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#41
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New B&M 100lux headlight.
On Wed, 6 Dec 2017 14:58:50 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote: On 12/6/2017 9:46 AM, sms wrote: I'm sure we'd all run out and buy a dynamo light if it was possible to build one that was adequate for the riding conditions we experience. Unfortunately it isn't yet possible to build such a dynamo light. So how do you explain the several people here who have ridden successfully with only dynamo lights for decades? In the "way back when" days folks rode bicycles equipped with a carbide lamp successfully. I my self rode back and forth to work, for more then a year, on a bike with a "bottle generator" and an incandescent light bulb. One can only speculate how "back in the good old days" we were able to accomplish these seemingly miraculous feats and now one must have some sort of super light with multi giga-hoozet power. -- Cheers, John B. |
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#42
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New B&M 100lux headlight.
On 07/12/17 07:58, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at 11:58:53 AM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 12/6/2017 9:46 AM, sms wrote: I'm sure we'd all run out and buy a dynamo light if it was possible to build one that was adequate for the riding conditions we experience. Unfortunately it isn't yet possible to build such a dynamo light. So how do you explain the several people here who have ridden successfully with only dynamo lights for decades? Excellent night vision? Brightly lit streets? Full moon? I need all the light that I can get when riding the gnarly single-track on my way home, being chased by cougars. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jgFVixm_e1c/hqdefault.jpg Bull****. Bull****. Bull****. -- JS |
#43
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New B&M 100lux headlight.
On Wed, 06 Dec 2017 13:51:55 +0700, John B wrote:
I've always thought that all the discussion about Lummins, luxes, and whatever else, ignores what I suggest may be the most important fact, the ambient light. In a situation where there is no light, where one literally cannot see one's hand in front of their face, lighting a match provides a truly amazing amount of visibility. I've also noticed the reverse phenomena driving on roads with large overhead lighting. Gee, can hardly see any light from the headlights. I've noticed the same thing. I mentioned upthread using my B&M halogen headlight on dusk-to-dawn brevets and PBP. I saw quite well with that light, but most of those rides were far out on rural roads with very little ambient light or light pollution. In town that light is washed out on the road by street lights, car headlights, etc. Technically the road is just as brightly illuminated by the lamp as in the country, but the greater ambient light in town impairs night vision by comparison to a very dark countryside. Thus the light seems less effective. And since we're seeing with our eyeballs and not spot meters, it is less effective in town. Perhaps the "Kleig light" fans are riding primarily or exclusively in urban settings? I've not taken the opportunity to due a rural night ride with my Schmidt eDelux; in town it's less washed out than the halogen. I still use the halogen on my commuter bike (ironically enough) with an old Sanyo BB generator. What a nice, smooth low resistance design. I just bought a Velological generator to try on one of my bikes; that's waiting for the arrival of the eDelux II. The Velological wiring layout puts a 12v 120W halogen bulb in the circuit to act as a thermistor and bleed off voltage at high speeds (the generator itself has no voltage regulation); not sure why that instead of using a zener diode. My knowledge of electronics is deficient. |
#44
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New B&M 100lux headlight.
On Wed, 6 Dec 2017 06:46:01 -0800, sms
wrote: Yes. The trade-off needs to be made. I'm sure we'd all run out and buy a dynamo light if it was possible to build one that was adequate for the riding conditions we experience. Unfortunately it isn't yet possible to build such a dynamo light. Good grief, Steven. What bull**** you spout. There are people around the world riding pefectly contentedly all night long on bikes with dynamo lights- and have been for decades, even before the advancements of LEDs and computer designed mirrors and lenses. Now, for some reason *you* don't find those satisfactory. That's fine. But that's about you and your preferences, not about the lights themselves. I have several dynamo-equipped bicycles, and even the one with a top-of-the-line dynamo light requires a battery powered light as well for many situations. "Top of the line" being what, specifically? My bikes have: (A) a B&M 3w halogen lamp powered by a Sanyo BB generator. This is the lamp I rode across rural and urban Minnesota and France with. Worked fine. Better in the countryside than in town, where it gets washed out a bit by streetlights, headlights, etc. I still use it frequently on my commuter bike, for which it works well enough in urban Minnesota. I'd like it to be a smidge brighter. Hence: (B) a Schmidt eDelux powered by a Schmidt SON 28. I bought this a few years ago. Works great. The beam could be, as you and some other critics have noted, a bit wider. It's never inconvenienced me in terms of running into problems, just feels a little claustrophobic at 20+ mph. Hence: (C) a forthcoming eDelux II (if it ever gets here, for Pete's sake shipping is slow this time of year), to be powered by a Velological generator. Looking forward to checking this out. Prior to A, B and C I had built a 12v headlamp using an MR16, like many tinkerers do. It put out a lot of bright light, much of which went to waste. Visibility was not as good as with A and definitely worse than B. The circular beam resulted in inadequate performance. As with the improvements with automobile headlights, bike headlights have come a very long way from the glorified flashlights many espouse. |
#45
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New B&M 100lux headlight.
