Front dynamo light

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Danny

Legendary Member
Location
York
As the nights are drawing in I thought I had better check my lights and have discovered that my old, but hitherto trusty, front dynamo light has stopped working. As the bulb is OK, I am sure it is a wiring/earthing problem that I can eventually sort out, but this has got me wondering whether it is time to upgrade to a more modern light.

However the only front dynamo light I can find is on Wiggle and costs £179 which seems a lot!!! Anyone got any better suggestions?

Also I have my light mounted on one of those old fashioned steel brackets that screws onto your front forks. Do modern lights fit on in the same way or will I have to find somewhere else to fix it.

And finally is there a more modern/elegant equivalent of the steel bracket?
 

Jonathan M

New Member
Location
Merseyside
OK, I went down the front dynamo route last year, with an Mwheel front wheel, consisting of a nexus hub & mavic rim, and then a Basta Pilot LED front light. Total cost was just under £100, £60 fr thr wheel,light was about £30 IIRC. Uses a bracket that fits it between front brake caliper & fork crown, the only extra I needed was alonger than usual allen headed nut to make up for the extra thickness of the bracket.

Gives a good bright blueish light,it also has a standlight function, and the set up is really easy.

Bought the wheel from Wiggle, and the light from SJS cycles.
 

P.H

Über Member
There’s plenty of choice in halogen dynamo lights, usually under £20. The bulb will be the same as you’re present light, maybe slightly better optics but pretty much a direct replacement. Goggle Hella or B&M for some examples.
If you want to step up to a LED, the Inoled is worth a look. Comes in two versions though it isn’t clear if the higher powered one will run off a bottle dynamo. I’ve tried one of these, IMO far brighter than a halogen light, with the advantage of never having to buy another bulb. Cheapest I’ve seen them is on German Ebay
Inoled
Ebay
However the only front dynamo light I can find is on Wiggle and costs £179 which seems a lot!!!
I have one of these, it was expensive, though I didn’t pay that much for it. I do a lot of night riding so considered it worth it, to put it in perspective – the best of the Inoled lights has an output of 43 lumens, the Supernova has an output of 128.
 

Tynan

Veteran
Location
e4
leds lights are so bright and dinky and cheap and long lasting these days, why bother with dynamos anymore?

genuine question
 
OP
OP
Danny

Danny

Legendary Member
Location
York
Fair question. My experience is that front LED lights are not actually "so bright" or long lasting. Indeed once your batteries start to go, front LED lights seem to quickly fade to an insipid green colour which can be very difficult for car drivers to see, particularly when you are in heavy traffic.

In my experience even my ancient front dynamo light is much brighter than all the cheap LED lights I have seen.

Another plus with dynamos is you always have power when you need it - i.e. you don't run the risk of finding that your battery has run out when it gets dark.
 
i got a b and m front dlumotec led light for the dyno hub, it seemed as bright as the halogen it replaced with an estimated life of 100,000 hours ,so it should see me out
 

BentMikey

Rider of Seolferwulf
Location
South London
Do a google for Peter White Cycles and SON - he has a lot of information.

The gold standard for LED dynamo powered lights is the Solidlights 1203D, apparently.
 
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