Re: For those who believe in electricity

On 4/11/2025 12:44 PM, Roger Merriman wrote:

AMuzi <am@yellowjersey.org> wrote:

On 4/11/2025 4:15 AM, Roger Merriman wrote:

>

I have had light failures.  Mine run incandescent globes not
LEDs. Those fail at about 8~10 years.  Those bikes have been
1/2 year daily rides, that is, a winter bike and a summer bike.

 Which rather proves my point really both you and Frank are outliers in this
regard! With incandescent being rather rarer than Dynamos, I don’t recall
seeing any for a very long time!
 AA/AAA lights aren’t that common being supplemented by USB or coin battery
powered lights, though do see them still.

I probably still own some AA powered halogen headlights, mostly because I seldom throw away anything remotely useful. Yes, it's a personal fault. But for actual riding, I switched to LEDs many years ago.
I've used generator powered lights since about 1977, experimenting back then to improve light output (when others were charging lead acid batteries to power MR spotlight bulbs) even though good quality stock units were fine for my uses. But when high output LED dynamo headlights came on the market, I bought them and considered the problem solved.
Since then, the LEDs have gotten brighter, but I've seen no reason to chase every incremental improvement. The headlights I use light up street signs 1/4 mile away, so they must be visible to motorists half a mile away. They give me plenty of illumination of the roadway, and light it better than the headlights of my friends. That's good enough for me.
Similarly, the fact one can buy a 16 pound bicycle doesn't mean everyone with 18 pound bicycles must trade up. Not even those with 26 pound bicycles. What matter is whether one's equipment meets their needs, not whether it's the latest, greatest technology.
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- Frank Krygowski