Hub Dynamos in Australia

[wqlava1]

I think Revolution just released an integrated light/USB charger. Not cheap though.

[hamishm]

I think Revolution just released an integrated light/USB charger. Not cheap though.

This one? https://www.sinewavecycles.com/collecti ... les-beacon

Looks ok, need to add an external battery, but you weren't kidding about the price.

Looks like I could get a new Luxos U from Starbike for about $200 Aussie shipped.

[wqlava1]

Yes that's it. You don't need the battery as a stand light - you could charge it and use it to charge other stuff, or use the USB port to charge a phone. There is a capacitor in there to give 5 minutes reduced light when stopped. The housing looks pretty solid c.f. the Luxos.

[hamishm]

Hmm, five minutes doesn't sound like a lot if you had to fix a puncture at night. The Luxos U standlight lasts a lot longer (I think they quote 20 minutes). I usually have a secondary battery light on overnight rides though anyway so maybe it's not really an issue.

Some audax friends suggested going separate light/charger so I can have the best of each. Most of the separate charger devices seem quite bulky or not waterproof (like the Sinewave Revolution). The UK-made Igaro charger looks interesting in this regard - goes in-line in the cables, and has waterproof connectors.

[find_bruce]

I spoke too soon about liking the Luxos U. Suddenly it has quick release.

What's next? Another one ($290 locally, ouch), or something else? K-Lite? Can I fix it?

I like
- compact for combination light, battery, charging (charging essential for my Edge 1000 on long days)

Less impressive
- Cable insulation coming away at the remote switch
- Beam not super impressive
- Would like flashing mode if possible

Didn't like
- Weatherproofing
- That it broke after a couple of years on the road.

That's a bugger about your luxos.

I wouldn't get your hopes up about flashing - flashing front & back is simple to achieve (just back is waaay harder) - in fact one of the things you desing into the lights is to stop flashing at low speed, BUT no one makes em.

You have a tough choice looking at dynamo lights ATM as the beam quality is lacking. The Philips saferide 60 used to be the best but is no longer made. Spanninga have taken over and assuming that they have kept the same beam, the Axendo 60 would be worth looking at. Availability seems to be a problem as I have yet to find a price to ship to Australia.

The k-light & sinewave lights (& my own diy lights) are "symetrical" beams - aka standard, round, conical, unshaped. Serviceable but not as effective for road use.

[hamishm]

You have a tough choice looking at dynamo lights ATM as the beam quality is lacking.

I've heard good things about
- Schmidt Edelux II
- SuperNova E3 Triple 2 http://supernova-lights.com/en/supernova-e3-triple-2 ("Not German Road Legal")
- B&M Cyo

Any thoughts on those?

[wqlava1]

Hamish, I have the Edelux 2 and Trelock 885 (both cut off beams) and have been underwhelmed whenever I'm on quiet night roads without streetlights or on trails, which together is a majority of my light use. My old E3 Pro (if only a bit brighter with better more modern LEDs) and a wide variety of XM-L and XM-L2 Chinese battery lights are preferable especially for seeing roos & wombats. I've _still_ not put together my DIY parts inspired by Bruce . . All those above are OK if you're only interested in what's directly in front at slow / moderate speeds and don't care about what may rush out from the sides.

The IQ-X looks pretty reasonable for a cut off beam, but the Sinewave and K-lite are more robust and heaps brighter ( and exy in proportion unfortunately).

Andrew

[rifraf]

You have a tough choice looking at dynamo lights ATM as the beam quality is lacking.

I've heard good things about
- Schmidt Edelux II
- SuperNova E3 Triple 2 http://supernova-lights.com/en/supernova-e3-triple-2 ("Not German Road Legal")
- B&M Cyo

Any thoughts on those?

The Edelux suits my taste in aesthetic.
I'm still happy with my Mk 1 version, which isn't to say that the 11 isn't better, merely that I've not felt the need to upgrade.
Its possible when I run out of other toys I want for my bike I'll reconsider but currently I'm not even thinking about it

I'm a little underwhelmed with B&M lights in general due to reading of issues with a range of lights.
Saying that, I've read of plenty of satisfied customers of theirs too, just to further confuse the issue.
Their Luxos I think was one I seriously considered but read of too many failures in the end to wish to put my hand in my pocket.
The specs looked good on paper mind you and I believe their combining a headlight with usb charging was inspired.

Please think carefully before buying a E3 Triple.
Its designed as an off road and is not suitable as an on tarmac light due to blinding other road users.
Bicycle riders get enough bad press already, without unsuitable headlights being added to motorists pet hates like red light transgressors.
In my opinion it further creates a them and us mantra and gives ammunition to the anti-cyclist brigade, most of whom arent even sure why they hate cyclists.

Just my thoughts as requested.
Your big enough to make up your own mind what works best for you.

