bulbs to LEDs

[Trent W. Buck]

I have a Gazelle Toer Populair from about 2010, which has hub powered
lights. And I like that. I don't have to remember to swap the
batteries once a week. I don't even have to remember to turn it on,
because it has a photoresistor in it somewhere.

BUT! The front light is a bulb, not LEDs. Not a big deal, I can just
buy a new bulb. Except that on the bulbs that jaycar and bunnings
stock, the glass bit is sliiiightly too wide to fit in the housing.
(The jaycar bulb says it's "pre-focus" and I want more like
"lens-ended".)

In theory I just go to Bike Life (my LBS) and say "me bike no work. u
mak fix pls" and they deal with it, and I don't have to care. But in
this case it seems even Gazelle's australian mob don't know how to get
the flipping bulb.

All this has reminded me that I'd really prefer if the headlight was an
LED array anyway, so I'm wondering has any opinions on whether that's 1)
possible; and 2) sensible; and if so, 3) how to do it.

AFAICT I can't just get LEDs in the bayonet bulb form factor, and just
plug it in, and be done. I can handle a soldering iron if I must, but I
don't really want to have a lunchbox of loose bits duct-taped to the
handlebars.

I suspect the responses are all gonna be "I hate dynamos! Batteries are
not that hard, just HTFU" so I haven't bothered to dig up hub specs &c,
but I'll do so if there's interest. The bulb claims to be a Philips
HPR60, 3.6V 2.4W.

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 18:41:15 +1000
Trent W. Buck > wrote:
> I have a Gazelle Toer Populair from about 2010, which has hub powered
> lights. And I like that. I don't have to remember to swap the
> batteries once a week. I don't even have to remember to turn it on,
> because it has a photoresistor in it somewhere.
>
> BUT! The front light is a bulb, not LEDs. Not a big deal, I can just
> buy a new bulb. Except that on the bulbs that jaycar and bunnings
> stock, the glass bit is sliiiightly too wide to fit in the housing.
> (The jaycar bulb says it's "pre-focus" and I want more like
> "lens-ended".)

UNless someone makes a bulb with the right fittings you might want to
just say bugger it and buy a dynamo light with LED already in it.

The dollar's just dived so it ain't as easy as it was, but look at
bike24.de and see if there's anything you can come at.

TYpe dynamo into the search engine (after clicking on the union jack
to get English).
eg
http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;menu=1400,1410,1411;p roduct=25154
or
http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;menu=1400,1410,1411;p roduct=16472

of course the shipping can be a bugger, so you could try
sjscycles.co.uk for either a halogen bulb or a new LED light and see
if it works out cheaper.

(or see if a friend wants something from bike24 and share shipping)

Zebee

[Trent W. Buck]

Zebee Johnstone > writes:

> In aus.bicycle on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 18:41:15 +1000
> Trent W. Buck > wrote:
>> I have a Gazelle Toer Populair from about 2010, which has hub powered
>> lights. BUT! The front light is a bulb, not LEDs. Not a big deal,
>> I can just buy a new bulb. Except that on the bulbs that jaycar and
>> bunnings stock, the glass bit is sliiiightly too wide to fit in the
>> housing.
>
> Unless someone makes a bulb with the right fittings you might want to
> just say bugger it and buy a dynamo light with LED already in it.
>
> The dollar's just dived so it ain't as easy as it was, but look at
> bike24.de and see if there's anything you can come at.
>
> TYpe dynamo into the search engine (after clicking on the union jack
> to get English).
> eg
> http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;menu=1400,1410,1411;p roduct=25154
> or
> http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;menu=1400,1410,1411;p roduct=16472

Ah, that looks ideal, thanks. I think the lamp part of my current one
is also a lumotec - it looks almost identical to the pic in the first
link.

> of course the shipping can be a bugger, so you could try
> sjscycles.co.uk for either a halogen bulb or a new LED light and see
> if it works out cheaper.

Eh, I'm happy to drop more money on a capex if it avoids the need for
ongoing ****ing about.

