ggbo951a

I have seen that type of bicycle light in the 1980's but can not see anywhere in USA, anyknows reasonable priced bicycle light that charges as you pedal? I know it exists but does not appear to be popular in the USA. I hate the ones sold in REI and dicks with brand Kryptonite and Blackburn. Blackburn is specially badly designed, I broke it after trying hours to replace battery.

Rootman

Google dynamo bicycle light and you come up with a lot of hits. This type of light is pretty crappy to tell the truth, at least from my distant memory. Perhaps a little better if paired with a battery to keep the light on while stopped, the battery would then recharge when moving. I would also change the lamp to an LED if you can find one.

Skipjacks

This is antiquated technology.

A modern USB rechargable bike light and a small portable battery charger (one of these... https://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerCo...ry+charger+usb ) are so lightweight and reliable that a minim generator on the wheel hub adds more weight than the light and battery backup.

Plus, they work when you're stopped without having a heavy capacitor in the light to store the built up energy for when the wheels stop.

Plus you can take the USB light off and use it as a flashlight if you need to look at the bike in the dark.

It's just a better technology that's entirely replaced the old wheel generated power light.

fietsbob

there was a self lighting pedal , a few years past...

now all the action is based on front hub dynamos..
for phone trickle chargers and so forth..




...

Riveting

Check out this product https://www.reelight.com/collections...unt-high-power

I've had one of these on my commuter for years. But their newer products look even easier to mount, and swap between bikes.

PaulRivers

Oooh, ooh, oooh! I haven't done the dynamo vs battery light debate in a while!

1. Light output - led's have improved things to the point where dynamo's put out the same amount of light that you used to need a battery light to get.
2. Reliability - modern dynamos are the pinnacle of reliability. There's a bazillion things that can go wrong with battery lights - you need to charge it between every trip, it runs out of charge on the trip, you forget the light at home, it's been sitting for a while and lost charge, the battery has gotten old and despite charging it it dies partway through the trip, the battery in the light just doesn't last long enough, it's cold out and the battery life is significantly reduced, etc. Dynamo solve all of theses problems - they're always on the bike (physically attached) and they just work. You don't need to think about them at all, you have a light that's as reliable as your pedals or seat. It just works, all the time, with no thought from you after initial setup - and yes I've had every item on the above list happen to me at some point. That's why citibikes have dynamo lights it's just "setup and forget". (P.S. A lot of battery lights won't run while they're being charged, plus it's awkward to try to find a place to attach a backup battery, so the usb battery charger often doesn't work).
3. All modern dynamo lights include a tiny capacitor that keeps the light on for several minutes when you stop, it's not an issue nowadays.
4. You can just leave it on all the time and you don't have the slight hassle of turning your lights on/off (it's nicer for the rear light where I don't have to stop to turn it on or worry the battery ran out and I don't realize it etc).

For the average person I still recommend a battery light because dynamo lights do have drawbacks:
- They are much much more expensive than a battery light. $250-$350 ($170 + tax and shipping for a sheaper sanyo wheel and hub, $230 for the same thing with a nicer shimano hub, add on a $100 dynamo light, plus wires and installation). $50-$100 for a battery light is much much cheaper.
https://www.perennialcycle.com/sanyo-dynamo-wheel.html
https://www.perennialcycle.com/dynam...00c-or-26.html
- Hard to move from one bike to another if you have multiple bikes.
- There is still a limit on how much they put out, it's enough for most people, but if you light a light that puts out a ton of light battery is still the way to go.
- There is a tiny penalty in weight and efficiency and you can remove a battery light from a bike easily when not using it. If you count grams and buy $500 wheels to reduce weight it's probably not for you. But if you bike to work you won't notice it.

Dynamo lights are definitely not the cheap way to go, but they are great if you're willing to spend a lot more money in exchange for "my lights always work without thinking about it" level of ease and reliability. I don't wonder if I remembered to charge my headlights when I drive my car, it's nice to have the same thing with my bike.

Skipjacks

I didn't know battery vs dynamo was a common bike debate.

I knew about platform vs clipless / rim brakes vs disk / spandex vs not looking like a dork....but I didn't know lights were a common debate.

Anyway...so what you're saying is that modern dynamo lights perform just as well as modern battery lights, but cost several times more, are harder to install, and are less portable?

How is that better?