[MichaelB]

I use an E3 Triple, and it's well aimed. Any good light can blind oncoming traffic if poorly positioned. Worse if it's a poorly positioned blinky.

I love the E3 Triple.

[baabaa]

I have theBusch & Müller LED Lumotec IQ Cyo T, with.... "Daytime Running Lights (Licht 24)", as they call it. This was the reason I bought this spec as I truly dislike being blinded by other bikes with possum hunting lights. Had nil issues with cars flashing lights back at me and the change up from daytime to night light works well enough for me. Had no issues with quality or the amount of light or the beam. I am now 80% a rural and off tar rider so the volume of light is now not an issue.

[rifraf]

I use an E3 Triple, and it's well aimed. Any good light can blind oncoming traffic if poorly positioned. Worse if it's a poorly positioned blinky.

I love the E3 Triple.

Everyone has to make up their own mind on headlight choice and use what they determine what works best for themselves.

I've not seen the E3 in use in the flesh, but Supernova's site last I was there talked up the use of of the E3 Triple as suitable for off road use only, which is what I based my own choice on.

When riding or driving, others poorly aimed headlights blinding me is a fierce source of frustration to me which I try to temper with the knowledge that most road users wouldn't consider how their lights might affect others, generally out of ignorance and not necessarily out of malice.

This seems as true on the road as on the cycle path.

I've given up attempting to palatably inform other road users whilst riding.

No suggestion you personally have ill aimed lighting MichaelB, merely pointing out the E3 Triple is marketed as an off road light.

Given that bicycles frustrating motor vehicles can engender dangerous levels of road rage in innocuous situations, my personal choice was an easy one.

[MichaelB]

Don't forget the lighting side is tightly controlled in Germany/Europe and need approval to be used on the road. No such thing here in Aus. Hence their marketing as being 'off road only'.

Waiting for spokes to rebuild my dynamo wheel, and I am REALLY missing the vision I have now that darkness is descending earlier.

[RonK]

I've not seen the E3 in use in the flesh, but Supernova's site last I was there talked up the use of of the E3 Triple as suitable for off road use only, which is what I based my own choice on.

This is of course a reference for use in Germany, in accordance with German law.

You need to keep in mind that apart from German-sourced lights, the majority of lights sold in the rest of the world do not have shaped beams.

And in fact most widely available battery-powered lights use symmetrical beams and many are far, far brighter than dynamo lights such as the E3 Triple or the Exposure Revo that I'm using.

[rifraf]

I've not seen the E3 in use in the flesh, but Supernova's site last I was there talked up the use of of the E3 Triple as suitable for off road use only, which is what I based my own choice on.

This is of course a reference for use in Germany, in accordance with German law.

You need to keep in mind that apart from German-sourced lights, the majority of lights sold in the rest of the world do not have shaped beams.

And in fact most widely available battery-powered lights use symmetrical beams and many are far, far brighter than dynamo lights such as the E3 Triple or the Exposure Revo that I'm using.

Its seems obvious to me that Australia is behind the ball when it comes to legislation regarding sensible lighting for "all" road users.

Thats merely an observation and not an indictment.

Having some awareness of needlessly offering free suntans and cataracts to other road users and errant wildlife suggests a whimsy that unnecessarily invites a potential conflict with already rage affected road users.

Much as I'd love a set of aircraft landing lights powered by my dynamo, with an ability to singe the hair of kangaroos in my path, I make the conscious choice to ride the path of discretion as opposed to valour.

I'm in no way attempting to tell people what they should have on their bikes regarding lighting or anything else.

By the same token, anyone who blinds me with their lights gets a serve.

A perhaps topical point of trivia is I believe the flashing light on my fly12 is bright enough to be dangerous if aimed aggressively

[hamishm]

I have theBusch & Müller LED Lumotec IQ Cyo T, with.... "Daytime Running Lights (Licht 24)", as they call it.

The Luxos U supposedly has that too, and I've never understood how it's meant to work.

One site I read said the yellow status LED means daylight mode, blue means full. But that's not what the instructions say (or how I understand it): yellow is normal operation from the dynamo, blue is floodlight where it supplements the dynamo with the battery power, which obviously only lasts until the battery is flat.

So that only leaves yellowing being ON and some sort of daylight sensor to control which mode.

[hamishm]

I hate obscenely bright lights in the eyes on shared paths too. Usually helmet mounted dare I say.

I only ever felt the Luxos U output was lacking when descending in the pitch black, which I don't do much of. The floodlight mode (battery-backed) should help. A brighter light with a choice of less light when I don't need it would be fine - I don't see any mention of different output levels on the SuperNovas though.

