Headlight mounts

[Adam Funk]

(Sorry if this came up in the previous thread about lights but I
missed it.)

I'm thinking about getting a new headlight & was looking through the
stuff on wiggle.co.uk (currently having a sale). I found several
headlights that looked good generally & had USB charging, but they all
seem to mount on the handlebar with a glorified rubber band. Some of
the customer reviews specifically criticize this, & no-one (AFAICT)
actually likes it.

So why do otherwise reputable brands use it now?

[Theo]

Adam Funk <a24...@ducksburg.com> wrote:
> I'm thinking about getting a new headlight & was looking through the
> stuff on wiggle.co.uk (currently having a sale). I found several
> headlights that looked good generally & had USB charging, but they all
> seem to mount on the handlebar with a glorified rubber band. Some of
> the customer reviews specifically criticize this, & no-one (AFAICT)
> actually likes it.
>
> So why do otherwise reputable brands use it now?

1. It's cheap
2. It'll mount on a variety of different handlebar shapes and sizes
3. It's cheap
4. You don't need to remove your bar ends to mount
5. It's cheap
6. You can easily remove it to charge the battery
7. Did somebody mention it's cheap?

When this came up before, I found that looking for motorcycle fixings comes
up with some good examples of sturdy mounts made of actual metal. For
instance:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Motorcycle-Bike-21mm-To-23mm-HandleBar-Mirror-Fixed-Mount-Clamp-Adaptor-Parts-BS/222879425809?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MTB-Road-Bike-Sports-Water-Bottle-Cage-Holder-Clamp-Clip-Handlebar-Bracket-Mount/122022189277
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminum-Bike-Bicycle-Bar-Handlebar-Mount-Clamp-For-Gopro-Hero-Camera-1-2-3-3/351430453202

Theo

[Roger Merriman]

I have a number of lights with rubber mounts, equally the standard Garmin
mount uses bands, as long as the light is is light, it’s fine, and the
mount needs to be tight. Or it could slip which is annoying.

With all of them, every thing stays in place, even for night time MTBing
only moving if you knock it ie crash or push it.

I do on my commute bike have a fixed mount which is handy for that, as
though the light has a reasonably traffic friendly beam, I want it to be
sure it fixed to the correct angle so I’m not blinding others and can see.

But that’s a heavier light than any of the band mounted lights I have.

Roger Merriman

[Roger Merriman]

The other is they can be very robust, I’ve had a rubber mounted rear light
for 7 years now it’s worn away some of the housing with saddle bag rubbing
but the light and mount work as new.

Equally I have a big powerful MTB light I’ve had for years that the head
unit and battery are rubber mounted, the battery is degrading now but both
the headunit and battery mounts are still good.

Roger Merriman

[Nick Maclaren]

In article <dSs*DG...@news.chiark.greenend.org.uk>,

Theo <theom...@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
>Adam Funk <a24...@ducksburg.com> wrote:
>> I'm thinking about getting a new headlight & was looking through the
>> stuff on wiggle.co.uk (currently having a sale). I found several
>> headlights that looked good generally & had USB charging, but they all
>> seem to mount on the handlebar with a glorified rubber band. Some of
>> the customer reviews specifically criticize this, & no-one (AFAICT)
>> actually likes it.
>>
>> So why do otherwise reputable brands use it now?
>
>1. It's cheap
>2. It'll mount on a variety of different handlebar shapes and sizes
>3. It's cheap
>4. You don't need to remove your bar ends to mount
>5. It's cheap
>6. You can easily remove it to charge the battery
>7. Did somebody mention it's cheap?

As you say.