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 11:10:14 +1000
Trent W. Buck > wrote:
> Zebee Johnstone > writes:
>> The dollar's just dived so it ain't as easy as it was, but look at
>> bike24.de and see if there's anything you can come at.
>>
>> TYpe dynamo into the search engine (after clicking on the union jack
>> to get English).
>> eg
>> http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;menu=1400,1410,1411;p roduct=25154
>> or
>> http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;menu=1400,1410,1411;p roduct=16472
>
> Ah, that looks ideal, thanks. I think the lamp part of my current one
> is also a lumotec - it looks almost identical to the pic in the first
> link.

have a browse around, because the more expensive lights put out a lot
more light. I have
http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=9640;page=11; menu=1400,1410,1411
on the Brom and it is very bright indeed.

http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=7;navigation=1;mid=0;pgc=0;menu=1400 ,1410,1411
seems to be a good place to start. Skip the battery lights in the 20s
and get up to the 60s or so where the dynamos start again.

But do be aware they have a horribly high starting shipping cost, so if there's
anything else you need, get it at the same time!

Zebee

[TimC[_2_]]

On 2013-08-07, Zebee Johnstone (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> have a browse around, because the more expensive lights put out a lot
> more light. I have
> http://www.bike24.com/1.php?content=8;navigation=1;product=9640;page=11; menu=1400,1410,1411
> on the Brom and it is very bright indeed.

And this is german, so they're real lumens and not happy go lucky lumens.

> But do be aware they have a horribly high starting shipping cost, so if there's
> anything else you need, get it at the same time!

I wonder if this is a strategy? Because it's certainly worked on me
to transform a $25+shipping order into a $200+shipping order.

--
TimC
> It was... weird. Death was smaller than I imagined
I have nothing to say, I just can't resist quoting this out of context.
-- Steve VanDevenver replying to Satya on ASR

[James[_8_]]

On 06/08/13 18:41, Trent W. Buck wrote:
> I have a Gazelle Toer Populair from about 2010, which has hub powered
> lights. And I like that. I don't have to remember to swap the
> batteries once a week. I don't even have to remember to turn it on,
> because it has a photoresistor in it somewhere.
>
> BUT! The front light is a bulb, not LEDs. Not a big deal, I can just
> buy a new bulb. Except that on the bulbs that jaycar and bunnings
> stock, the glass bit is sliiiightly too wide to fit in the housing.
> (The jaycar bulb says it's "pre-focus" and I want more like
> "lens-ended".)
>
> In theory I just go to Bike Life (my LBS) and say "me bike no work. u
> mak fix pls" and they deal with it, and I don't have to care. But in
> this case it seems even Gazelle's australian mob don't know how to get
> the flipping bulb.
>
> All this has reminded me that I'd really prefer if the headlight was an
> LED array anyway, so I'm wondering has any opinions on whether that's 1)
> possible; and 2) sensible; and if so, 3) how to do it.
>
> AFAICT I can't just get LEDs in the bayonet bulb form factor, and just
> plug it in, and be done. I can handle a soldering iron if I must, but I
> don't really want to have a lunchbox of loose bits duct-taped to the
> handlebars.
>
> I suspect the responses are all gonna be "I hate dynamos! Batteries are
> not that hard, just HTFU" so I haven't bothered to dig up hub specs &c,
> but I'll do so if there's interest. The bulb claims to be a Philips
> HPR60, 3.6V 2.4W.

Interesting that the bulb is rated for such low voltage.

What is the rating of the hub dynamo you have?

Most dynamos and the required bulb are rated something like 6V, 3W.

I resurrected an old Sanyo Dynapower dynamo, and built a headlamp with 4
CREE LEDs and lenses.

Here's the dynamo on my mounting bracket, complete with spray guard made
from a piece of PVC water pipe...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55102679@N05/5878886758/lightbox/

If you look closely you can see the 4 LED lenses in front of the
handlebars..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55102679@N05/8691634090/lightbox/

Note there is no stand light, but that doesn't bother me. I ride about
3 nights after work each week for 60+km in total darkness on Melbourne
main roads each time.

If I bought something, I'd get something good but expensive, like ...

http://supernova-lights.com/en/products/e3pro2.html

--
JS

[Trent W. Buck]

James > writes:

> On 06/08/13 18:41, Trent W. Buck wrote:
>> I suspect the responses are all gonna be "I hate dynamos! Batteries are
>> not that hard, just HTFU" so I haven't bothered to dig up hub specs &c,
>> but I'll do so if there's interest. The bulb claims to be a Philips
>> HPR60, 3.6V 2.4W.
>
> Interesting that the bulb is rated for such low voltage.
>
> What is the rating of the hub dynamo you have?
>
> Most dynamos and the required bulb are rated something like 6V, 3W.

Now you've got me freaked out, because I tried a "HPR53 4V0.85A JAPAN"
in it, and it didn't light up *at all*. (A replacement bulb finally
arrived from LBS, and that's working, hooray.)

