Edelux - Blug Post

[Steve Palincsar]

On Feb 14 the Blug featured a post about mounting the Edelux II headlight to Mark's Rack.




As you can see, this is an upside-down mount.  However, as far as I know, there is no Edelux II light currently available that is made for upside down mounting, although Jan Heine at Compass recently said he'd been informed that Schmidt had changed their mind and would in fact make one in future.  Past experience with mounting standard Edelux lights (i.e., units not specifically made for upside-down mounting) upside-down led to lamp failures due to water infiltration and is most definitely NOT A GOOD IDEA.  If you want to mount an Edelux upside down, there are two choices: buy an upside-down Edelux I from Compass (last time I looked prices had been reduced to clear inventory) or wait a few months for Schmidt to release an upside-down mount Edelux II.

[Ron Mc]

good information, but otherwise a classy way to rig the light.  

[Jan Heine]

Steve is right - the photo shows an Edelux I for hanging mounting – the thinner black ring at the front is a dead-giveaway. The Blug post with its link to the Edelux II product page could mislead readers into thinking they could just attach a standard Edelux II that way, but that would not work well at all. The beam pattern would be upside-down. (The Edelux and IQ Cyo have a very carefully designed beam pattern that provides even illumination from the near- to the far-field, and cut off the beam at the top to prevent blinding oncoming traffic.)

The Edelux II has a wider beam and in general is preferable over the already-excellent original Edelux. The version for hanging mounting is still months away – it appears that demand for the standard Edelux II has the good people at Schmidt in Germany more than busy!

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
www.bikequarterly.com

Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/

[Anton Tutter]

Perhaps because it can control a taillight?  ;-)

Anton

[Evan Baird]

Not to beat a dead horse, but there are several solutions which allow you to mount the light the right way up. Wouldn't you want to light positioned further forward anyway?

http://harriscyclery.net/product/m.a.p.-fender-mount-for-headlight-3607.htm

http://www.renehersestore.com/servlet/the-341/Light-Bracket-for-Edelux/Detail

http://shop.boxdogbikes.com/products/bdb-handmade-light-mount

http://www.somafab.com/archives/product/wingmann-light-mount

[Leslie]

http://m.flickr.com/photos/leslie_bright/8351739256/in/set-72157623199721925/lightbox/

[blakcloud]

Rob Perks from Ocean Air Cycles has a creative set up which you can see here.

[Eric]

Mounting this light to my old touring bike and Homer Hilsen was often been the bane of my existence and I gave it up.

The only time I will mount this light again is when my new custom tourer has a DEDICATED light mount constructed on the custom front rack.

No more jerry-rigging for me too much of pain. I was able to mount the light on my Mark's Rack but it was such a pain (secret: it involved a Pitlock skewer to prevent theft) and it looked awful too.

Why doesn't Riv just have Nitto fashion a light mount onto the racks they offer?

It's a $200 light! I'm sure Nitto can weld on a simple solution.

[Chris Chen]

a bit dramatic aren't we

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[Scot Brooks]

The good news is that any fabrication shop can whip up a light mount and weld it on to a chromoly or stainless rack no sweat.

[David Spranger]

I have made that same mount for a couple of my bikes. The first time I saw it used was in a picture, either posted here or the iBOB group, several years back.

David "Very much anticipating attending the NAHBS tommow" Spranger

Charlotte, NC

[Matthew J]

Rob Perks from Ocean Air Cycles has a creative set up which you can see here. 

First time I saw this.  Very clever re-use of old components.

[Matthew J]

Not to beat a dead horse, but there are several solutions which allow you to mount the light the right way up. Wouldn't you want to light positioned further forward anyway? 

Ge

Sometimes rack and bag choice get in the way.  Did not take too many rides on my commuter with the Edelux mounted per manufacturer spec to the fork crown to realize how well German lights work there.

[Jan Heine]

A hanging Edelux makes a lot of sense on a rack with a dedicated attachment for the light. There is less torque on the mounting bolt, so it's less likely to come loose due to vibrations. (A "standing" light always wants to rotate downward.) The hanging Edelux also makes sense when you mount your light under the handlebars – less obtrusive than on top of the bars...

Above is the hanging Edelux on my randonneur bike. I modified the attachment so it is forked. This allows me to adjust the angle of the light while riding (higher when out of town to see even when going into a dip in the road, lower in town to avoid blinding oncoming traffic), without the bolt loosening. Once the hanging Edelux II will become available, I'll probably run the lighting wire through the tube that supports the light – there is less risk of snagging it that way, and it doesn't look nice exposed as it currently is.

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly

http://www.bikequarterly.com

[Bill Lindsay]

Steve

Good catch.  The BLUG post was about the upside down Edelux.  The photo was an upside down Edelux, and the text of the post said Edelux.  The misdirection was that the LINK in the post took you to Edelux II.  I emailed Dave at Riv and he has fixed the LINK.  Now the LINK correctly takes the clicker to the upside down Edelux, which Riv sells for $170 with free shipping.  

