Oxford cyclists too dim to take the break that was offered

On Nov 25, 11:01*am, Max Demian wrote:

As a matter of interest, are you still allowed to use dynamo lights on
bikes? They were a really good idea from a practical point of view,
even though they didn't produce much light (and none when the vehicle
was stationary). Especially good were the 'dynohubs' as they didn't
significantly increase the drag. No flat batteries, theft resistant.

--
Max Demian

Yes, you are "allowed" to. And a combination of low current LEDs and
high capacitance capacitors means that they produce copious amounts of
light both when moving and when stationary.

On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:01:51 +0000, Max Demian
wrote:

As a matter of interest, are you still allowed to use dynamo lights on
bikes? They were a really good idea from a practical point of view,
even though they didn't produce much light (and none when the vehicle
was stationary). Especially good were the 'dynohubs' as they didn't
significantly increase the drag. No flat batteries, theft resistant.

Now we have LED lights that have a good output for far less power, and
good rechargeable battery technology, ISTM that it would be a doddle
to make a light that runs from a battery (and so is on all the time),
but the battery is recharged from a bicycle dynamo and so never needs
changing.

It is such an obvious device that I would be very surprised if such a
thing does not exist. You can buy extremely cheap wind-up torches.

--
Cynic

In article 4cee5b36.6052796@localhost, (Cynic)
wrote:

On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 11:01:51 +0000, Max Demian
wrote:

As a matter of interest, are you still allowed to use dynamo lights on
bikes? They were a really good idea from a practical point of view,
even though they didn't produce much light (and none when the vehicle
was stationary). Especially good were the 'dynohubs' as they didn't
significantly increase the drag. No flat batteries, theft resistant.

Now we have LED lights that have a good output for far less power, and
good rechargeable battery technology, ISTM that it would be a doddle
to make a light that runs from a battery (and so is on all the time),
but the battery is recharged from a bicycle dynamo and so never needs
changing.

It is such an obvious device that I would be very surprised if such a
thing does not exist. You can buy extremely cheap wind-up torches.

I'd buy them.

--
Sara

Winter in the park can be a bit of a sod.

On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:03:17 +0000, Sara
wrote:

Now we have LED lights that have a good output for far less power, and
good rechargeable battery technology, ISTM that it would be a doddle
to make a light that runs from a battery (and so is on all the time),
but the battery is recharged from a bicycle dynamo and so never needs
changing.

It is such an obvious device that I would be very surprised if such a
thing does not exist. You can buy extremely cheap wind-up torches.

I'd buy them.

So go ahead and do so.

I felt certain that such an obvious market would be filled, so I just
did a 2 second search. There are entire web sites dedicated to them!

Try he
http://www.dynamolight.co.uk/

--
Cynic

In article 4cee69c4.9779046@localhost, (Cynic)
wrote:

On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:03:17 +0000, Sara
wrote:

Now we have LED lights that have a good output for far less power, and
good rechargeable battery technology, ISTM that it would be a doddle
to make a light that runs from a battery (and so is on all the time),
but the battery is recharged from a bicycle dynamo and so never needs
changing.

It is such an obvious device that I would be very surprised if such a
thing does not exist. You can buy extremely cheap wind-up torches.

I'd buy them.

So go ahead and do so.

I felt certain that such an obvious market would be filled, so I just
did a 2 second search. There are entire web sites dedicated to them!

Try he
http://www.dynamolight.co.uk/

Retraction: No I won't! Somewhat foolishly I had £10-£15 in mind, not
£60-£70. Gulp.

--
Sara

Winter in the park can be a bit of a sod.

On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:41:27 +0000, Sara
wrote:

I'd buy them.

So go ahead and do so.

I felt certain that such an obvious market would be filled, so I just
did a 2 second search. There are entire web sites dedicated to them!

Try he
http://www.dynamolight.co.uk/

Retraction: No I won't! Somewhat foolishly I had £10-£15 in mind, not
£60-£70. Gulp.

Ah well - perhaps a note to Santa? :-)

A person who does a lot of night time cycling could probably amortise
the additional cost over a few months of saved batteries, and of
course there is the advantage of never being stuck with a flat battery
and no replacements to hand.

