Why not generator lights?

Why do people hate generator lights so much in the good ol' USA? I
recently rigged up a system and all I can say is, it's one of the
half-dozen greatest things since sliced bread. No plugging in the
&%^ing recharger. No lights dying because I forgot to plug in the
&%*^ing recharger. No batteries to buy 24-packs of at Home Depot. Why
does everyone hate generator systems so much? It's not as though they
hog huge amounts of legpower AFAICT. You just have to be going a few
miles per hour. And while not as bright as my [voracious
battery-sucking] NiteRider 12V setup, they're purdy doggone bright.

I was just wondering. I mean from most bike stores, even the
mail-order places, you can really only get battery lights. There must
be a perfectly good reason. I mean, they are admittedly kinda
expensive, but not as much as the fancy rechargeable systems. [Anyone
who says, 'well gee they weigh a frikkin' _pound_ or two and as such
they're no good for training or daily riding' will be taken to the
courtyard and shot. ;-) In any case they're far less heavy than the
mongo rechargeable setups.]


--
davidd86

davidd86 wrote:

Why do people hate generator lights so much in the good ol' USA? I
recently rigged up a system and all I can say is, it's one of the
half-dozen greatest things since sliced bread. No plugging in the
&%^ing recharger. No lights dying because I forgot to plug in the
&%*^ing recharger. No batteries to buy 24-packs of at Home Depot. Why
does everyone hate generator systems so much?

Lots of us don't. I've found that even quite inexpensive generator
lighting systems can work very well. In fact we were once pulled over
on our tandem by a cop who wanted to know where we got such a bright
bicycle light - it was a 12V/6W generator that cost about $15 from
Meijer's Thrifty Acres. OTOH, they can have some drawbacks. I've
had problems with the drive wheel losing traction on the tire when
riding through snow or slush; the light on most models goes out when
stopped so it can be good to supplement with a rear red blinky; and I've
had more frequent bulb failures than with battery systems since the
voltage is not as well regulated.

A good chunk of the US bicycle light market is the 24 hour mountain
bike race users. When climbing, a generator often produces inadequate
light. Yes, you might climb a bit faster without the weight of a 6A*H
battery but you don't have drag of a dynamo nor do you have the
traction problem when the course gets muddy, I know, hub mounted don't
have this problem but then when you have a flat.

The standard HID, even with the conical beam, is far superior on such
applications than any dynamo/generator setup. And a 6 degree spot HID
is superior for road use.

No doubt they are superior; it's just such a monumental pain in the neck
to have to ensure that the battery's topped up. And with my NiteRider
setup, if I go on a ride exceeding about 1:45 in length, there's an
excellent chance of running out of juice altogether (and that's on the
lowest regular beam setting). I mean unless you want to carry a car
battery or something, I don't know how you could lick this problem.

I am not sure whether my NiteRider has Nicads or NiMH's, but the other
problem with it is leakage. Even left parked for a day at the office,
the battery seems to lose quite a bit of power. It's a brand new [$$
:-( ] battery too.

I agree, I wouldn't want to go mountain biking with the generator. It
would go off at the worst possible times, and anyhow the beam seems
kinda narrow.






kbob Wrote:
A good chunk of the US bicycle light market is the 24 hour mountain
bike race users. When climbing, a generator often produces inadequate
light. Yes, you might climb a bit faster without the weight of a 6A*H
battery but you don't have drag of a dynamo nor do you have the
traction problem when the course gets muddy, I know, hub mounted don't
have this problem but then when you have a flat.

The standard HID, even with the conical beam, is far superior on such
applications than any dynamo/generator setup. And a 6 degree spot HID
is superior for road use.


