tomgdaly

Any links to good reviews/options for power-banks - I want to give Santa a hint.

unterhausen

I have gotten a couple of Anker powerbanks when Amazon had them on sale. I also have a Zenduro that can be charged at the same time as discharged, which is not common. People seem to like Anker. I looked at buying another zendure, but I don't charge it on the bike and it's quite a bit more than similar Ankers, so I didn't get any more. It's a lot nicer though.

atwl77

I am still using an old-ish Lenovo powerbank which I cannot recommend, but if I were in the market for a new powerbank today I'd look for one that
- supports the new fast charging and/or power delivery tech for modern smartphones
- at least two charging ports to charge two devices simultaneously
- at least one port capable of supplying at least 2.1A power, it'll make a huge difference in charging times compared to 1.0A

znomit

It depends on what you're charging. I carry a 2500mAh bank for topping up my GPS, which is way too big but I can't find anything physically smaller.

daoswald

I've got an Anker 26400, Anker 6200 and Anker 5000 (those are the capacities, not the model numbers). They're all great. I don't think they make a bad one.

Machka 

We've picked up several 5000 mAh banks from the local post office. I like them because they're flat so I can just tuck them int my handlebar bag and they don't take up any room.

I see you can get something like them at Officeworks too ..

https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/...black-copb05bk

tomgdaly

I just want it for insurance - for topping up phone, lights and computer at the end of a long day. I'm hardly ever out overnight. What capacity do I need (which has to be balanced with weight of course). I don't have a dynamo hub so would be hoping for quick top up in cafes etc.

atwl77

What capacity you need depends a lot on the capacity of the batteries you intend to charge. Usually you can find out the battery capacity of your devices somewhere. A modern smartphone battery, for example, will typically fall into the 3000-4000mAh range. Once you figure out the total capacity you intend to charge, multiply that by around 1.5x to get a rough estimate of what you need.

A more detailed explanation:
https://www.powerbankguide.com/power...ity-explained/

A more simple, TL/DR suggestion: I think for your case probably a slim 10,000mAh power bank should suffice, provided you aren't charging all your devices from near-dead to full. Maybe you can get away with 5,000mAh too if it's just topping up stuff. Typically the smartphone and the front light are the two main battery hogs (especially if the front light is a powerful type of 800 lumens or more).

daoswald

On longer rides, particularly where I expect to be out after dark, I sometimes carry a 6200mAH Anker in my seat wedge along with my normal repair kit (tube, patches, levers, mini-tool, tire boot) and some snacks (power bar, gummy bears). I have a mid-sized Topeak aero wedge with fixer on both of my bikes.

I have only needed it once, when I discovered my Garmin Edge 820 had drained itself.

znomit

If your light is running off a "standard" battery you might use an additional 2-cell battery pack and a magicshine USB adapter. That covers you for lights and accessories.

https://magicshine.us/product/mj-6086-usb-adapter/

noglider 

I've had several Anker E1 Astro batteries. They work well and seem to last longer than the off-brands. My phone's battery is in sorry shape, so I carry my Anker every day and use it several times a day.

adamrice 

Caveat: I don't have any direct experience with this setup. But I think the smart setup might be to get a power bank that comes without batteries. Something like this.

• Even if your batteries no longer hold a charge, the charger should still be good.
• As batteries get better, you can upgrade the charger.
• Similarly, if a better charger comes out, you can keep your existing batteries.
• If you need more capacity for a ride, bring extra batteries, not an extra power bank.

The one I linked to takes 4 × 18650 cells, but the same company makes 2 and 3 cell versions, and I can see other companies selling 6-cell models. So you should be able to calibrate it pretty closely to your baseline case.

unterhausen

I have a power bank that takes AA batteries. I have never used it. I thought it would be nice to be able to replace the batteries at a convenience store. My experience since then is that the rechargable ones have lasted quite a while and they don't really weigh that much. I mentioned above that I have two Ankers. I carried both of them on PBP, but only used the larger one and it was still going at the end. I have thought I was going to run out of battery on other rides. I recharged a tail light and a phone as well as my gps on one ride. Made it through that without issue too.

bwilli88 

I have 3 PNY 5200 power banks, about the size of a small flashlight. Great little things that keep a phone going for a day.

Tourist in MSN

I have a couple of those, I suggest that you do not expect much out of it. And NiMH rechargeables that can discharge at a faster rate than a disposable battery would work better.

I have not used them as a powerbank, but I tried one once to see how it worked and the batteries got pretty hot very quickly so I decided that was not such a great idea. But, if you needed it as an emergency to make one phone call, it might work well for that.

The ones I have also function to charge AA and AAA batteries from a USB source, that is the sole reason I bought them, I use that to charge AA and AAA batteries while bike touring.

unterhausen

the typical capacity of an AA battery is somewhat more than 2Ah. So more than is needed to recharge a gps or taillight. Might be best to have it connected at the beginning, before the gps battery is discharged at all. This is generally true, most batteries have more capacity at low currents than they do at high current.

I never used it because I discovered lipstick batteries. I had a mount for those on all of my bikes at one time. And they have enough power to keep a garmin 800 going for about 20 hours, which is more than enough for most rando rides.

morrisond

Does anyone make a battery that is stored in the steerer tube? It seems like a good place to put one.

adamrice 

There are some dyno-usb converters that are housed in the steerer tube, which include buffer batteries. It's a little tricky because you need to have a special plug, rather than a standard star-nut. I'm not aware of any standalone batteries that aren't part of dyno systems and that are designed to live inside the steerer, although it shouldn't be that hard to rig something up.

unterhausen

a lipstick battery would fit, I think