several minutes it drops
off so much that its not really lighting my way. Its still bright
enough for cars and other cyclists to see me, just not bright enough to
actually light up where I'm going.

If I'm riding on a well illuminated road or path, its not really an
issue. When I'm cruising along I take the opportunity to turn the
crank a bit to light it up. Also, if I sense an obstacle ahead and
want to check it out I can also crank up the light then and while I'm
turning the handle its very bright.

Not recommended for use where you require sustained bright illumination
of your path, but for the purpose of just having a bright light for
others to see you, it does the job.

However, the drop-off is starting to annoy me, and I just spent $20
getting a bright LED bicycle light from ebay. It has 28 (!) LEDs in it
and runs off AAA batteries, so I'll get some rechargeables. I'll
report back to the group when I receive it to advise whether its any
good or not.

As another person in this thread noted, LED torches are much more
energy efficient than incandescent torches, so the batteries last a lot
longer.

On 2006-03-10, Travis (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
As another person in this thread noted, LED torches are much more
energy efficient than incandescent torches, so the batteries last a lot
longer.

They're not a lot more efficient -- 2 times at most. What they are is
a lot less power (unless you're paying for a luxeon). Most worthwhile
incandescent bulbs are at least 2.4W, whereas people seem perfectly
content with 0.2W LEDs which barely light up a dark low speed path.

--
TimC
Five is a sufficiently close approximation to infinity.
-- Robert Firth

In aus.bicycle on Sat, 11 Mar 2006 01:32:58 GMT
TimC wrote:

They're not a lot more efficient -- 2 times at most. What they are is
a lot less power (unless you're paying for a luxeon). Most worthwhile
incandescent bulbs are at least 2.4W, whereas people seem perfectly
content with 0.2W LEDs which barely light up a dark low speed path.

Picked up some cute little driving lights from SuperCheap today. 55w
halogen 12v, but Jaycar have 3w and 10w bulbs that will fit.

Anyone got any idea where I can get 6v halogen bulbs? Not MR16
lights, but bulbs, similar to Jaycar SL2722 but 6v?

12v seems like I'd have to carry too much battery around.

Zebee