The hub has written on it "SHIMANO DH-3R30-N 6V 3W 646-716mm".

It's also powering an LED taillight, but it seems a bit wonky that
that'd be using up half the volts...

PS: hm, I looked at the 4V bulb even closer and now I see the filament
is broken, so that'd be why it didn't light up.

[James[_8_]]

On 12/08/13 16:43, Trent W. Buck wrote:
> James > writes:
>
>> On 06/08/13 18:41, Trent W. Buck wrote:
>>> I suspect the responses are all gonna be "I hate dynamos! Batteries are
>>> not that hard, just HTFU" so I haven't bothered to dig up hub specs &c,
>>> but I'll do so if there's interest. The bulb claims to be a Philips
>>> HPR60, 3.6V 2.4W.
>>
>> Interesting that the bulb is rated for such low voltage.
>>
>> What is the rating of the hub dynamo you have?
>>
>> Most dynamos and the required bulb are rated something like 6V, 3W.
>
> Now you've got me freaked out, because I tried a "HPR53 4V0.85A JAPAN"
> in it, and it didn't light up *at all*. (A replacement bulb finally
> arrived from LBS, and that's working, hooray.)

Ah, well that's good. Perhaps the light housing has a voltage limiting
zener diode or similar, to protect the 3.6V bulb from the full 6V. Or
perhaps the original lighting circuit had the front and rear bulbs wired
in series, so that the 6V was shared across two bulbs. I can't tell
from here.

> The hub has written on it "SHIMANO DH-3R30-N 6V 3W 646-716mm".

After looking at the PDF from
<http://www.shimano.com.au/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/HubDynamo/DH3R30_DH3R35/SI_2ZL0A_001/SI-2ZL0A-001-ENG_v1_m56577569830658011.pdf>
it seems the head lamp and tail lamp bulbs should be 6V each, indicating
that they should be wired in parallel. If your head lamp bulb is really
3.6V, there must be some electronics in the housing to protect it, and
it's not the original head lamp by the looks.

> It's also powering an LED taillight, but it seems a bit wonky that
> that'd be using up half the volts...

Indeed.

> PS: hm, I looked at the 4V bulb even closer and now I see the filament
> is broken, so that'd be why it didn't light up.

;-)

--
JS

[James[_8_]]

On 06/08/13 18:41, Trent W. Buck wrote:

> The bulb claims to be a Philips
> HPR60, 3.6V 2.4W.

I think you may have misread the markings on the bulb. From what I can
see on the internet, it's likely something like "HPR60-HS-3-6V-2.4W PHILIPS"

Indeed a 6V bulb.

http://www.donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/b.pl/68103~narva.html

--
JS

[TimC[_2_]]

On 2013-08-13, James (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> On 12/08/13 16:43, Trent W. Buck wrote:
>> James > writes:
>>
>>> On 06/08/13 18:41, Trent W. Buck wrote:
>>>> I suspect the responses are all gonna be "I hate dynamos! Batteries are
>>>> not that hard, just HTFU" so I haven't bothered to dig up hub specs &c,
>>>> but I'll do so if there's interest. The bulb claims to be a Philips
>>>> HPR60, 3.6V 2.4W.
>>>
>>> Interesting that the bulb is rated for such low voltage.
>>>
>>> What is the rating of the hub dynamo you have?
>>>
>>> Most dynamos and the required bulb are rated something like 6V, 3W.
>>
>> Now you've got me freaked out, because I tried a "HPR53 4V0.85A JAPAN"
>> in it, and it didn't light up *at all*. (A replacement bulb finally
>> arrived from LBS, and that's working, hooray.)
>
> Ah, well that's good. Perhaps the light housing has a voltage limiting
> zener diode or similar, to protect the 3.6V bulb from the full 6V. Or
> perhaps the original lighting circuit had the front and rear bulbs wired
> in series, so that the 6V was shared across two bulbs. I can't tell
> from here.

Dynamos are current sources (not voltage sources). LEDs are current
sinks (not voltage sinks).

