Bianchi84

lanterne rouge

tractopelle

Thank you, everyone, for this thread. I'm also on this quest.

bikingshearer 

Here is an up-close-and-personal shot of a Wonder Light from an eBay listing. As a former owner and user, I can say without fear of contradiction that they sucked. They may - and I stress may - have made you more visible to an oncoming car, but they did absolutely nothing to make the road more visible to you. You would be better off strapping a flashlight to your head, not that I'd recommend that.

noglider 

Yeah I used the Wonder light a fair bit back then. It was awful. And it used a proprietary battery that had a low capacity. It was terrible.

The Belt Beacon was a good product in its day. I may even have one in my junk bin!

albrt 

I use these.



Doesn't produce a lot of light, but excellent if you are looking for an honest man.

The Golden Boy 

I have a couple Light & Motion lights that are fantastic- they connect with rubber straps and they recharge well. I also have a SON/Edeluxe generator setup- and for as much as people like that- the light is nowhere near as good as the rechargeable Light & Motion lights.

720 Lighting by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

NVFlinch 

https://reno.craigslist.org/bop/d/be...715344838.html

DanBikeFan

Based on this thread, I was inspired to get the Kiley headlight myself! I had to drill out the Nitto light holder to get it to fit on the fork braze-on, but it works.

ollo_ollo

There are some very good, reasonably priced ($30) reflective jackets and vests available. I have one by BTR that I like. Really lights up according to my neighbors. Don

PhilFo 

Even well into the 90s bike lights weren't good for the most part. Some of the best ones used the heavy NiCad battery packs which fit in bottle cages (and fell out of the cage unless a toestrap was used), effectively adding another frame's worth of weight to the bike. I wasted so much money on chasing bike lights for a better beam and the ability to see, not just be seen. The best one I used had dismal battery life but threw a decent beam maybe 20 feet. It had an awful mount and always jiggled loose. It was enough for me to get about 2 miles on dark New Mexico desert roads, otherwise I was using the stars or the moon for light. Sometimes the full moon is all you need. I digress, vintage lights were awful; new LED lights that have the styling of the mid-century bullet housings can be great, otherwise just get a good functional clip on and enjoy riding.

52telecaster

I ride nothing but vintage steel but for lighting I use modern dynamo hubs and modern led lights. Some things just work better. Heck my sturmey archer hubbed bikes have dynamos and led lights.

Bianchi84

tcs

80s light you could see with? Alpha and Omega: Ed Kearney.

​​​​​​https://www.washingtonpost.com/archi...-cb58e54538c6/

Back in the Wonder Light era, I used an Ever Ready FrontGuard II with rechargeable batteries. I switched to a halogen bulb as soon as one was available.


Poor lamp, but head and shoulders above the Wonder Light. That intricate lens produced a "shaped beam".

tcs

80s aesthetic: Sturmey-Archer GH6.



Alternatively, try a Sanyo or Soubitez bottom bracket dynamo.

tcs

Stealth lights: Magnic. They work by eddy current and are StVZO-rated. From their comparison video, a pair throws more light on the road than a StVZO 20 lux lamp, but not as much as a 40 lux. A bit meh compared to the arc welders available in 2024, but that's better than anything from the 80s*. If it's a classic/vintage French bike, you can even get them with yellow lenses.




*Ed Kearney excepted.

polymorphself 

I am partial to my Koma/Blue Lug rear light. It detaches from the mount so you don't need to unscrew the whole thing for charging or make your cord reach it on the bike. Nice and bright, several modes. That being said I typically run a second light in the rear as well either on my helmet, a saddlebag or saddle. Just becasue.

52telecaster

Those bb dynamos were a real step forward as I remember but I tried one a year or so ago and while it was useful it was a distant second to a dynamo hub.

tcs

Depending on what kind of run time one needs, try AA-to-C adaptors with Eneloop Pros.

tcs

Damning with faint praise: the best of the 1980s tire-driven dynamos.

Catnap 

very cool gadget! i had no idea those existed.

52telecaster

I really wanted to like it but I've become spoiled by the hubs.

bikingshearer 

Setting yourself on fire would be head and shoulders above the Wonder Light. That would certainly produce a better beam (and in all directions) and probably would outlast the WL's battery. Of course, the "one use only" aspect would be kind of off-putting . . . .

cheffyjay

I have a vivid memory of being very happy to have my Wonder Bike Light on my red Univega for the morning school commute during the 1979 solar eclipse. Suddenly pitch dark and still 6-7 blocks from my destination. (Terrible light that ate up batteries that seemed quite expensive to me at the time)

Pompiere

I never owned one of the bike lights, but my dad gave me a Wonder flashlight for Christmas when I was a teen. I threw it away a while ago because the battery had leaked. After he passed away last year, I found two more in his tool box. I was able to get them working with some packing foam and a lithium camera battery. I remember bitd, someone made an adaptor that held 3 C-cell batteries. If I had a 3D printer, I could probably come up with something.


Wonder flashlight from the 1970s

SirMike1983 

Kiley also makes a $30 alternative to their LED USB headlight, which take AAA batteries. It's a decent light. I use those most often.

Soma makes a nice torpedo LED tail light that looks nice.

For a smaller light, the Alumalites USB LED healights and tail lights are also good.

If I have a dynohub, the B&M is good, but my favorites are the Nicelites kits from England, which convert vintage lights to LED.

I have also converted vintage Miller lamps using Cree LED lights. They work out fine, but the Kiley $30 is cheaper and less work.