--
davidd86

davidd86 wrote:
Why do people hate generator lights so much in the good ol' USA? I
recently rigged up a system and all I can say is, it's one of the
half-dozen greatest things since sliced bread. No plugging in the
&%^ing recharger. No lights dying because I forgot to plug in the
&%*^ing recharger. No batteries to buy 24-packs of at Home Depot.
Why
does everyone hate generator systems so much? It's not as though
they
hog huge amounts of legpower AFAICT. You just have to be going a few
miles per hour. And while not as bright as my [voracious
battery-sucking] NiteRider 12V setup, they're purdy doggone bright.

I was just wondering. I mean from most bike stores, even the
mail-order places, you can really only get battery lights. There
must
be a perfectly good reason. I mean, they are admittedly kinda
expensive, but not as much as the fancy rechargeable systems.
[Anyone
who says, 'well gee they weigh a frikkin' _pound_ or two and as such
they're no good for training or daily riding' will be taken to the
courtyard and shot. ;-) In any case they're far less heavy than the
mongo rechargeable setups.]


--
davidd86

*****************************************8

I have always LOVED generators but, of all the people that I ride with,
there is only ONE other person that uses one.

Maybe the fact that they are SO simple and work flawlessly is what
scares most people away from them. :-)

On most of my bikes, I also have battery lights, too. Not the
expensive ones but the LED ones that add visibility and last forever
(it seems like) on a set of AA batteries.

For the rear I always have at least one 'blinky' light.
Lewis.

*********************************

David- Why do people hate generator lights so much in the good ol' USA?
BRBR

I answer-they don't 'hate' them but by and large, cycling in the US is a
leisure time activity and people that ride, do so for fun/exercise, not as
transportation. Some of us do but most do not, particularly when it gets
dark/cold out.


Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

davidd86 writes:

Why do people hate generator lights so much in the good ol' USA?

Well, most people's experiences with generators goes back to the 60's
and 70's with cheap Soubitez bottle generators. Not so satisfactory.
Modern generators (called dynamos almost everywhere but here in the
US) are so much better. Among the randonneuring crowd in the US, the
Schmidt SON is the ne plus ultra of generators. I have one and it is
superb; I ain't going back to the hassles of battery lights except for
short-term (caught at dusk on my racing bike) rides in the dark.

OTOH, LED taillights are markedly superior to incandecent ones that
are usually used with generators. I use these without a second
thought.

"kbob" writes:

A good chunk of the US bicycle light market is the 24 hour mountain
bike race users. When climbing, a generator often produces
inadequate light. Yes, you might climb a bit faster without the
weight of a 6A*H battery but you don't have drag of a dynamo nor do
you have the traction problem when the course gets muddy, I know,
hub mounted don't have this problem but then when you have a flat.

The probem is the low speed of off-road riding tending to cause
flickering of the light. With a proper hub generator, the slippage
problem is eliminated and drag is imperceptible.

The standard HID, even with the conical beam, is far superior on
such applications than any dynamo/generator setup. And a 6 degree
spot HID is superior for road use.

Malarkey. This is simply a perpetuation of the myth that a "good"
headlight is one that replicates full sun lighting conditions. This
actually makes it harder to see well at night by interfering with dark
adaptation of the retina. Close objects are overly bright with these
lights and dazzle the eye, much like looking into the headlights of an
oncoming car. I see better with my Schmidt hub with a 3W Lumotec Oval
lamp than I have ever seen with any of my high-powered battery lights.
Even descending at 40 mph on curvy roads is fine.

There's been many threads on this topic already.

(Qui si parla Campagnolo ) writes:

David- Why do people hate generator lights so much in the good ol'
USA?
BRBR

I answer-they don't 'hate' them but by and large, cycling in the US
is a leisure time activity and people that ride, do so for
fun/exercise, not as transportation. Some of us do but most do not,
particularly when it gets dark/cold out.

Yes, and they will never know the joy of an all-night ride in the
country.

Tim McNamara wrote:
OTOH, LED taillights are markedly superior to incandecent ones that
are usually used with generators. I use these without a second
thought.

Why not use one of the wide selection of standlight-equipped LED rear
lights for use with dynamos?
--
David Damerell Kill the tomato!