Dynamo hubs

I meant for his lights, not the Di2.

I don't know about the same lens, but the glass is vastily different as it have more of a spread compare to the spotlight beam of the Supernova, and while it doesn't appear as bright in cities, it still lit up road better.

It also have a cut off, meaning that you can position the light a little higher without dazzling incoming road user, a problem I found with the Supernova and have to resort having it pointed slightly down than horizontally.

(I used both Edelux* and Supernova in audaxes).

*I used the old Edelux that was pretty good, but the Edelux II outshine it easily.

This image is a pretty good example showing where the light cut off just above the road like a cars;

The Supernova from memory is exactly like this, but I mount it a little lower as that position dazzle incoming cyclists in Richmond Park (I turned on my hearing aids only to realised people been shouting at me for a fortnight);

The Luxos is the one I was thinking of..
http://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/busch-mueller-lumotec-iq2-luxos-u-led-headlight-63073

Ah gotcha, yeah people on this topic were saying it's a budget version of the Edelux.

I can't tell you whether it's as reliable as the Edelux thought.

Just found good price now as

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TransAm record is 17.5 days - you think battery lights are practical for that duration?

Definitely not practical, but could be done... remember this year TransAm #1 Jesse Carlssons did most of it without the dynamo: 'Sinewave Reactor died in the heat earlier on'. Also this year TCR #1 Josh Ibbett didn't use a dynamo ...

I think the best approach is dynamo hub + usb charger (sinewave revolution) + small battery pack as backup + compact wall charger (if usb-charger or dynamo is in that rare percentage of material failure). I'll try this soon.

On the TransAm could you send off a pile of power banks say every 600km. Might get quite pricey but would solve the power/stopping anywhere for long problem.

I carried about 22,000 mha of power on TCR and rarely went below half as when I'd stop I'd stick my batteries, phone and garmin immediately into a charger.

Edit: that being said I've just got a dynamo..

I don't see how it's a budget version. SJS has the price difference between them as £4.

Jesse took two days more than Mike and was stuck sleeping in shops and stuff due to hurricane warnings.

The Sinewave is just to charge USB devices - he still would've been able to power his lights off the dynamo and since he was using an etrex GPS - he could just buy AA batteries to power it so I wouldn't say he did most of it without a dynamo.

As for Josh, he said: "Last year I ran a dynamo hub and I probably would have done the same this year, but I didn’t order one in time."

My approach will likely be a version of:
dynamo -> lights
--------> USB battery -> GPS, phone, Di2

"compact wall charger" ? Like a folding power plug sort of thing?

What happens when you get to the pre-arranged post-office to pick up your next battery and it's 3am?

What was your ride/stop time ratio?

Luxos and Edelux use the same reflector bowl to focus the beam. It's made by B&M makers of the luxos.

Yes obviously both reckon that dynamo is the way to go, but I was answering the question about batteries usage.. "not practical, but could be done if something happens"

"compact wall charger" ? Like a folding power plug sort of thing?

Was thinking of something like this one https://vine.co/v/ea3rZ0bDjI1 but euro or usa compatible.

Aren't some US post offices 24/7? You could go overly cautious and have them at 400km intervals rather than 600km and if you miss one then it's not too much of concern.

So I just calculated that I had an approximate moving time per day of 15.30 hours so maybe something closer to 17 hours including non-moving time on the bike (quick toilet stops, putting clothes on, checking navigation, quick jump into a shop).

I slept with no power source 7 out of 13 of the nights on average for about 5.5 hours and I'd stop properly twice a day for 30 minutes in restaurant/cafe/MacDonalds with charging.

However I never really went under 50% and only on a few occasions did I have to start using my reserve battery. For example the first three days I slept outside so had no prolonged charging

@hippy Luxos has a good beam. But it is banded/stripy at the edges, unlike the pic ed posted.

It's a bit plasticky compared to an edelux. I think I'd buy an edelux if I was using an separate power pack charger thingy. As it is I have the Luxos U and it's a pretty good thing, despite the cost. Compare to a couple of pairs of posh tyres, or replacing chainrings and cassette, suddenly doesn't seem that pricey.

Unless the dynamo fails, I'm going to be using a dynamo, so let's just forget about battery lights for now, yeah? :)

Yeah, so you had time to recharge. If I'm going to be bivvying as much as possible and stopping as little as possible then I don't see battery power being practical. I guess it depends on what a riders goal and strategy is. For me, removing battery reliance would be great.

edelux

I liked the Edelux when I started looking into dyno lights but then went off it for some reason. I think I read something about it being inferior to the Luxos but now I'll have to try and dig that info out to see if I didn't dream it.

Yeah I agree I was just shooting ideas - after all I've just got a dynamo set-up for next years TCR

What are you going to run and why did you choose the bits you did?

You need to be more specific as the original and II are different in term of light.

I've only considered the Edelux II. Buy an earlier version of something? umadbro?

For a start @hippy only needs to make sure that he can trust the Luxos in challenging weather.

It was only old ones that suffered in the rain I think? Shit, I don't know any more.

@hippy For the front light I got a Supernova E3 Pro Triple because it's good and I got 40% off as a TCR racer (they'd probably give it to you too). I'm going to supplement it with a cheap AA battery front light to use as a reserve if the dynamo fails or if I need to charge my phone/garmin instead and to use in the early evening when the Supernova would be overkill.

Back light I've just stuck with an Exposure TraceR which should last through night if I do an all-nighter but once again I'm gonna have a back-up - probably the same cat-eye one I used last year which lasted the entire time with no battery change and I did a fair amount of night riding.

For the dynamo I chose the SP-9 series. I'm not entirely sure why and I didn't do too much research into the others but I thought it was reasonably priced and was quite small.

For the charging I've got the Supernova Plug III, once again, because of the discount I received. It's probably not the best but it certainly it is the nicest design. As a back-up I'm going to take the Anker Astro E5 (at least I think that's the model I have) which has 16,000mAh which, if the dynamo failed, would keep me independent of power for about 2 days.

my supernova e3 pro has been fine in all the rain.
Hope are good too.

"The E3 Triple uses three very bright LEDs. This light has a large round beam and is not suitable for use in traffic, so Supernova only recommends it for use off road."