Commuting Lights

Who makes the best lights for commuting? Niterider?? Those of you who
Cyclecommute what do you use??

"John L. Lucci" wrote in message
...
Who makes the best lights for commuting? Niterider?? Those of you who
Cyclecommute what do you use??



Well it sort of depends on where and how you ride, and what you consider
adequate for your purposes.
As it becomes twilight and in the more lighted urban city streets, I use a 7
LED multifunction light for general purposes, in blinking mode.
Then when I get into the darker less well lit city streets I switch to one
of two Cygolite Nightrovers on my commuter bike. On a couple of stretches, I
turn on both Nightrovers, as it helps to keep the motorists from pulling out
in front of me as I ride by on the street. The motorists aren't used to
seeing all that light on something so it gives them pause to figure out what
it is first before they decide to cut you off.
Then on a couple of unlit dark roads I can run extra light if needed, handy
for seeing broken beer bottles and such up ahead when you are going along at
a good clip.
Having extra lights is handy as if one runs out of battery power you have a
spare, not counting light bulbs burining out, etc.
I do the same for LED tailights, as I run four LED tailights, two
ultrabright lights, and two not so bright LED lights I glued onto the back
of my panniers.
If one of the LED lights batteries run down, it doesn't slow you down any as
you can change the batteries later.

John L. Lucci wrote:
Who makes the best lights for commuting? Niterider?? Those of you who
Cyclecommute what do you use??

That's a bit too general of a question. A lot depends on the specifics
of your commute, the distance, the traffic, the types of drivers, etc.
Nitrider does have some good products, but they tend to be pricey.

I suggest that you Google "Bicycle Lighting Facts" and read the first
two search results (okay, okay, they happen to both be my site).

If I was buying a commercial lighting system for commuting, it would
consist of the following:

Headlight (one of the following)

-Nite Hawk Dual Pro Lighting System
-Cygo Lite Night-Explorer 25 watt 6 volt NiMH Lightset
-NiteRider Classic Plus H-bar mount 12/20/32w
-Sigma Evo X Pro 5/10 w/ NiMH Flat Pack

Tail Light (one of the following)

-Cat Eye LD1000
-Blackburn Mars 3.0
-Trek Disco Inferno

Steve
"http://bicyclelighting.com"

John L. Lucci wrote:

Who makes the best lights for commuting? Niterider?? Those of you who
Cyclecommute what do you use??

We have a broad experience, listening to riders for many
years. In some situations, a small inexpensive flashing
white LED [Cateye, $20) may be appropriate. In our
neighborhood for example, there is limited auto volume and
lots of ambient light. In other areas all that will vary. I
once had a job from which I left at 11:00pm riding a 2-mile
path through an unlit park. That trip just needs more
light.[such as Cygo 12W recharge $60 or 12W NiMH $70]

Rural riders who throw high speed car traffic into a mix of
no street lights and small shoulders may want to look at the
newer 40-W HID lamps[Cygo $295,Planet $350]. Our Audax
customers don't need extreme light [3W is sketchy but 10W is
fine] but they need either dynamos [$25 to $250] or battery
systems with huge run times for unassisted events [25hour
Cygo $129].

A typical 15~30 minute commute makes run time almost
irrelevant where you can plug in at your office. Other
riders will forgo a bit more light for the dependability and
one-time-expense of a dynamo. And among them, some riders
insist on the silence of a hub dynamo [$89 up] while others
extol the light weight of a side mount [$25 up] or
under-frame models[$70 up].

So for your specific needs, think about how much light is
needed ( more is always good!), your limits of attention
[will you want to time your charges?] and money and your
taste in hardware.

There has never been so much choice because riders have
different needs, taste and criteria.

0--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 07:33:54 GMT, "John L. Lucci" wrote:

Who makes the best lights for commuting? Niterider?? Those of you who
Cyclecommute what do you use??


I've been commuting for almost thirty years on various bikes and have been through a small
fortune in hideously overpriced, horribly underbuilt, pathetically designed crappy lights.
Manufacturers like to take off the shelf items, slap them into plastic housings that are designed to
look cool (and expensive), then charge a fortune for them. I've disassembled all the ones I've
bought (after they break or die) over the years and am constantly disgusted at the junk they peddle.
I have a 'top quality-designed for years of trouble free use-guaranteed forever-blah-blah-blah'
bottle battery that cost over $100 and died in less than a year, open on my workbench. It contained
nothing but a sealed lead-acid battery stuck in some foam. I bought a new battery of similar
capacity for $23 at a local battery shop. The bike battery was some off brand (made in China),
while the one I bought locally was made in North America by a reputable named company.
Here is what I recently built....
http://www.dansworkshop.com/Monster%...%20Light.shtml
I like this guys approach, simple, rugged, cheap. Now THIS will survive many years of
bouncing along rutted woodland trails when it's -14 Celsius. It seems that lots of people have had
it with the garbage being offered by the mainstream manufacturers and are making their own lighting
systems.
Bob.

wrote:
On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 07:33:54 GMT, "John L. Lucci" wrote:

Who makes the best lights for commuting? Niterider?? Those of you who
Cyclecommute what do you use??


I've been commuting for almost thirty years on various bikes and have been through a small
fortune in hideously overpriced, horribly underbuilt, pathetically designed crappy lights.
Manufacturers like to take off the shelf items, slap them into plastic housings that are designed to
look cool (and expensive), then charge a fortune for them. I've disassembled all the ones I've
bought (after they break or die) over the years and am constantly disgusted at the junk they peddle.
I have a 'top quality-designed for years of trouble free use-guaranteed forever-blah-blah-blah'
bottle battery that cost over $100 and died in less than a year, open on my workbench. It contained
nothing but a sealed lead-acid battery stuck in some foam. I bought a new battery of similar
capacity for $23 at a local battery shop. The bike battery was some off brand (made in China),
while the one I bought locally was made in North America by a reputable named company.
Here is what I recently built....
http://www.dansworkshop.com/Monster%...%20Light.shtml


Nice site Bob.

