Rack mountable UBS lights

[Kushan]

Hi all - 

Does any have recommendations for a decent rack mounted USB light? My rack has braze-ons for mounting lights but finding lights for them is proving to be harder than I thought. Most USB lights on the market seem to have clip-on, handlebar type of the mount. 

I don't ride much in dark but like to have non-fancy but good (200 lumens or more) USB lights on me just in case. I currently use handlebar-mounted ones but starting to run out of HB real estate and would like to move the lights to the front rack.

Best

Kushan

[Nathan F]

Kushan,

Most USB lights won't natively mount to your rack, and those that do (like the Blue Lug Koma on Crust Bike's webstore) are daytime safety blinkers, not serious headlights. To use something bright enough to actually illuminate things, you'll need to use an adaptor like the Paul Gino or Problem Solvers Braze-On Light Mount.

- Nathan in pdx

[A. Douglas M.]

https://www.biketinker.com/2010/projects/cork-light-mount/#more-41

Best,

Aaron in El Paso 

[Ed Carolipio]

Hi Kushan,

You can get a "knob" to create a mounting point for a handlebar USB headlight. Here's the Problem Solver one for a side . Here's the Planet Bike for the fork which would work on a front eyelet.  Cateye has a dedicated fork mount for their headlights only which can work on the front eyelet as well.

--Ed C.

[Shoji Takahashi]

Hi Kushan,

Consider the B+M Eyro (scroll down a product or two on this link to Peter White Cycles https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/b&m.php).

Eyro comes with a mount for the fork. I removed it and bolted Eyro directly to my front fork's 3-pack mount. (I might have used a spacer, I don't remember offhand.)

For the Soma rack, you likely would need a "brake arm" or similar piece to attach the Eyro in its proper position (after removing the fork mount). 

Eyro has been great for my evening commute in the winter. It holds enough charge, is simple enough to clip/unclip for charging, and, importantly, has a nice lens with cutoff. I sometimes would use a MUP, and the lens cutoff is great for keeping the light out of users' eyes.

Also, the mount makes it look integrated, and not clip on. This might be a deterrent for thieves in contrast to handle-bar mount styles. 

Good luck!

shoji

[Pat Smith]

Kushan I'm in the same boat as you. I think it's weird there's no good way to put USB lights on rack or fork braze ons. Sure there are the stubs like the Paul, Problem Solvers, Planet Bike, or Origin8, but then you're using that adapter and the headlights handlebar adapter. In my case I have Cygolite lights, which have a fairly bulky handlebar adapter. The whole system works great, it just seems unnecessarily bulky and with more parts than needed. To further frustrate, many USB headlights have GoPro style adapters to easily mount them to GoPro style mounts. There are a million GoPro style mounts for handlebars, but nothing for M5 or M6 threaded holes! 

By the way, if you do decide to go the route of the eyelet stub I'm sitting on a stock of the Origin8 model in black and I'd be happy to send you one for the cost of postage. 

Pat in DC