I love my Lumintop B01 bicycle light. Any recommendations on a dyno powered light? I’m installing a Kasai dyno hub in my bicycle and looking for a light to pair it with. Any suggestions?
Battery Powered Lumintop B01
Field serviceable hub:
I’ve never tried one of those because I just assumed I would bust the axle. I had a Sanyo that would ride on the top of the tire and bolt to the chainstay bridge but none of the bikes I had had long enough chainstays for this. I did a test of the old style design that would ride on the side of the tire. It would produce 6V 1A short circuited at 10mph and 24V 4A at 40mph. The problem with those is they use the frame as a wire and it is impossible to put any kind of circuitry to knock down the voltage. I’m going to wait for a tandem strength hub with regenerative braking. By the way I have cycled 150000 miles in 30 states.
Off topic, but I’ve been keeping track of my riding for 35 years and I’m 25000 miles and 19 states behind you.
I had a dynamo when I was a kid, the one that presses against the sidewall, it did have a drag, but back then lamps were dim and batteries were weak, now, leds are bright and batteries small light and store lots of power. I personally see no need, but i like cool mechanical things, and this dynamo is pretty cool.
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The Kasai has 2 wires.
No electricity going through the frame.
Serious riders i kmow call it a game changer and will never go back.
I’ve never seen that sinewave before.
I have built a few wheels for customers with Schmidt SONdeluxe hubs though. They are very nice.
They have options for wired, or axle/fork conductor style as well.
I much prefer the wired style.
Yeah SON is the gold standard for power plants.
I’m hoping this forum can help me find a cheap light as I don’t want to drop $350 on my first bike light. 2nd maybe, but not my first test run.
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AXA, Busch&muller, Trelock…
Supernova good deal.
Wow. That supernova is a GREAT deal. They are good lights too. I installed one on the last Schmidt SON setup I did.
Nobody on this forum has any budget suggestions? Amazing there aren’t more dyno powered lights.
The budget suggestion is to not use a dynamo light.
For example, I’m using a Convoy S2+ I put together with 3 LEDs behind a Carclo 10510 (wide oval) optic, with a Bistro driver (FET+1 w/ attiny25), with some custom firmware. It makes a wide, short (i.e. not tall) beam that I aim slightly down to illuminate a triangle in front of me. The total cost was maybe $20 when I made it, but probably $30+ now.
It lasts me several months per charge even if I’m biking a lot, so I don’t have much reason to use a dynamo. It’s no trouble to charge a battery once or twice a year.
Or I recently tried a Noctigon KR1K as a bike front light, and it worked pretty well. It’s about $52 at the moment. Or a DA1K would have the same beam and battery, but is slightly cheaper and can use a side switch with real-time battery indicator, if you get it with a white rubber RGB button.
To hold it on the bike, I’ve been using a $2 clone of a Twofish Lockblock. It’s just a shaped piece of rubber with some velcro straps, but it works well.
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I did a double take reading this, wondering whether I’d typed it, as Ive often reccomend one of these as a “budget bike light solution” but the popularity doesn’t seem particularly high. I think I’ve a mix of originals and clones… not that I can tell which are which nowadays.
The (normal) 90 degree versions work well with L/right angle lamps as you then have the rotation around the bar plus left-right adjustment.
The only additional comment I’d make about your setup is the benefit that it takes seconds to change a cell Vs charge a built in battery.
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