OTOH a rechargable torch has almost the same advantages and they are a
lot cheaper. Especially if you buy a hand-held torch instead of a
bicycle light and gaffer-tape it to the handlebars ...

--
Cynic

In article 4cee7776.13284921@localhost, (Cynic)
wrote:

On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:41:27 +0000, Sara
wrote:

I'd buy them.

So go ahead and do so.

I felt certain that such an obvious market would be filled, so I just
did a 2 second search. There are entire web sites dedicated to them!

Try he
http://www.dynamolight.co.uk/

Retraction: No I won't! Somewhat foolishly I had £10-£15 in mind, not
£60-£70. Gulp.

Ah well - perhaps a note to Santa? :-)

A person who does a lot of night time cycling could probably amortise
the additional cost over a few months of saved batteries, and of
course there is the advantage of never being stuck with a flat battery
and no replacements to hand.

OTOH a rechargable torch has almost the same advantages and they are a
lot cheaper. Especially if you buy a hand-held torch instead of a
bicycle light and gaffer-tape it to the handlebars ...

I think the in-laws may have something lovely along those lines for me
in month's time.

--
Sara

Winter in the park can be a bit of a sod.

On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:54:33 GMT, (Cynic) wrote:

On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 14:41:27 +0000, Sara
wrote:

I'd buy them.

So go ahead and do so.

I felt certain that such an obvious market would be filled, so I just
did a 2 second search. There are entire web sites dedicated to them!

Try he
http://www.dynamolight.co.uk/

Retraction: No I won't! Somewhat foolishly I had £10-£15 in mind, not
£60-£70. Gulp.

Ah well - perhaps a note to Santa? :-)

A person who does a lot of night time cycling could probably amortise
the additional cost over a few months of saved batteries, and of
course there is the advantage of never being stuck with a flat battery
and no replacements to hand.

OTOH a rechargable torch has almost the same advantages and they are a
lot cheaper. Especially if you buy a hand-held torch instead of a
bicycle light and gaffer-tape it to the handlebars ...

I bought my daughter a set of windup LED cycle lights for about a
tenner. A 1 minute wind lasts about 30 minutes. Quite enough for most
journeys around town.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bike-Front-B...0698836&sr=8-2

"Doug" wrote in message
...
On Nov 25, 8:05 am, "Mrcheerful" wrote:
In the Oxford crackdown on unlit cycles which netted 106 unlit bikes in a
very short time, the police issued 30pound FPNs, but agreed to waive that
if
a receipt for bike lights was produced in 7 days. The receipt was stamped
by the police. The cyclists have then been returning the lights and asking
for refunds!! The police have asked that any shop that refunds for the
lights get and pass on names and addresses of the serial lawbreakers so
that
a 60 pound fpn can be
issued.http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/archive/...ews/8672181.St...

Pity the police do not conduct a similar campaign against faulty cars,
probably because they are motorists themselves and therefore hate
cyclists anyway, like the motorists who infest this cycling newsgroup

-- .
UK Radical Campaigns.
http://www.zing.icom43.net
A driving licence is a licence to kill.

Skint merchants are cyclists.

Mr Pounder

"bod" wrote in message
...
On 25/11/2010 10:01, JMS wrote:
On Thu, 25 Nov 2010 08:05:50 -0000, "Mrcheerful"
wrote:

In the Oxford crackdown on unlit cycles which netted 106 unlit bikes in
a
very short time, the police issued 30pound FPNs, but agreed to waive
that if
a receipt for bike lights was produced in 7 days. The receipt was
stamped
by the police. The cyclists have then been returning the lights and
asking
for refunds!! The police have asked that any shop that refunds for the
lights get and pass on names and addresses of the serial lawbreakers so
that
a 60 pound fpn can be issued.
http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/archive/...g_light_fines/

Mrcheerful




Wicked

"During a three-hour operation in High Street, Oxford, on Monday,
November 1, 106 cycles were issued with £30 fines for riding without
lights."

I think this is quite unfair.

The majority will have had working lights when they set off - but the
batteries will have failed en-route.



More likely, is that when the cyclists set off, there was no power going
to their brains.

--
Bod

Wot brains?

Mr Pounder