The joys of modern lighting... we've come a long way!

[Julian]

I came across a little book entitled "Cycling," by RC Shaw, printed in the UK and copyright 1953. It's a neat window into the past. 

In one section of the book, after a page or two outlining the drawbacks of the comparatively primitive battery and dynamo lights of the day, Mr. Shaw writes that  “Although there is no doubt that, for reasonably long journeys in the dark, the best kind of cycle lighting is that provided by acetylene gas lamps, they are now very rarely used except by a minority of enthusiastic riders who are prepared to give them the care and attention essential for their proper working.” 

And to think I've been glad my current LED battery and dynamo options work so much better than the lights of only 10-15 years ago! 

Preparing for a crisp commute in the bracing 6 degree F. air, but not worrying much about the efficacy of my lights on the way home tonight, I remain, 

Julian Westerhout

Bloomington, IL 

[Patrick Moore]

Back about 1995 I used to carry 2 NiteRider Cyclops lights, 15 watt halogens each with a 2-lb battery. My Edeluxe I provides better road illumination from 2.4 watts. And the newly ordered K-Lite dynamo light puts out 600 lumens on Low and 1200 on High with a claimed 10 minute standlight.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.
Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

--

Resumes, LinkedIn profiles, bios, and letters that get interviews.

By-the-hour resume and LinkedIn coaching.

Other professional writing services.

http://www.resumespecialties.com/

www.linkedin.com/in/patrickmooreresumespec/

Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nouvelle Mexique,  Vereinigte Staaten

****************************************************************************************

The point which is the pivot of the norm is the motionless center of a circumference on which all conditions, distinctions, and individualities revolve. Chuang Tzu

Stat crux dum volvitur orbis. (The cross stands motionless while the world revolves.) Carthusian motto

It is we who change; He remains the same. Eckhart

Kinei hos eromenon. (It moves [all things] as the beloved.) Aristotle

[Clayton.sf]

If they can't see me they can't hit me. There is a reason the army wears camo and ninjas dress in black.

Clayton Scott
SF, CA

[BSWP]

EFZ. I use lights to show up the potholes and dead skunks, not so much to help the cagers see me.

Just back from Portland, where every other rig seems to be a HID hub-powered coastal lighthouse beacon.

- Andrew, Berkeley

[Ryan Thompson]

I'm all for the advances in light technology and how relatively low the cost is to obtain a good light but like Andrew said, during my commute at night I'm constantly blinded by the 400-1000 lumen lights everyone has mounted on their handlebars.  I have a Cygolite from Riv on a Paul Gino mounted at the mid fork braze on which I hope minimizes blinding oncoming riders.

Ryan 

[Eric Norris]

Ryan:

The problem, I believe, is more from the design of modern lights than the brightness. By and large, the lights you can buy in US—and this includes pretty much every LED light on the market—throw out a cone of light that shines up and much as it shines down. It might be “focused,” but it’s still a cone.

German-made lights like the Edelux, on the other hand, focus their light to shine mostly down on the road, where it needs to be. Light shining up and toward other riders is minimized. Modern cars work the same way—point your car at a garage door or a wall and you’ll usually see pretty sharp cutoff line with light below and dark above. There’s no reason why a light can’t be bright *and* non-blinding.

But it’s much easier to build a reflector that creates cone-shaped light, which is probably why most lights do this. German regulations, in particular, don’t allow this, which is why Edelux and other German-approved lights are better focused.

This state of affairs probably won’t change until US regulators get around to adopting regulations like those in Europe, and I haven’t heard of any movement in this direction.

--Eric N
campyo...@me.com
www.CampyOnly.com
Campyonlyguy.blogspot.com
@Campyonlyguy

[Lungimsam]

I love my dyno light and hub.

But I am a little surprised in a way that after 100+ years(?) of dyno lighting there isn't a dragless hub yet.

Also, dyno lights with a lens that allows you to see into a turn when turning.

Also, lower prices for these things.

Also, why taillights aren't built into frames yet.

Perhaps the funding isn't there for these things. That probably also explains the high cost, maybe from the manufacturer's R&D.

