Originally Posted by
GhostRider62
But everyone else is behind me.
And seeing many randonneurs hit curbs or ride off the road on corners, now I understand why. ....
Originally Posted by
GhostRider62
A helmet light might be needed now that RUSA is littering the routes with gravel paths. Going down a rocky trail with branches all over the place at midnight is not only not fun, but a real danger. A helmet light might help mitigate that risk.
I recall a few years ago on this forum seeing someone posting about using a friction shifter to mechanically raise and lower the angle of a light, thus while riding they could effectively get the equivalent to an automotive high beam. I think it was strictly a DIY mechanism, I have never heard of one sold for that purpose.
There are a few lights that have different light beams at slower speed, I am not sure how it determines speed but I suspect that it reads the frequency out of the AC power from the dynohub. I used to use an AXA Luxx 70 Plus, at slow speed that lit up additional LEDs that improved close and side lighting for maneuvering, but would not save you from hitting a curb at high speed if that is your concern. That light had a few things that I did not like about it including the narrow beam at higher speed, I eventually replaced that light with a different one. Some that owned that AXA did not like the suddenness of those additional LEDs turning on or off as your speed changed, but I got used to that characteristic. I just looked at their website, they no longer make that light. I think the Luxos U has a similar set of closer LEDs, but it is much more subtle and almost unnoticable.
Several years ago I bought the light in the photo to use for bike touring. No battery, plug the USB cable into a powerbank. It has a flashlight type of beam, most of the light in a small circular pattern, but like a flashlight some of the light was not aimed by the reflector and cast light over a wide area. You could use something like that for those times you want additional light in addition to an always on dyno powered cut off beam light, think of it as an auxiliary light. When bike touring, I almost never use a headlight so I just wanted one I could strap on with an elastic for occasional use, bought it for that and it is great for that. I doubt that the waterproofing is any good, that could be a concern. It draws over an amp at high power from a power bank, the smallest powerbanks do not put out enough power for it. Low power is roughly a third of an amp, but when you turn it on the first setting is the high power beam and if the powerbank is too small to supply the power, you can't get to the lower power setting.
Maybe you just need an auxiliary light to turn on for corners and gravel sections. Or a mechanism to raise or lower your light beam while riding. But I doubt that the slower speed LEDs that some lights offer would make you happy.