@berlinonaut thanks for detailed response. Would you call starbike.com a reliable website to buy stuff? I've ordered MKS pedals from them and am waiting my order to be shipped.
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berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
I don't know that shop and it's from my perspective at the exact opposite side of the country.
Looks like a shop in a small town offering many high level components. So not one of the commonly known shops but no obvious sings that should make one suspicious neither.After using the light for a week I decided to return it. The beam hot spot is concentrated right in front of the back and throw is much shorter than I would expect. Not comfortable for me to ride at speed. The issue is mounting point. Turns out the beam was designed to be mounted at the handlebar hight and not to the fork of 16' Brompton. I agree with others that it would've been useful if mounting hight would've been indicated in Outbound website. Sent this suggestion to Tom.
I'll move forward with dynamo hub + light. Have ordered SON bub with Brompton rim + Edelux II as suggested by @berlinonaut I was really, really tempted to order IQ-X but after reading more reviews decided to stick with Edelux II. It seems like this setup of SON hub and light will be solid as a tank. Just what I need to set it and forget it. Interestingly enough it was difficult for me to find Edelux II in black color with 36cm cable from websites I know which ship to Turkey. Starbike.com have them on pre-order with no shipping date and bike24.com had last one on stock which I snagged immediately
I'll move forward with dynamo hub + light. Have ordered SON bub with Brompton rim + Edelux II as suggested by @berlinonaut I was really, really tempted to order IQ-X but after reading more reviews decided to stick with Edelux II. It seems like this setup of SON hub and light will be solid as a tank. Just what I need to set it and forget it. Interestingly enough it was difficult for me to find Edelux II in black color with 36cm cable from websites I know which ship to Turkey. Starbike.com have them on pre-order with no shipping date and bike24.com had last one on stock which I snagged immediately
Interestingly I did find much info about it in the internet but Brompton should be much better using dynamo. Normally dynamo capacity etc is described at speeds, when you reach 15 km/h it will reach this capacity etc. But Brompton wheel does about twice as much rotation as a normal bike's wheel which should cut that speed when you reach dynamo's full capacity in half. Unless SON SX designed for Brompton out less magnets to keep drag down and match speeds of normal bikes. I'm wandering how my setup will perform at lower speeds. Absence of rear light connected to dynamo should help as well.
berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
The XS is designed specifically for smaller wheels (that's why it's called "XS"
). It will perform well at lower speeds. Absence of a dynamo rear light doesn't make a noticable difference. The Edelux is easy to adjust on the Brompton (you'll obviously need a Brompton light bracket or one that fits the Brompton). It is - as far as I know - based on the Cyo Premium reflector (a from today's perspective older design) but performs way better due to the better heat design and general better craftmanship and more strict selection of parts when constructing and building the lamp. On my touring Brompton I fitted an additional lamp to the handlebar to have a high beam - in practice I never used it so it is gone again already for a while. I had hoped for an Edelux III for a while already but Mr. Schmidt has been busy doing other things and now he has moved his production workshop to a new location recently, so they are really busy with other tasks.
rogerzilla
Legendary Member
All small wheeled bikes should have special low pole count dynamo hubs (it makes no difference with bottle dynamos, as they are always driven at road speed). SP make S- versions for up to 20" wheels, and P- versions for larger wheels. Shimano also make hubs with fewer poles for small-wheeled bikes but their nomenclature is less obvious.
The old Sturmey-Archer Dynohub was the same for any size wheel, so was pretty unsuitable in the original Moultons it was often fitted to (349 tyres, same as Brompton). If you find yourself with one of these, a voltage regulator would certainly be a good idea to save on new bulbs; hubs don't saturate as much as bottle dynamos, so the voltage can really get out of hand at high speeds. Most voltage regulators use a zener diode pack to dump the excess voltage into a resistor and save no power at all, so it is best not to generate too much power in the first place.
The old Sturmey-Archer Dynohub was the same for any size wheel, so was pretty unsuitable in the original Moultons it was often fitted to (349 tyres, same as Brompton). If you find yourself with one of these, a voltage regulator would certainly be a good idea to save on new bulbs; hubs don't saturate as much as bottle dynamos, so the voltage can really get out of hand at high speeds. Most voltage regulators use a zener diode pack to dump the excess voltage into a resistor and save no power at all, so it is best not to generate too much power in the first place.
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The XS is designed specifically for smaller wheels (that's why it's called "XS"
@rogerzilla has valid point regarding higher voltage. As far as I know IQ-X has high voltage protection, do you know whether or not Edelux II has one as well? I'd like to think that I should not have any issues with SON hub and light assuming they designed both to be paired.
berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
According to the manual of the Edelux:
Overvoltage Protection The electronics within the Edelux II limits the output at the rear light to 8 Volt and in this way protects LED-rear lights of overvoltage. Rear lights with bulbs should not be applied together with the Edelux II.
Also: Battery-powered use of the Edelux II is not recommended. Voltage higher than 7.2 V – even for a very short time – may damage electronics and LED. Though voltage lower than 6.5 V is uncritical, it reduces brightness.
