Re: bike light optics

On 4/4/2024 4:16 PM, Roger Merriman wrote:
<snip>

The lamps as far as I can see are relatively speaking inexpensive, at least
compared roughly to batteries powered units, the expensive bit would seem
to be a Dynamo hub and wheel even if your building and installation
yourself, which is probably a technical hurdle beyond most.
 I’m really not a good fit for such lights, mainly that I want lights with
more power with the MTB/Gravel bike can get at least one dynamo lights with
a off road beam shaped but even so with a 3w limit it’s power output is
lacking for that purpose ie 800 lumens at 17mph+ my light kicks out at
least double that with potentially up to 3 times that, as it uses how fast
how much the bars are moving to gauge the light needed.

I have dynamo wheels on some bikes, a Dahon folder, my road bike, and one other. These are adequate for DRLs, but of course for night riding, even the higher-end dymano light I have is not sufficient on unlit roads or MUPs, and being from Europe there is no flash mode.
What would be nice is a higher-end battery powered light that could be charged with a dynamo, and operate at lower power directly from the dynamo, but there is no such animal. A dynamo to USB-C PD adapter would be perfect but all the dynamo USB commercial products are to 5VDC only.
--
“If you are not an expert on a subject, then your opinions about it really do matter less than the opinions of experts. It's not indoctrination nor elitism. It's just that you don't know as much as they do about the subject.”—Tin Foil Awards