Dynamo lighting
===============
I have been using battery-based lights since my return to cycling (in
2003, i think). Yes, my first bike ever (the Czechoslovak Sobi 20) had
the dynamo. But if was in the 1980 and I was a child in these times.
When I got my first "real" bike the dynamos were out of fashion.
For some reason in 2021 I have started to investigate possibilities to
replace battery lights by dynamo-powered ones. I even got a dynamo and
the lights but did not installed them in 2021. I actually started to do
this but failed on the fact that my dynamo was unable to be fitted to
the selected bike.
In mid-autumn of 2021 I have bought a Velamos mountain bike. It was a
bike from the same company which made the Sobi 20s. The bike (from
1994) have had the dynamo and working lights. I tried to use it briefly
but it was too noisy and I thought that the lights are too dim. I have
left them on the bike but also fitted a set of battery-powered lights.
Actually, this have became my wife's favorite bike. To be compatible I
have to find a second one. And I found an another Velamos. Not the same
model but a very similar one (it has the same gear ranges, the
same wheels but a lot of minor differences). Of course, it has
dynamo-powered lights. In fact, the dynamo is of an older type. I guess
that it is the same model that I had on my Sobi in 1980s. As a result
of experience with the first bike I rather fitted battery light here,
too.
But yesterday I have had to use this bike at night. If was cold and
little windy. There was also some ice on roads. The front light battery
died in the first half of the ride. It was somewhere in fields so it
wasn't possible to continue without lights. So I turned the dynamo
on... and after a few minutes (the bulds needed some time to warm up) I
was surprised how good are these old lights! I was able to ride safely
for the rest of the trip.
I have been curious how good are modern dynamo lights. Incidentally,
today arrive the Velogical [1] dynamo with a correct fitting set so I
have started my dynamo project. I have been using my upgraded Favorit
bike (an another Czechoslovak product) as the testing machine. At the
moment I can only confirm that the dynamo fits the bike and the light
are woring when I spin the wheel. I still have to route and connect all
the cables in a proper way (not the most of cables is hanging free). I
have noticed taht spinning dynamo makes almost as much noise as the 30
year old one. I expected some improvements.
I am curious if I will be able to finish this in not too distant
future...
References:
[1]
https://www.velogical-engineering.com/dynamo/produktinformationen/