[baabaa]

Licht 24 is kinda explained here
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/b&m-hl.php
First I'll describe the "T" version. In Senso mode riding in daylight, the Daytime Running Lights are at full brightness. At dusk, the headlight will automatically switch over to nighttime mode and the Daytime LEDs will dim down so the road can be fully illuminated by the main LED which runs at full brightness. Or you may switch it off entirely.
I tend towards simple things so avoided the Luxos as a few too many bits to go wrong for me. After I had my B&M for a few months I had a bloke stay at my place for a few days and was running a Luxos with the USB recharge option with the handlebar mounted button. This caused him grief from the start of his ride. Ok he was four sixths of a round the world trip but was angst he didn't need and was going to get a Sinewave Reactor USB recharge thing once he made it down to Melbourne or Christchurch and had a bit of time.
He found it fiddly and was always breaking so was re-wired and sitting on his bar with tape and zip ties. We did the same sort or repairs when he was here. Was not happy camping out in Kyrgyzstan and not knowing if he was going to have working lights one day or no recharging the next.
I think the auto works well but if you need to change between high and low best mount another flood type light so you can reach it and not rely on a switch at the end of another wire. Besides oz bush rats just love to do the midnight feast on these sort of things (and salty leather saddles, gum brake hoods, tasty leather bar tape.....)

[00tones00]

I have theBusch & Müller LED Lumotec IQ Cyo T, with.... "Daytime Running Lights (Licht 24)", as they call it.

The Luxos U supposedly has that too, and I've never understood how it's meant to work.

I run a Luxos U and find it pretty good. It has 2 sets of lights inside. The first (Licht 24) are 2 bright LEDs that shine more upward and only operate automatically during sunlight. There is another bulb that activates during low light as well with a more "car headlight" style beam. This one also adjusts its beam as well during very low speed so that it highlights the ground very close to you. The additional button (with Blue colour) triggers both lights at once and is more dependent on the cache battery. The USB charging operates at trickle charge with the light on (~0.1 amp I think) but can go up to 1 amp (?) with the light turned off. The only issue I had was when I did a lot of very low speed riding of 5-10km/h (I was riding next to someone who was walking for a long time) and doing twice daily shopping trips up steep hills in thongs without going out for a faster ride in over a week. This really drained the cache battery. The impact of this is that if you want to disable the day light to better charge the USB with the cache battery drained, the system would reset every time you stop at traffic lights and then turns the light on with little or no USB charging. I think the same thing can happen if you leave a garmin connected to it charging overnight. Once I did a commute to work (12km (AT) 20km/h) it was all better.

As a commuter light it works really well by prioritizing lights over USB charging. You just need to be mindful of the USB charging limitations when touring although if you can keep an average speed above ~16km/h then its fine. There are no issues on a faster audax style ride at all.

[hamishm]

I have theBusch & Müller LED Lumotec IQ Cyo T, with.... "Daytime Running Lights (Licht 24)", as they call it.

The Luxos U supposedly has that too, and I've never understood how it's meant to work.

I run a Luxos U and find it pretty good. It has 2 sets of lights inside. The first (Licht 24) are 2 bright LEDs that shine more upward and only operate automatically during sunlight. There is another bulb that activates during low light as well with a more "car headlight" style beam.

So you just switch the light on (yellow light at the back) and it will do the right thing at all times, daylight / low speed / high speed?

Good to know I'm not missing anything then. Thanks.

I've glued mine back together and it survived one ride of 75km so far. I'll think about a replacement soon.

[00tones00]

So you just switch the light on (yellow light at the back) and it will do the right thing at all times, daylight / low speed / high speed.

Yes I've found it plug and play. I also run a rear light off it as well which I think runs all the time even if you turn off the main light for full USB charging. I haven't fully investigated it's operation under all conditions yet so not 100% sure.

[hamishm]

I've glued mine back together and it survived one ride of 75km so far. I'll think about a replacement soon.

Only got about 200km on it before it broke again.

Now I'm thinking I don't need charging for a little while (I have the Garmin battery pack too), so I could just get a light. Maybe the Triple... or maybe something cheaper.

[hamishm]

OK, I've kind of ruled out the E3 Triple 2 as too bright and expensive for my needs. This leaves

- E3 Pro 2
- IQ-X
- Edelux II

Thoughts? The first two come with mounts which seems easiest, the last seems confusing. IQ-X is cheapest I think. I read a review which said the IQ-X beam is too narrow though.

[RonK]

I've had an E3 Pro. It was a very high quality item and I'd be happy to have another.

[find_bruce]

I am tempted by the Spanninga Axendo 60 - A$54 from HollandBikeShop - shipping is a killer though - fixed cost of A$52.40. Anyone else in Sydney interested ?

[hamishm]

I've had an E3 Pro. It was a very high quality item and I'd be happy to have another.

Thanks, I found a good price on it from SJS cycles so I ordered.

But now I'm not sure if I need the separate fork mount (http://supernova-lights.com/en/supernova-e3-pro-2 shown near the bottom) to mount it behind my road rim brake or not?!