On Thu, 7 Dec 2017 13:08:37 +1100, James
wrote: On 07/12/17 07:58, jbeattie wrote: I need all the light that I can get when riding the gnarly single-track on my way home, being chased by cougars. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jgFVixm_e1c/hqdefault.jpg Bull****. Bull****. Bull****. Haven't looked at the link so if that's what you're commenting on, I can't reply. But I think that none of my dynamo setups would be useable, let alone adequate, for trail riding. You'd be forever riding into shadows. Trail riding needs a helmet mounted light that you can use to scan the terrain and around corners, which is much harder to do with a light mounted on the forks or handlebars. Low speeds would cause flickering, too. I don't trail ride basically at all and haven't in years. Not my cuppa even in broad daylight. Dirt roads, gravel roads, are fine. But I don't want to go threading through trees, etc., any more. And, hey, for what it's wrth mountain biking has apparently caught on with high school students around here as a popular activity- even some school clubs/teams and such. Huh. |
#46
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New B&M 100lux headlight.
On 12/6/2017 9:44 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
I mentioned upthread using my B&M halogen headlight on dusk-to-dawn brevets and PBP. I saw quite well with that light, but most of those rides were far out on rural roads with very little ambient light or light pollution. In town that light is washed out on the road by street lights, car headlights, etc. Technically the road is just as brightly illuminated by the lamp as in the country, but the greater ambient light in town impairs night vision by comparison to a very dark countryside. Thus the light seems less effective. And since we're seeing with our eyeballs and not spot meters, it is less effective in town. I get good benefit out of a cycling cap with a brim, including at night. Similarly, I use the visors in my car a lot, including at dusk. It really helps my night vision to shade my eyes from street lights, the brighter night sky due to the last bits of sunlight or light pollution. And of course, if some idiot refuses to dim his high beams, these things are godsends. (About idiots: Yesterday I was in my car, stopped at a red light at about 9 AM. The pickup truck lawn service guy facing me had his bright headlights on, glaring in my eyes. I blinked my headlights once, then once again, trying to get him to dim his lights. His response? He turned on the off-road light bar on the roof of his cab. There's no shortage of idiots.) -- - Frank Krygowski |
#47
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New B&M 100lux headlight.
On Wed, 6 Dec 2017 23:22:35 -0500, Frank Krygowski
wrote: On 12/6/2017 9:44 PM, Tim McNamara wrote: I mentioned upthread using my B&M halogen headlight on dusk-to-dawn brevets and PBP. I saw quite well with that light, but most of those rides were far out on rural roads with very little ambient light or light pollution. In town that light is washed out on the road by street lights, car headlights, etc. Technically the road is just as brightly illuminated by the lamp as in the country, but the greater ambient light in town impairs night vision by comparison to a very dark countryside. Thus the light seems less effective. And since we're seeing with our eyeballs and not spot meters, it is less effective in town. I get good benefit out of a cycling cap with a brim, including at night. Similarly, I use the visors in my car a lot, including at dusk. It really helps my night vision to shade my eyes from street lights, the brighter night sky due to the last bits of sunlight or light pollution. And of course, if some idiot refuses to dim his high beams, these things are godsends. (About idiots: Yesterday I was in my car, stopped at a red light at about 9 AM. The pickup truck lawn service guy facing me had his bright headlights on, glaring in my eyes. I blinked my headlights once, then once again, trying to get him to dim his lights. His response? He turned on the off-road light bar on the roof of his cab. There's no shortage of idiots.) Maybe he thought that you were "winking" at him :-) -- Cheers, John B. |
#48
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New B&M 100lux headlight.
On Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at 6:08:43 PM UTC-8, James wrote:
On 07/12/17 07:58, jbeattie wrote: On Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at 11:58:53 AM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 12/6/2017 9:46 AM, sms wrote: I'm sure we'd all run out and buy a dynamo light if it was possible to build one that was adequate for the riding conditions we experience. Unfortunately it isn't yet possible to build such a dynamo light. So how do you explain the several people here who have ridden successfully with only dynamo lights for decades? Excellent night vision? Brightly lit streets? Full moon? I need all the light that I can get when riding the gnarly single-track on my way home, being chased by cougars. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jgFVixm_e1c/hqdefault.jpg Bull****. Bull****. Bull****. Really, James, do I need to use happy faces? -- Jay Beattie. ? |
#49
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New B&M 100lux headlight.
On 12/6/2017 7:00 PM, Tim McNamara wrote:
On Wed, 6 Dec 2017 06:46:01 -0800, sms wrote: Yes. The trade-off needs to be made. I'm sure we'd all run out and buy a dynamo light if it was possible to build one that was adequate for the riding conditions we experience. Unfortunately it isn't yet possible to build such a dynamo light. Good grief, Steven. What bull**** you spout. There are people around the world riding pefectly contentedly all night long on bikes with dynamo lights- and have been for decades, even before the advancements of LEDs and computer designed mirrors and lenses. Now, for some reason *you* don't find those satisfactory. That's fine. But that's about you and your preferences, not about the lights themselves. No, it's not about *me*. I don't pretend to know what's best for everyone else, nor do I dismiss the needs of of others simply because I don't have the same needs. By the same token, I do recognize that cycling conditions vary by location in terms of traffic, street lighting, road conditions, terrain, driver quality, and infrastructure. These are real differences, and anytime someone proclaims that "dark is dark, it's the same everywhere," it's clear that they have not thought things through. Lighting needs vary based on all of these factors. At least in the U.S., people have NOT been riding perfectly contentedly all night with dynamo lights, at least not very many. Dynamo lights have never been popular here. You could probably count the number of shops in the U.S. that sell dynamo lights and wheels on two hands and two feet. I don't know of a single shop in the entire Bay Area where you could walk in and buy a dynamo light and a dynamo wheel. It's not because riders here are uninformed about what is available, it's because what's available is unacceptable so shops don't bother with it. Now you might find a couple of bicycles with dynamo wheels from Breezer, but that's about it. I just came back from a meeting tonight, where we discussed a proposal for new bicycle infrastructure that would be an east-west path through most of our city, including linking the current and new Apple campuses http://www.cupertino.org/our-city/departments/public-works/transportation-mobility/bicycle-and-pedestrian-travel/bicycle-transportation-plan-implementation/junipero-serra-trai. The first question I asked was "will it be lit?" I received a somewhat evasive answer. The route would run along Santa Clara County Water District right-of-way, and they generally don't allow lighting in riparian areas. However in this case, it's just a drainage ditch not a stream or creek so they might allow it. It matters. This would be a heavily used commute route that would definitely not be used just from dawn to dusk. |
#50
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New B&M 100lux headlight.
On 12/6/2017 8:50 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at 6:08:43 PM UTC-8, James wrote: On 07/12/17 07:58, jbeattie wrote: On Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at 11:58:53 AM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote: On 12/6/2017 9:46 AM, sms wrote: I'm sure we'd all run out and buy a dynamo light if it was possible to build one that was adequate for the riding conditions we experience. Unfortunately it isn't yet possible to build such a dynamo light. So how do you explain the several people here who have ridden successfully with only dynamo lights for decades? Excellent night vision? Brightly lit streets? Full moon? I need all the light that I can get when riding the gnarly single-track on my way home, being chased by cougars. https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jgFVixm_e1c/hqdefault.jpg Bull****. Bull****. Bull****. Really, James, do I need to use happy faces? Yes. Sarcasm doesn't work well on Usenet. |
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