I get that they just come on automatically and the batteries don't die. But just make it a point to remember to turn my lights on, and I keep a spare battery with me just in case.

tyrion

Battery anxiety. If you use rechargeable batteries, you might forget to recharge them, or not know how much charge they have, etc. It's a real issue for me when the days are short.

If you use disposable batteries, the cost will eventually be higher than a dynamo system. Plus all the environmental issues.

PaulRivers

Yeah, but in exchange you get rid of all the battery hassles.
- Forgot to charge the battery the night before
- Forgot the light at home
- Ride lasted longer than I expected and the fresh fully charged battery just ran out of juice
- Batteries capacity (how much energy they can hold) gets lower over time and the freshly charged battery ran out partway through the ride
- Battery unexpectedly dead because I left the battery hooked up to the light, it was off, but apparently it drains a small amount of current anyways with the model I had
- Winter riding, battery died because at 10f it has a lot less capacity vs at 70f
- Rear light died and I had no idea it wasn't on until I got home

I used to own a car that was cheap. But every 6 months something new would break on it and it would need repairs. I got sick of it...and finally had a job that payed decent money. So I bought a low mileage used car with an excellent reliability record. Was it more expensive? Yeah. But was it worse the decrease in hassle for an increase in reliability? Definitely. No more missing out on meeting a girl I had been flirting with because my alternator died, no more getting stuck in wisconsin on a holiday because some band in the engine got old and snapped and now the engine didn't work and all the auto repair places were closed.

I'm not at all arguing that dynamo lights are better for the average person. Battery lights are so much cheaper and easier to install that's what I recommend by default. But I don't go out to my car and wonder "did I remember to charge my headlights since the last time I drove?". It's nice not to have to do that with my bike either. With my dynamo light if my bike is not broken then I have lights that will always last the entire ride home.

PaulRivers

Op, I feel like I got drawn into a debate without actually answering the threads mains question.

Here's a link to 2 prebuilt dynamo wheels:
https://www.perennialcycle.com/sanyo-dynamo-wheel.html
https://www.perennialcycle.com/dynam...00c-or-26.html

Lights, B&M IQ-X and the cheaper IQ-XS:
https://www.harriscyclery.net/produc...-iq-x-5291.htm
https://www.harriscyclery.net/produc...iq-xs-5790.htm

You might be able to find these cheaper elsewhere but these were the easy links for me to find. The other dynamo light manufacturer is Supernova, but I'm not as familiar with their lights.

BikeLite

It seems every year there are mutiple riders in the Tour Divide who have problems with their dynamo systems. They are not gods gift to charging.

CliffordK

Not quite what you're asking for, but so far I've had very good luck with a pair of these.

https://www.nighttechgear.com/produc...ner-shoe-light


Rechargeable (Android), and actually cast a bit of a beam (watching hub shadows can be mesmerizing), and so far I haven't run the batteries dry.

Move them between shoes and bikes as you wish.

I get quite a few comments about them when people see then. I have no idea how they aid with visibility. I run them on steady low beam (pedaling gives movement).

Not much of a taillight though.

noglider 

I didn't know what a burden charging my headlight was until I stopped doing it. I didn't know what a burden mounting and dismounting it was until I stopped doing it. It took an hour or so to mount my dynamo system, but I got it back with the relief of the need to do it every time I park my bike.

ElJamoquio

What's the best dynamo light these days? Been about ten years since I bought mine.

In theory my dynamo light doesn't have enormous amounts of lumens but in reality it uses optics well and does a great job. On top of that I never, never, never have to remember if I charged it.

I won't swear that I'll never go to battery but I really prefer dynamo.

noglider 

It seems most of the Busch & Müller dynamo headlights are excellent. My wife has an Eyc on her bike. I just tested it on a totally unlit country road, and I had complete confidence to see everything.

wschruba

For dependability, SON rules all. Their hubs are designed with high level features (well, one, really) that others lack: a vent hole in the axle that prevents them from sucking in moisture from temperature changes. This is huge, if you're commuting in cold weather, then bringing it inside to a heated space at the end of the day. The SL connectors (built into the fork dropouts) are fantastic, though require either a major retrofit or a new fork/bike built specifically for them. The regular spade connectors are...well, spade connectors. They are a bear to remove with cold hands, so many people splice banana plugs inline.