>When this came up before, I found that looking for motorcycle fixings comes
>up with some good examples of sturdy mounts made of actual metal. For
>instance:

That is how I managed to get a functional mirror - there isn't a single
cycle mirror that will work on swept-back handlebars if you ever ride
over rough going, except possibly for the metal clamp B&M Cyclestar,
which I have never seen or be able to obtain.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

[Kim Wall]

On 16/11/2018 11:10, Adam Funk wrote:
> I'm thinking about getting a new headlight & was looking through the
> stuff on wiggle.co.uk (currently having a sale). I found several
> headlights that looked good generally & had USB charging, but they all
> seem to mount on the handlebar with a glorified rubber band. Some of
> the customer reviews specifically criticize this, & no-one (AFAICT)
> actually likes it.
>
> So why do otherwise reputable brands use it now?

Proper mounts are for dynamo lighting. It's a tradition, or an old
charter or something.

The one thing o-ringd mounts are good at is clamping to handlebars where
the tube isn't a consistent diameter, which is an occupational hazard on
modern mountain bikes.

I'll take an O-ring over a cheesey plastic bracket with structural
self-untapping screws. They tend not to fail spontaneously.


Kim.
--

[Timreason]

On 17/11/2018 00:27, Theo wrote:
> Adam Funk <a24...@ducksburg.com> wrote:
>> I'm thinking about getting a new headlight & was looking through the
>> stuff on wiggle.co.uk (currently having a sale). I found several
>> headlights that looked good generally & had USB charging, but they all
>> seem to mount on the handlebar with a glorified rubber band. Some of
>> the customer reviews specifically criticize this, & no-one (AFAICT)
>> actually likes it.
>>
>> So why do otherwise reputable brands use it now?
>
> 1. It's cheap
> 2. It'll mount on a variety of different handlebar shapes and sizes
> 3. It's cheap
> 4. You don't need to remove your bar ends to mount
> 5. It's cheap
> 6. You can easily remove it to charge the battery
> 7. Did somebody mention it's cheap?
>

I'd add to that, (8) Easy to transfer from one bike to another.

I have four bikes currently, and one set of rechargeable lights. I can't
ride more than one bike at once...

Tim.

[Peter Clinch]

On 17/11/2018 11:57, Kim Wall wrote:

> Proper mounts are for dynamo lighting. It's a tradition, or an old
> charter or something.

... though it is entirely possible to get mounts for dynamo lamps made
of something with the load bearing and fatigue properties of a ripe
Camembert, just in case anyone thought that if proper mounts imply for
dynamo then dynamo implies proper mount.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
NHS Tayside & Univ. of Dundee Ninewells Hospital & Med. School
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net p.j.c...@dundee.ac.uk http://medphys.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

[Adam Funk]

On 2018-11-17, Roger Merriman wrote:

> Theo <theom...@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
>> Adam Funk <a24...@ducksburg.com> wrote:
>>> I'm thinking about getting a new headlight & was looking through the
>>> stuff on wiggle.co.uk (currently having a sale). I found several
>>> headlights that looked good generally & had USB charging, but they all
>>> seem to mount on the handlebar with a glorified rubber band. Some of
>>> the customer reviews specifically criticize this, & no-one (AFAICT)
>>> actually likes it.
>>>
>>> So why do otherwise reputable brands use it now?
>>
>> 1. It's cheap
>> 2. It'll mount on a variety of different handlebar shapes and sizes
>> 3. It's cheap
>> 4. You don't need to remove your bar ends to mount
>> 5. It's cheap
>> 6. You can easily remove it to charge the battery
>> 7. Did somebody mention it's cheap?

...

> The other is they can be very robust, I’ve had a rubber mounted rear light
> for 7 years now it’s worn away some of the housing with saddle bag rubbing
> but the light and mount work as new.
>
> Equally I have a big powerful MTB light I’ve had for years that the head
> unit and battery are rubber mounted, the battery is degrading now but both
> the headunit and battery mounts are still good.

OK, I think I was wrong to make fun of the "glorified rubber band". I
recently got some Aldi lights & the mount seems pretty good so far.
They are also a lot brighter than my more expensive older ones
(improvements in LEDs, I guess).