Your 3W LED will typically have about 3 or less volts across it, and
if you wired it up to a non-current limited 12v power supply, it would
blow. If you hooked up an appropriate resistor in series with your 3W
LED, and then the un-current-limited 12V power supply, then you'd end
up with a voltage divider and the appropriate current flowing through
the LED that caused it to have a ~3V voltage drop (with 9V and most of
the power being dissipated by the resistor). But in the ideal case of
having a current source, then the LED will just sink as much current
as the source supplies. Both will match their voltage if you've got
no resistor or anything else in the circuit. But of course, you don't
presumably know the actual current limit of the dynamo - at least I've
never seen it documented before. But given they are ~3W, it should be
more or less right. The LED won't work perfectly at 2.9W and blow
catastrophically at 3.1W.

LEDs of different types *have* to be wired in series (the current
source will just double its voltage output in order to maintain the
same current going to 2 equal LEDs in series). You can get away with
very similar lights being in parallel, until they age. Then one will
start taking more current, until the power supply starts overpowering
it, and there'll be thermal runaway and that LED will completely short
out, rendering you with a Dark Emitting Diode.

--
TimC
My mom says you shouldn't encourage me. -- Theresa Willis

[James[_8_]]

On 13/08/13 15:04, TimC wrote:
> On 2013-08-13, James (aka Bruce)
> was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
>> On 12/08/13 16:43, Trent W. Buck wrote:
>>> James > writes:
>>>
>>>> On 06/08/13 18:41, Trent W. Buck wrote:
>>>>> I suspect the responses are all gonna be "I hate dynamos! Batteries are
>>>>> not that hard, just HTFU" so I haven't bothered to dig up hub specs &c,
>>>>> but I'll do so if there's interest. The bulb claims to be a Philips
>>>>> HPR60, 3.6V 2.4W.
>>>>
>>>> Interesting that the bulb is rated for such low voltage.
>>>>
>>>> What is the rating of the hub dynamo you have?
>>>>
>>>> Most dynamos and the required bulb are rated something like 6V, 3W.
>>>
>>> Now you've got me freaked out, because I tried a "HPR53 4V0.85A JAPAN"
>>> in it, and it didn't light up *at all*. (A replacement bulb finally
>>> arrived from LBS, and that's working, hooray.)
>>
>> Ah, well that's good. Perhaps the light housing has a voltage limiting
>> zener diode or similar, to protect the 3.6V bulb from the full 6V. Or
>> perhaps the original lighting circuit had the front and rear bulbs wired
>> in series, so that the 6V was shared across two bulbs. I can't tell
>> from here.
>
> Dynamos are current sources (not voltage sources). LEDs are current
> sinks (not voltage sinks).

That's one way to look at it. Dynamos have sort of regulated current
output due to the inductive impedance increasing proportionally with
speed (X = wL).

And yes, the I-V curve of LEDs has a fairly flat voltage independent of
current, once a threshold of current is reached.

> Your 3W LED will typically have about 3 or less volts across it, and
> if you wired it up to a non-current limited 12v power supply, it would
> blow.

Absolutely. However I have 4 LEDs, each with about 3.5V across at up to
1A, configured as a full bridge rectifier and connected directly across
my 6V 3W dynamo. (Two LEDs in series, in parallel with two LEDs in
series but connected to conduct in the opposite direction. And yes the
reverse polarity breakdown threshold of each is about 5V, well above 3.5V.)

> If you hooked up an appropriate resistor in series with your 3W
> LED, and then the un-current-limited 12V power supply, then you'd end
> up with a voltage divider and the appropriate current flowing through
> the LED that caused it to have a ~3V voltage drop (with 9V and most of
> the power being dissipated by the resistor). But in the ideal case of
> having a current source, then the LED will just sink as much current
> as the source supplies. Both will match their voltage if you've got
> no resistor or anything else in the circuit. But of course, you don't
> presumably know the actual current limit of the dynamo - at least I've
> never seen it documented before.

I measured the output voltage and current from my dynamo at home at
various speeds with a fixed resistor load, and recorded and graphed the
result. It gave me a good understanding of the output characteristics.
There is also a set of test results for various dynamos here:
<http://www.myra-simon.com/bike/dynotest.html>. It's also instructive
to consider the electrical model as an AC voltage source proportional to
speed, and a resistive and inductive element. Note that the inductive
reactance increases linearly with speed like the internally generated
voltage. This is what limits the current.

> But given they are ~3W, it should be
> more or less right. The LED won't work perfectly at 2.9W and blow
> catastrophically at 3.1W.
>
> LEDs of different types *have* to be wired in series (the current
> source will just double its voltage output in order to maintain the
> same current going to 2 equal LEDs in series).

Only if the LEDs can both handle the same current.

