Light Theft (solutions — small pocket lights, or heavy duty well secured lights?)

In article , Paul Boyd
usenet.is.worse@plusnet says...
bookieb said the following on 28/08/2007 17:10:

The best compromise (IMO), is a good quality bottle dynamo setup,
preferably complete with standlight.

Just curious, and I suppose I could look it up, but are those bottom
bracket roller dynamos still available? Or did everyone finally realise
that they really are crap?


They're not really crap at all - I've had a Soubitez one for about 20
years and it still works fine, no problem with slipping. Before I
started using Soubitez I used to regularly destroy the bearings in Sanyo
units, which could also slip quite badly.

* Peter Fox wrote:
David Johnson wrote:
* Peter Fox wrote:
Don't worry about /carrying your lights in the daylight/. Why would you?
Simply clip them to the bike.

But leaving them on a bike in broad daylight in the centre of town means
they'll inevitably end up getting half-inched. Or am I missing
something?

If the bike is parked carry them. Most people have somewhere they can
carry their cycling stuff when not on it. But when going along (the op
was going to the pub in daylight then returning after dusk) let the bike
do the carrying.

I was thinking more along the lines of I go into town in the daytime,
leave my bike locked some place and do stuff in town all day. If I'm
going round a friends or something it's no problem I can just leave the
lights on the bike (or my plan was maybe get a Dynamo since I wont need
batteries and hopefully they'll be unattractive and difficult to steal).
I invariably end up meeting some people in a pub somewhere after my day
out and end up getting home when it's dark. So my main problem is going
into town in a T-shirt and Jeans and it being a hassle to lug around the
lights (its mainly my front one that's massive, and I see someone has
recommended a good small one so maybe that's the way to go) which I need
to do so I don't get caught short and end up cycling with no lights.

On Aug 28, 6:10 pm, bookieb wrote:
The best compromise (IMO), is a good quality bottle dynamo setup,
preferably complete with standlight. Rose Versand (Germany) is a good
place to look.http://www.roseversand.de/output/con...6&detail=2&det...

Tellingly, they catagorise "lighting" under "bike parts" rather than
"accessories".


This thread got me interested in dynamos again. I don't fancy the
hassle and expense of a hub dynamo and bottle dynamos are a bit pants
in my experience. But that website also has spoke dynamos which seem
to be a halfway house. Does anyone have experience of these and how
easy are they to self fit.

TIA

LN

Peter Fox wrote:

If the bike is parked carry them. Most people have somewhere they can
carry their cycling stuff when not on it.

When I'm just going down to the pub my "cycling stuff" is usually my
bike and, errrr, that's it.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

David Johnson wrote:
Thanks for the advice. The reason I mention money is that if I'm going
to save £100+ by getting LED lights then I can put up with the agro of
lugging them about with me. I'll have a look into the Germany option
and speak to Haywards tomorrow.

If you are unlikely to use the dynamo under heavy rain, then a (decent
make) bottle dynamo is more than adequate, and if you decide to get a
hub dynamo, you can get them ready assembled with rim and spoke (you
just add rim tape, tube, tyre and air )
I'd seriously consider the Germany option, I got my whole lighting setup
(Basta bottle dynamo, B&M front & back standlights, wires, V-Brake
dynamo adapter) from a german ebay seller for 67.45 Euro delivered to
UK. The UK online stores which did stock dynamos & lights would have
shafted me for nearly double that.