[William deRosset]

>But I am a little surprised in a way that after 100+ years(?) of dyno lighting there isn't a dragless hub yet.

>Also, dyno lights with a lens that allows you to see into a turn when turning.

>Also, lower prices for these things.

>Also, why taillights aren't built into frames yet.

Dear Lungimsam,

We don't have dragless ANYTHING. One of the laws of thermodynamics is that you don't get something for nothing. You can't even break even. 

If you're referring to lights-off conditions, a good alternator minimizes the eddy currents and stray induction that causes those losses, and the SON and SP hubs both lose less than 0.5w at 20mph. There are clutched systems to decouple the alternator entirely when turned off, but they turned out to have enough weight (and increased drag when on) to offset that tiny benefit.

Power on, Claw-pole alternator designs can be very efficient (the SP and SON designs are around 60%, so under 6W cost for 3W of light at speed), but there are limits to what fits dimensionally and is pleasant to carry around on a 20lb machine with a 1/3 HP power source (an auto alternator is more efficient than even high-quality bike dynamos (the good ones are closer to 85% efficient if I recall correctly), but it has a large iron core, a whole lot more windings, etc, and it  neither light nor small). 6W is a manageable workload for most of us. Note that nominal 6W output systems were available to drive multiple lights, but never really took off for push-bike use (they did gain a toehold in the ebike market). They require closer to 10W to drive the additional load, and that turns out to be a lot of power for the average cyclist relative to the additional light.

Tail lights are built into properly integrated bikes. Perhaps not into yours, but two of my machines came with built-in tail lights, and I am hardly alone. We as customers have not historically demanded (nor paid for) fully-functional lighting systems for our sporting machines, and, because it requires more design work (and complicates assembly), bike builders have obliged by not really trying to integrate them except where required by law. The German shopping bike design requirements support all of us in this respect.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/49353569@N00/3522736540/

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/EMNpauT1sq6SXSNJF_PMyNmblz4G8eB5pdrTwecIxBc?feat=directlink

https://www.compasscycle.com/shop/components/lights/compass-taillight/#

Many more if you consider fenders an integral part of the complete bike.

Lower prices? Larger volume and cheaper materials (which works against efficiency in the case of the alternator, anyway, and good design/build quality below some threshold). I consider a $40 light, $120 hub, and $30 rear light pretty inexpensive for what you get, and, honestly, the Velo-Lumino switch is a masterpiece of low-volume value.The comparison cost would be  a replacement light system for a motorcycle or an auto headlight. Not just the consumable bulb(s), but an alternator, light switch, wiring harness, control electronics, and a front and rear lens assembly.  Even an Edelux/SON/Velo-Lumino switch, sinewave USB power supply, and Secula (all low-volume premium bits) end up costing less than than the equivalent system parts for a Toyota truck (go ahead, price the wiring harness and relays....) or my old BMW motorcycle, and those items were mass-produced on huge scales.

You could add another light that you can aim to the handlebars or to your head (most of us ride with a secondary helmet-mount light offroad, for example), but even with 90W to work with (vs the 3W or so of a bike lighting system) most designers choose to leave the lights fixed. The Edelux II and current-generation Cyo has a pretty broad beam and still retains decent projection for riding at speed, and has enough side illumination for ordinary road use (unless you block part of the beam with the front wheel/fender/rack, as I did with the Boulder Bicycle Allroad--left-hand mount on the Nitto rack, so low-speed right-hand switchback turns are into a shadow.

I think Citroen had driving lights that swiveled with the front wheels. Alternatively, you could wire a helmet-mount light into your dynamo with a permanent plug into the bike's wiring harness. I've considered doing that for bikepacking, but have just used battery helmet lights for that application do date. Maybe with my next project....

Best,

Will

William M. deRosset

Fort Collins, CO

On Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 4:46:31 PM UTC-7, Lungimsam wrote:

[Bernie Burton]

Will

the mid 70s' Citroen SM ( Sports Maserati) had swiveling outer lights which were disabled in the U.S.

Bernie Burton

Wichita Falls, Tx

[Bill]

Let's not forget the 1948 Tucker's "Cyclops Eye".