> You can get away with
> very similar lights being in parallel, until they age. Then one will
> start taking more current, until the power supply starts overpowering
> it, and there'll be thermal runaway and that LED will completely short
> out, rendering you with a Dark Emitting Diode.
>

Well, my home made headlight has been in regular use (3 times a week)
for the past year. I've descended some pretty big hills as well. Zero
defects thus far.

--
JS

[Trent W. Buck]

TimC > writes:

> On 2013-08-13, James (aka Bruce)
> was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
>> Ah, well that's good. Perhaps the light housing has a voltage
>> limiting zener diode or similar, to protect the 3.6V bulb from the
>> full 6V. Or perhaps the original lighting circuit had the front and
>> rear bulbs wired in series, so that the 6V was shared across two
>> bulbs. I can't tell from here.
>
> LEDs of different types *have* to be wired in series (the current
> source will just double its voltage output in order to maintain the
> same current going to 2 equal LEDs in series). You can get away with
> very similar lights being in parallel, until they age. Then one will
> start taking more current, until the power supply starts overpowering
> it, and there'll be thermal runaway and that LED will completely short
> out, rendering you with a Dark Emitting Diode.

FWIW, when the front halogen bulb was absent, the rear LED still worked
fine -- and it would even activate a bit (maybe blinking, I don't
remember, it's normally constant-on) when backing up, which it doesn't
do with the working bulb in the front.

Based on my high school electronics, I took that to mean they're wired
in parallel.

[James[_8_]]

On 13/08/13 17:00, Trent W. Buck wrote:
> TimC > writes:
>
>> On 2013-08-13, James (aka Bruce)
>> was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
>>> Ah, well that's good. Perhaps the light housing has a voltage
>>> limiting zener diode or similar, to protect the 3.6V bulb from the
>>> full 6V. Or perhaps the original lighting circuit had the front and
>>> rear bulbs wired in series, so that the 6V was shared across two
>>> bulbs. I can't tell from here.
>>
>> LEDs of different types *have* to be wired in series (the current
>> source will just double its voltage output in order to maintain the
>> same current going to 2 equal LEDs in series). You can get away with
>> very similar lights being in parallel, until they age. Then one will
>> start taking more current, until the power supply starts overpowering
>> it, and there'll be thermal runaway and that LED will completely short
>> out, rendering you with a Dark Emitting Diode.
>
> FWIW, when the front halogen bulb was absent, the rear LED still worked
> fine -- and it would even activate a bit (maybe blinking, I don't
> remember, it's normally constant-on) when backing up, which it doesn't
> do with the working bulb in the front.
>
> Based on my high school electronics, I took that to mean they're wired
> in parallel.

Yup. I don't know what's in the rear light, but it could just use a
resistor to limit the current to something safe for the LED inside with
6V supplied.

Along similar lines, I've been thinking about adding a small low power
LED to my headlight circuit, on a bendable lead so I can have a light
over my bike computer at night.

--
JS

[Trent W. Buck]

Zebee Johnstone > writes:

> In aus.bicycle on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 11:10:14 +1000
> Trent W. Buck > wrote:
>> Zebee Johnstone > writes:
>>> The dollar's just dived so it ain't as easy as it was, but look at
>>> bike24.de and see if there's anything you can come at.

A couple of weeks ago my OEM bulb headlamp decided to get stuck on "dim"
instead of the more useful on/auto/off settings it started with.

So I finally got around to buying an LED-based replacement from bike24.
IIRC it worked out at AUD70, of which about a third was shipping. Meh;
I tend to view capital expenses as an investment.

Arrived Tue, installed it Wed. Brief panic because until I hooked up
the ground, the rear light was lighting up, but the front one wasn't.

Used it the last two nights and it's *definitely* nicer than the bulb
one, thanks for putting me onto bike24.

It's not *super* bright, but I'm OK with that. Assuming both spec sheets
are honest, I went from 17lux to 25lux. Most of my commute is under
street lighting anyway.

The light output is much whiter than the bulb, and the output is mostly
in two rectangles, with the upper-middle bit brightest:

+---+-------+---+
| | | |
| +-------+ |
| |
+---------------+

But it does some funky optics so there's also dimmer light spilling
around the edges (inc. straight down) as well. And it has a capacitor,
so when stopped or going up a steep hill, it stays on. That always
annoyed me with the previous one.

One thing I didn't expect, is that it flickers a bit even at speed,
whereas with a bulb that was only noticable when the bulb was only just
getting enough juice to light up.