I would also point out that commercial MR-16 enclosures are available if
you don't want to do something out of PVC, i.e. see
"http://tinyurl.com/aapzo" (the description is incorrect, these are
MR-16 lamps).

For mounting to the bicycle, you can use a readily available clamp from
Cabela's ("http://tinyurl.com/987yu") which costs $6.

You're correct about the pricing of some of the commercial lighting
systems, they seem way out of line. However most of these companies are
pretty small operations, and the volumes aren't huge, so I don't really
think they are gouging. I was manufacturing high end lighting systems
back in the mid 1980's, and I only made money if I didn't include the
time I spent in assembly (it was a side business, that I ran for about a
year, but it was consuming too much time for too little return).

John L. Lucci wrote:
Who makes the best lights for commuting? Niterider?? Those of you who
Cyclecommute what do you use??

Worldwide, it's very likely that the majority of cyclecommuters use
generator lights. In America, where "expensive" is always better and
bikes are high price toys, other systems are more popular.

I've tried small, inexpensive self-contained lights that mount on the
handlebar and found them insufficient. I tried much more expensive
halogen lights powered by separate rechargeable batteries, and found
that the rechargeable batteries typically didn't live up to the claimed
ride times, or recharge cycles, and cost a surprising amount to
replace. I built my own 12 volt light based on hardware store bulbs
and a separate rechargeable battery, and while I was pretty proud of my
design, I found the optics of hardware store bulbs (MR-11 or MR-16)
were not well suited for road riding.

While toying with those alternatives, I also used generator lights.
After a couple of bad ones (back in the 1970s), I found a good
combination - a generator with quite low drag, and a headlight with
very nice optics. Despite my collection of other headlights (with
batteries I still tend, in case someone wants to borrow one) I now use
the generator light exclusively. The other lights simply aren't worth
the trouble for me. The generators on my bikes are now over ten years
old, and functioning perfectly.

These work well for me up to at least 25 mph, on very dark roads, on
heavily trafficked roads, and everywhere in between. It's always ready
- no battery worries at all. It works whatever the temperature, unlike
many battery lights. It has infinite run time. It's just like the
lights on my car: always there, no worries.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_lighting has a good discussion on
bike lights. It has much less bias and less misinformation than the
"world's greatest expert" site.

- Frank Krygowski

On 11 Feb 2006 17:48:22 -0800, wrote:

I believe the key phrase used (a few threads back) was, "it depends on the conditions you're
riding in". I tend to be hard on equipment since I'm almost exclusively on trails year round.
Parts of the trails are very rough, and this combined with below freezing temps, is quite the
proving ground. This is why I've found that the home made stuff is way better than the purchased
stuff.
Another point on batteries, vibration and cold will quickly kill a battery. I have a pouch that
hangs on my waist under my coat that holds my SLA (sealed lead acid) battery to keep it warm and
insulate it from the worst of the pounding. It's a little bulky but works well. I'm goofing with
different coiled cords to enable me to put it in my backpack.

On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 17:48:22 -0800, frkrygow wrote:


John L. Lucci wrote:
Who makes the best lights for commuting? Niterider?? Those of you who
Cyclecommute what do you use??

Worldwide, it's very likely that the majority of cyclecommuters use
generator lights. In America, where "expensive" is always better and
bikes are high price toys, other systems are more popular.

Oh, come on, Frank. Generators are not necessarily the only way to go,
and using a battery light does not make you a dilletante. Generator
lights are cumbersome, and either require a bracket/housing for the bottle
generator, or an expensive generator hub. They do not have the light of
the best (or even medium-quality) battery lights, and are impossible to
switch from bike to bike. Generators also have a marginal amount of power
available, and for one that gives adequate (only adequate) light to ride
by, you spend a fair chunk of money.

I've tried small, inexpensive self-contained lights that mount on the
handlebar and found them insufficient. I tried much more expensive
halogen lights powered by separate rechargeable batteries, and found
that the rechargeable batteries typically didn't live up to the claimed
ride times, or recharge cycles, and cost a surprising amount to replace.

This is generally true, but becoming less of a problem. Batteries are
getting better, and more are using standard battery packs.

I switch, in seconds, my DiNotte light from bike to bike. In fact, I will
do that tomorrow morning, since I have to use my snow bike tomorrow. It
has plenty of light for my commute, and uses batteries costing a few bucks
to replace. No, it won't last all night, but I don't have plans to ride
all night, either. If I did, I could carry enough spare batteries to get
me through, and still be way under the weight of a generator, without the
drag.


--

David L. Johnson

__o | If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a
_`\(,_ | conclusion. -- George Bernard Shaw
(_)/ (_) |

Quoting David L. Johnson :
and using a battery light does not make you a dilletante. Generator
lights are cumbersome,

This I don't get. I much prefer a headlight out of the way on the fork
crown to cluttering up the handlebars.

and are impossible to switch from bike to bike.

That's not really so. A minute to swap a front wheel over; and if I really
didn't want to shell for one headlight per bike, I'd splice a join into
the cable and swap that over, too - maybe another couple of minutes to
unscrew it from the bracket and bolt it on somewhere else. Not ideal - and
I'll end up with one tail light per bike anyway - but certainly not
impossible.

[The tandem is now sharing a front wheel with another bike. I don't swap
the headlights, though, because the tandem has a Lumotec Plus and an E6Z
secondary. So this isn't purely hypothetical.]
--
David Damerell Kill the tomato!
Today is First Sunday, February - a weekend.