On 7/6/2020 2:37 PM, sms wrote:
On 7/5/2020 10:14 AM, Ralph Barone wrote:
sms wrote:

snip

Â*From the Urban Dictionary
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stvzo:

snip

[disclaimer: that entry into the Urban Dictionary was written by me
in 2013]



Gee, Steven. You wrote that?Â* No ****? I never would have guessed.
Â*LOL, well at the time I must have been particularly annoyed at someone
who was going on and on about how a sharp StVZO cutoff was somehow
always desirable and optimal.

I get particularly annoyed at posters who resurrect arguments they lost
long ago, but restate their opponents positions to make them sound
unreasonable. What shall we call that dishonest technique? Maybe a
"decrepit straw man" argument?

The reality is that for a bicycle light you want some top spill to be
able to read street signs, avoid low hanging tree limbs, etc., and you
want some bottom spill to be able to see the road surface which is often
of poor quality. Riding on unlit multi-use paths, which are very common,
generally requires something other than an StVZO beam.

Absolute bull****. One naturalist friend of mine calls me every month
near the full moon to ride a completely unlit MUP about ten miles from
here. My dynamo powered StVZO headlight is so much better than his
battery light that he often switches his light off to save its batteries.

And the only time that there was a tree down halfway across the trail
(maybe 9 months ago) we saw it in plenty of time using my light. I don't
think his would have shown it.

In my area, a lot of multi-use paths are along waterways. The county
encourages the development of trails along waterways but they usually
will not allow lighting to be installed because they don't want to
disturb the riparian environment,
https://www.valleywater.org/sites/default/files/WRPM%20Ch%203%20Trail%20Design.pdf.
To use these paths at night really requires a good light. I've tried it
with just a dynamo powered light and it's pretty scary because there are
many areas where you have to go quite slow and at 3-5MPH you're not
getting sufficient power from the dynamo to illuminate the path.

You must be using a really crappy, ancient headlight. For any modern LED
dynamo headlight, the brightness vs. speed curve is quite flat. The
decrease at low speed, all the way down to walking speed, is such that
one can _always_ see the path.

Even
one frequent r.b.t. poster purchased an Oculus light when he or she
realized that his or her dynamo lights were not quite adequate.

I bought the light to review it. It's got less than about three hours
use on it. If a person is racing down 30+ mph hills in total darkness,
they may need its brightness. No normal cyclist needs the brightness it
puts out. As Sir said, it's in a drawer, and it's for sale. If I needed
the money, I'd have sold it by now.

I'd be more than happy to trade it to Jay for his dyno wheel and headlamp.

--
- Frank Krygowski