ISO Dynamo Light Recs

[Kesler Roberts]

Howdy - I just lucked into a used wheel with shimano alfine dynamo and am looking for low to moderately priced headlight/taillight recommendations.  I ride town/country/dirt roads - about anywhere short of technical trails on this bike.

Thanks - Kes in MA

[Guy Jett]

I've used a Busch & Müller Toplight taillight for over 10 years now with a SON dynohub.  A solid piece of equipment but not cheap.  Peter White sells many such options.  You could also search Amazon for "bike dynamo taillight" than search each page for "dynamo".  There seem to be quite a few for less than $25.

GAJett

On Sun, Dec 14, 2025 at 11:51 AM Kesler Roberts <kesro...@gmail.com> wrote:

Howdy - I just lucked into a used wheel with shimano alfine dynamo and am looking for low to moderately priced headlight/taillight recommendations.  I ride town/country/dirt roads - about anywhere short of technical trails on this bike.

Thanks - Kes in MA

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[Guy Jett]

Note also that Rivendell carries the light I've been using although it's currently out of stock:

Light - Dyno Busch & Müller Toplight Line Brake Plus Brake Tec - tail light, rack mount

[Kesler Roberts]

Thank you - I really like the the brake sensing that has built in.

[Jason Fuller]

My opinion is that spending more, if you're able to, on the headlight is worth it - but the tail light can be quite economical. 

For front lamps, my experience has been: 

SON Edelux: not cheap but absolutely worth the cost. Great brightness and beam pattern. Nice on-off switch. Looks great. 
B&M IQ-X: i personally don't recommend, because it's most of the cost of an Edelux but nowhere near as nice to use. 

B&M IQ-XS: i prefer this to the X actually, and it's cheaper, so this is a viable mid-range option to me. 
B&M Lyt: cheap and not very bright, but if your headlight is mostly to make yourself seen rather than light up the road, worth considering! 

For tail light, depends on your mounting options, I really like the B&M Toplight for its big reflector if you have a rack.  If you want to fender mount, I used the Herrmans H-Trace tail light which is very inexpensive ($25 CAD or about $16 USD) and it's great. 

It's also not unreasonable to run a battery tail light to allow you more funds to support a good headlamp, since tail light batteries tend to last longer.  I love the Blue Lug Koma lights for this - they're small and attractive, and you can keep a spare in your bag in case the battery runs out mid-ride.  Saves the hassle of running the wire to the back of the bike.  

[Dan]

I have dynamo headlights on two of my bikes:

The SON Edelux II on my Appaloosa looks and works fantastic. It’s pricey but worth it. Only downside - the ‘be seen’ stand light isn’t as bright or long lasting as I would like. 

My Clydesdale Straggler has the B+M Lumotec IQ Senso Plus T 80 (what a mouthful!). At half the price of the Edelux, the beam pattern is nearly as good and has a much better stand light function. It doesn’t look as pretty though. 

[Kesler Roberts]

Thanks - I ended up finding a used B&M Lumotech, IQ..... so that should be a good entry at <$100.  I think I'll probably stick with using battery rear lights mainly because (a) I have a couple already that I really like and (b) the set up in the rear is always changing - sometimes there's a rack or bagman, sometimes not; I'll take the fenders on and off, etc.