Generally if you see an error like that in the BLUG, just email Dave and he'll fix it PDQ.  They don't want to misinform anybody.  

Bill Lindsay

[Lynne Fitz]

I would just, for once, want to buy a light and not have to get all creative about how to mount it on my bike. The Luxos U was the easiest; I bolt it to the front bolt of the Nitto rack. Of course, I had to buy the Nitto rack, because it did not play at all well with the custom rack which originally came with the bike.

I do wish the lighting manufacturers used the standard bolt which fits into every accessory bolt hole on a bike. Yes, of COURSE I have a T20 wrench which I carry on my bike. Doesn't everyone? (solution - T20 bit which fits in my Topeak Rachet Rocket)

I wish the new Secula Plus Seatstay Light had the standard sized hole for the standard sized bolt, rather than having to ziptie it to my seatstay, which means when I dissassemble the bike for travel, things will get tricky. No, couldn't just bolt it to the braze-on there for JUST THAT PURPOSE, like I can do with my Planet Bike blinkies.

I will say the Secula Plus tail light is amazing. Just not really thought through for all the mounting possibilities.

Rant off. Thank you for listening.

[Peter Morgano]

+1 on that rant. Shouldn't have to buy a rack to make a light work.

[Eric]

I don't think I was being dramatic at all, only honest.

For a $200 light & a $100+ dollar rack Riv is only suggesting some fancy jerry-rigging technique. I don't think that's realistic.

For that kinda coin I want the set up to:

1) Be secure
2) Not be obscured by bags/rack/ect
3) Be easy to mount

The more I deal with hassle the more I know there's an easier solution. I just want a rack w/ a dedicated mount & wire guides, no fuss & no ugly zip ties on my nice frame.

[Eric]

You're correct but the Nitto racks are nickle plated so it's not that easy at least to the builders I spoke too (Ahearne & others).

[Scot Brooks]

Hi Eric,

We mess around with modifying Nitto racks kind of a lot at the shop I occasionally work at, mostly for the purpose of dialing in the fitment or getting things super level. It's way easy, or at least for the guys who do the actual welding and brazing (not me). Moot point really, since I guess it's not exactly an "easy" solution from the standpoint of a customer buying a fancy rack, spending more money to have it modified, and then more money to have it painted or powdercoated. 

[Jan Heine]

I agree with the rant – it shouldn't be that hard to use your bike at night.

There actually are standards for lights. For example, all the German lights use an M6 bolt, and the bases are the same width. They mount to standard brackets that go on the fork crown. The bracket sandwiches the light, so you can adjust the light's angle by hand without loosening the bolt. As long as you use canti, V-brakes or discs, the fork crown is wide open. The rear light goes on the rear fender. Whether these are the best locations is a different matter, but if you have a German city bike and want to switch from a IQ Cyo to an Edelux, it's a simple swap.

It's the same with derailleurs on our bikes. Yes, putting the derailleur on the outside of the rear dropout isn't ideal – the hanger tends to bend when the bike falls over – but they all are the same, and switching from Shimano to Campy is a snap today, unlike in the old days when Campy, Huret and Simplex each had their own dropouts with different derailleur hangers.

We run into problems if our bikes aren't designed for derailleurs or lights. Then we have to get creative. And the results are often sub-optimal. Just like with cars, where the add-on fog lights tend to fall off, rotate or have unintended consequences (engines overheating because the lights block the radiator). The headlights that come with the car rarely have any issues...

The beauty of a bike that is designed from the onset for lights is that you don't have to think about them. If they are well-designed, they are just there, ready to be switched on when you need them.

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly

2116 Western Ave.
Seattle WA 98121

http://www.bikequarterly.com

Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/

[Shoji Takahashi]

I agree with the rant, but:

the Nitto Mini and the Mark's rack both have tabs on the front on which one can affix a fork-mount light. 

It's pictured on the Riv page for the Luxos U Dyno light (2nd, 3rd, 4th pics): http://www.rivbike.com/Busch-and-Muller-Luxos-U-Headlight-p/ltd-11.htm

(I think some light aficionados have said that one should only mount German-made lights to the fork crown position, because that's how they're designed!)

If you'd like to mount the light to the side struts... you're on your own. But there seem to-be quite a few options for after market light arms/brackets, and Edelux even comes in upside-down mount. 

You could always go custom.

[ted]

Jan writes "There is less torque on the mounting bolt, ...". How is that? Looks like the cg of the light is the same distance in front of the bolt either way, so the magnitude of the torque would be the same.

[Jan Heine]

You are right. I am sorry I mis-spoke. What I meant was that if the light moves a bit, the torque increases on the standing light, whereas it decreases on the hanging light. So in one case, you have a light that is balanced on a ridge, in the other, it's in a valley, so to speak. The main advantage of the hanging light is its ease of mounting on racks, as the originally-discussed blug post pointed out...

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly

www.bikequarterly.com

Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/

[ted]

Hey Jan,
Thanks for the clarification.