The model I got was a B+M Classic (IIRC the "CSNDI" flavour).

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Thu, 14 Nov 2013 01:04:50 +1100
Trent W. Buck > wrote:
> Zebee Johnstone > writes:
>
>> In aus.bicycle on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 11:10:14 +1000
>> Trent W. Buck > wrote:
>>> Zebee Johnstone > writes:
>>>> The dollar's just dived so it ain't as easy as it was, but look at
>>>> bike24.de and see if there's anything you can come at.
>
> A couple of weeks ago my OEM bulb headlamp decided to get stuck on "dim"
> instead of the more useful on/auto/off settings it started with.
>
> So I finally got around to buying an LED-based replacement from bike24.
> IIRC it worked out at AUD70, of which about a third was shipping. Meh;
> I tend to view capital expenses as an investment.

There might be cheaper places, but I haven't found anything much
cheaper as it seems to be more expensive EUR->AU than US->AU.

> Arrived Tue, installed it Wed. Brief panic because until I hooked up
> the ground, the rear light was lighting up, but the front one wasn't.
>
> Used it the last two nights and it's *definitely* nicer than the bulb
> one, thanks for putting me onto bike24.

Yeah, I found that going from halogen on my 'bent to the LED IQ Fly.

>
> One thing I didn't expect, is that it flickers a bit even at speed,
> whereas with a bulb that was only noticable when the bulb was only just
> getting enough juice to light up.

HAven't seen that on mine, wonder if it's an effect of the low power?
OR maybe just a bad connection somewhere?

Zebee

[Trent W. Buck]

Zebee Johnstone > writes:

>> One thing I didn't expect, is that it flickers a bit even at speed,
>> whereas with a bulb that was only noticable when the bulb was only
>> just getting enough juice to light up.
>
> Haven't seen that on mine, wonder if it's an effect of the low power?
> OR maybe just a bad connection somewhere?

I might still have a short in the wiring somewhere...

[James[_8_]]

On 14/11/13 01:04, Trent W. Buck wrote:
> Zebee Johnstone > writes:
>
>> In aus.bicycle on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 11:10:14 +1000
>> Trent W. Buck > wrote:
>>> Zebee Johnstone > writes:
>>>> The dollar's just dived so it ain't as easy as it was, but look at
>>>> bike24.de and see if there's anything you can come at.
>
> A couple of weeks ago my OEM bulb headlamp decided to get stuck on "dim"
> instead of the more useful on/auto/off settings it started with.
>
> So I finally got around to buying an LED-based replacement from bike24.
> IIRC it worked out at AUD70, of which about a third was shipping. Meh;
> I tend to view capital expenses as an investment.
>
> Arrived Tue, installed it Wed. Brief panic because until I hooked up
> the ground, the rear light was lighting up, but the front one wasn't.
>
> Used it the last two nights and it's *definitely* nicer than the bulb
> one, thanks for putting me onto bike24.
>
> It's not *super* bright, but I'm OK with that. Assuming both spec sheets
> are honest, I went from 17lux to 25lux. Most of my commute is under
> street lighting anyway.
>
> The light output is much whiter than the bulb, and the output is mostly
> in two rectangles, with the upper-middle bit brightest:
>
> +---+-------+---+
> | | | |
> | +-------+ |
> | |
> +---------------+
>
> But it does some funky optics so there's also dimmer light spilling
> around the edges (inc. straight down) as well. And it has a capacitor,
> so when stopped or going up a steep hill, it stays on. That always
> annoyed me with the previous one.
>
> One thing I didn't expect, is that it flickers a bit even at speed,
> whereas with a bulb that was only noticable when the bulb was only just
> getting enough juice to light up.
>
> The model I got was a B+M Classic (IIRC the "CSNDI" flavour).

I'm waiting for this one...

http://www.xxcycle.com/busch-and-muller-cyo-premium-front-light-iq-tec-p-80-lux-1752qtsndi-04,,en.php

--
JS

[Trent W. Buck]

(Trent W. Buck) writes:

> Zebee Johnstone > writes:
>
>>> One thing I didn't expect, is that it flickers a bit even at speed,
>>> whereas with a bulb that was only noticable when the bulb was only
>>> just getting enough juice to light up.
>>
>> Haven't seen that on mine, wonder if it's an effect of the low power?
>> OR maybe just a bad connection somewhere?
>
> I might still have a short in the wiring somewhere...

I had another look at the flickering isn't there at high speed.