We do lots of lighting set up here at the shop. I've seen how they age, and where potential failure points come into play. Currently, we only sell 4 light brands, and really, only 1 is ideal for commuting in a busy area. If you are commuting on a bike path, or in a quite rural area, you can run one of the following with less risk to motorists (and as a result less risk to yourself).
- Rechargeable: Cygolite. If you can find a Expillion, they have replaceable batteries, so you can pack a back up if it's cold out or if you are out for a long period. Ugly, but functional. - Dynamo: Sinewave or kLite both make solid options. The Sinewave can mount on the bars, fork crown or front rack. The kLite, which is a bit brighter at speeds over 12mph, is handlebar only. Best light for high traffic areas: Schmidt Edelux II. It beats all the others in terms of durability. B+M makes good lights from an optics perspective, but the wiring is under built and the light housings don't like water. The Schmidt takes the optics of a B+M light and puts it in a better housing with better wiring. Can mount to fork crown, front rack, handlebar. Front rack being the best spot. We wire our lights to either Shutter precision hubs, Schmidt hubs or Velogical dynamos. All are efficient. The Velogical is cool because you don't have to build a new wheel, it runs on your rim. The best bearings/strongest flanges are found in the Schmidt hub. We've had zero issues with Schmidt hubs, despite hundreds sold. 3 warranty issues with SP hubs, so far. Not a terrible rate of issues, but it's a factor to consider. Wiring is important, and our current go to set up, if using a Schmidt hub, is to use Coaxial jacks at the hub for easy connection. We prefer Schmidt fender, rack or seatpost tail lights because the wiring is more robust. Decent rechargeable tail lights abound out there. We like the B+M ixxi, which is made in the EU. Hope some of that helps! -James / Analog Cycles On Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at 12:48:18 AM UTC-5, DHans wrote: > > With the time change I will be biking home in the dark. I’m curious about > your light setup for riding in the dark. Also favorite light brands. > Thanks. > Doug -- 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-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/f8a5de50-65f5-4afd-bffe-77db199fa6fd%40googlegroups.com.
