Good bye batteries

[france tourer]

Has anyone got a set of these lights from www.goodbyebatteries.com.
Are they any good and will they fit on a quick release wheel ?.
are these legal as when you stop your lights go out .
They will save me a fortune on batteries as i spend more than £25 on batteries in the winter months.

[Beep!Beep!]

Have fitted a derailler guard with a quick release mech so should be no problem though a washer added might be a good idea.

[wack]

They look good any body tried them. its one of those products where you have nothing to lose

[andrew_s]

They are effectively a very feeble dynamo powering a single LED.

They are only legal on their own if the LED is flashes brighter than 4cd when in use (rather than the maximum brightness of the LED).

[Andy Tallis]

A lot more expensive but a dynamo hub would give better (legal and adequate for nightime use) light output for barely any drag.

Andy

[nella]

I don't know for sure! But I have been advised that the continual road vibration will eventually cause deteration in the magnetic properties leading to replacement magnets. Perhaps someone could enlarge or even verify that observation. I'll be very interested to hear your comments.

[jb]

It depends on the quality of the magnets. Soft iron will not hold a magnetism, steel will hold for a while, magnetite will hold it indefinitely. If it was not possible to keep a magnet magnetised then magneto’s on old vehicles would not have worked for very long which is clearly not the case.
cheers
J

[Pete]

I would second Andy's suggestion for a Proper Dynohub. The Shimano Ultegra ones aren't at all bad, the Schmidt SONs are even better. Capital cost is high, but no more batteries again and no forgetting your lights, or to charge up recharageables etc. No fuss lighting, it's great!

I wouldn't want one on Serious Sports Machinery, but for working bikes and tourers I wouldn't want to go back to battery lamps.

Good dynamo lamps are available with "standlights" that keep them burning for a couple of minutes when you stop, so that needn't be a worry either.

Pete.

[Mick F]

Just looked at www.goodbyebatteries.com. Very interesting! Sounds like a good idea. BUT lights have to be fitted more than 350mm from the ground. Just measured my 700c wheels - they only just make 350mm to the axles.

You would have legality problems with 26 inch wheels and smaller.

Also £24.95 seems rather expensive.

[EssexMan]

It is a good idea and it depends on your budget i guess. Other alternatives to batteries are: rechargeable batteries (i use these on all my mobile gadgets); a dedicated rechargeable light (some of which are quite cheap); or dynamos etc.

I'd been looking for a really decent commuting light system and worked out how much i'd spent on cheap bad lights and batteries over the years. It adds up and if you find a good light system that suits your needs and is easy to transfer from bike to bike, its worth shelling out the cash.

[Markh]

I have a Shimano hub dyno on two of my bikes and had another on a previous bike which got stolen. So i have had 10 years experience. One bike I park by the sea every night and weekends. They are absolutely brilliant. Never had a problem except external wires corroding and fatiguing, and someone nicking my front light. £55 sounds a lot for the hub and you might have to add wheel building but it is well worth it if 3W is enough for you. I cycle along an unlit country path for 3 miles every night for the dark part of the year and don't have to go slowly. I don't do mountain biking at night so don't need these mega powerful expensive sets you can get with loads of W. I don't bother with a dyno back light but use a Cateye flasher which is blinding. If you are doing urban at night then you can get really nice little dyno LED rear lights which stay on and draw nothing from the front - which is A 3W halogen. It works for me.