Again, from a durability perspective, the Edelux light is still up there. It's no longer the brightest (B&M holds that, again), but the glass lens is a good practical reason to buy the SON light. The reflector is otherwise sourced from B&M, but the glass lens resists scratching much better than the plastic ones found even on the nicer B&M. The magnetic reed switch is a nice touch, as it is one less point of ingress for water into the light...not to say that I've had issues with any of my B&M lights, but there it is. If you're looking for simply the brightest light, B&M's newest light, the IQ-X takes the prize. It is enough to safely ride on road with cars/streetlights, though is still a bit dim for a wet road.

cyccommute 

Well, it's nice to see that you are being at least a little honest about generator lights vs battery lights. But you aren't being completely honest. The very biggest drawback of generator lights is the cost...which you did address but not in enough detail.

• That cost of $250-$350 is for a light. One. For a single bike.
• You can't move it to another bike if you discover that the first bike has a flat. You can't move it to another bike if you wake up in the morning and need to take the bike for snow instead of the fairer weather bike.
• You can't just move it to another bike if you want to ride a different bike
• If you want to just swap wheels so that you don't have to ride studs all the time, you have to have another generator wheel which is additional cost
• You are stuck riding the same bike every day
• You can't mount additional lights
• You can't use a helmet light...unless it is battery driven which kind of negates the battery maintenance argument
• The lights are always on the bike...even when you don't want or need them.

Frankly, the care and feeding of batteries is much less of an issue than people make it out to be. Yes, you have to charge them. So charge them. It's not hard to charge the lights every night when you get home. Most of us aren't riding more than about 2.5 to 3 hours...the average run time I get on 18650 Li-ion battery. If I need more, I have a 26650 battery packs that double that run time.

Generators have their place but as you said, for most people battery powered lights make much more sense. Their portability, cost and output are worth the (slight) hassles compared to generators.

noglider 

All of the drawbacks that @cyccommute cites are true enough, but they're not deal breakers for me. One isn't true, which is cost. A dynamo hub cost as little as $50. I'm "rich" in the sense that I can build my own wheels, so building it into a wheel is free for me but costs others. Still, if we say it's $100 to add a dynamo wheel, it's another $50-80 to add a good headlight and another $15 to add a tail light. The tail light isn't necessary, as battery powered tail lights are arguably better than dynamo powered ones. If you want to be cheaper, you can use a bottle dynamo, though they have the drawback of greater drag. The fact that my lights are always on the bike whether I need them or not doesn't trouble me at all. No one has ever stolen them. I think thieves carry cable cutters but not wrenches: weird but true.

When I want to switch bikes, I do so, and I use battery powered lights, because I'm not religious about which is better. I put the dynamo on the bike I ride the most. But the dynamo makes that bike the most attractive, too, which perpetuates my pattern of using that bike.


I'm not saying anyone here is right or wrong. I'm giving my perspective and approach in case it is useful to others.

edthesped

I guess I'm the real oddball here then, I have a SP dynamo hub that charges a Forumslader battery setup that I use to charge my phone during the day. My headlight is a rechargeable Cygolite that doubles as my camp light. Overnights, I plug the Cygolite into the Forumslader and charge it while I'm sleeping then repeat the following day. I personally find that I use my Cygolite more as a camp light than I do for riding, as an aside I don't run the light during the day. I do the same with my tail light but do run it during the day if I'm on roads.

If it's not obvious I prefer battery powered lights over dynamo lights for many of the reasons cyccommute mentioned, they're cheaper, move easily between bikes and are more versatile than dynamo lights.

duffer1960

Who remembers, as I do, the days of incandescent generator bulbs. Not very long ago! In the 1980s, I thought I was living good. I had a Union bottle generator with, what was it, an 0.6 watt taillight and a, was it, 2.4 watt headlight? Could just barely see the path ahead when moving. More or less see just well enough to know I was still on the path and not veering off into the weeds. And my night vision is pretty fair.

In another thread, I updated my ownership experience after nine years, of a Cygolite Rover II LED, 255 lumen light. An early relatively affordable yet relatively high power LED bike light. Much, much brighter than the old 1980s generator lights. The battery still works for 2 hours 20 minutes when in full brightness mode, way longer than I ride at night. Just have to remember to charge it before a long ride. And the new LiIon powered lights for under $50 run just as long but are about twice as bright.