Running the Edelux w/o a rear light is ok according to manual and FAQ. I would completely trust Mr Schmidt only to sell stuff that is absolutely fit for purpose. So no worries.
Overvoltage Protection The electronics within the Edelux II limits the output at the rear light to 8 Volt and in this way protects LED-rear lights of overvoltage. Rear lights with bulbs should not be applied together with the Edelux II.
Also: Battery-powered use of the Edelux II is not recommended. Voltage higher than 7.2 V – even for a very short time – may damage electronics and LED. Though voltage lower than 6.5 V is uncritical, it reduces brightness.
Running the Edelux w/o a rear light is ok according to manual and FAQ. I would completely trust Mr Schmidt only to sell stuff that is absolutely fit for purpose. So no worries.
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Thanks @berlinonaut
I wander what experience other users have with dynamo back lights. Trying to decide whether to keep my battery back light or install a dynamo one.
My thought process for Dynamo vs battery:
Pro's for battery:
- can be mounted higher under the seatpost - better visibility
- day/night modes with different blinking patterns
- no hassle with installation, no cables
Cons:
- remember to charge it
Pro's for dynamo back light:
- install once and forget.
Cons:
- as far as I know there are no blinking models. Either on or off.
- installed much lower, in my case behind the rack - lower visibility. I'm aware of under the seatpost dynamo lights but will not do it with cable.
I wander what experience other users have with dynamo back lights. Trying to decide whether to keep my battery back light or install a dynamo one.
My thought process for Dynamo vs battery:
Pro's for battery:
- can be mounted higher under the seatpost - better visibility
- day/night modes with different blinking patterns
- no hassle with installation, no cables
Cons:
- remember to charge it
Pro's for dynamo back light:
- install once and forget.
Cons:
- as far as I know there are no blinking models. Either on or off.
- installed much lower, in my case behind the rack - lower visibility. I'm aware of under the seatpost dynamo lights but will not do it with cable.
berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
Not too much to say about dynamo rear lights. They are simply fire and forget and brand as well as type do not matter to much as long as the light fits the Brompton (which probably 90+% do). You can use the SON rear light if you like as it is small, well made and really nice to look at (but more expensive than most others). In combination with the Edelux you should avoid the Supernova tail light as it's stand light only works in combination with supernova dynamo front lights.
Regarding "no blinking": I do see this as an advantage. A blinking light makes it much harder for anyone behind you to calcultat the distance to you . close to impossible. Furthermore they are totally annoying if ride close behind someone with a blinking light (i.e. in a cycle lane).
I other aspects battery and dynamo rear lights are at level regarding the light output. Batteries in rear lights tend to last for years, so not too much risk of ending up with no light. On the other hand there's no disadvantage of a dynamo rear light - it completes the fire and forget scenario. The only thing is the missing option to mount t on the seat post due to the cable. In practice this has never turned out to be a problem. On the Brompton the mounting point has been where it is since the early 80ies and 700.000 bikes. I am not aware of a single incident or accident that was caused by the low mounting point of the rear light.
Regarding "no blinking": I do see this as an advantage. A blinking light makes it much harder for anyone behind you to calcultat the distance to you . close to impossible. Furthermore they are totally annoying if ride close behind someone with a blinking light (i.e. in a cycle lane).
I other aspects battery and dynamo rear lights are at level regarding the light output. Batteries in rear lights tend to last for years, so not too much risk of ending up with no light. On the other hand there's no disadvantage of a dynamo rear light - it completes the fire and forget scenario. The only thing is the missing option to mount t on the seat post due to the cable. In practice this has never turned out to be a problem. On the Brompton the mounting point has been where it is since the early 80ies and 700.000 bikes. I am not aware of a single incident or accident that was caused by the low mounting point of the rear light.
I have always used two lights front and back on my bikes. If the rear one in particular fails in use you will not know and you can be practically invisible to cars. If the front one fails in use you will know about it, but you might be in a ditch by then (I really did help someone out of a ditch down a dark country lane once who suffered this very reason).
On a B it can be difficult to arrange two lights each end but I use dynamo lights for the main lights and the little round strap-on rechargable lights as my backup lights - the strap can fit round the handlebars and seatpost.
If you only ever cycle in a streetlit city perhaps it's not so bad, but the lanes where I live can get very dark on some nights.
On a B it can be difficult to arrange two lights each end but I use dynamo lights for the main lights and the little round strap-on rechargable lights as my backup lights - the strap can fit round the handlebars and seatpost.
If you only ever cycle in a streetlit city perhaps it's not so bad, but the lanes where I live can get very dark on some nights.
rogerzilla
Legendary Member
The main problem with a dynamo rear on a Brompton (and why I don't have one on my S6L) is the vulnerability of the wiring when folding. Brompton provide instructions for how to route the cable (it is non-intuitive, so you need to read the .pdf carefully) and it needs to be taped/ziptied securely to avoid loose parts that could get snagged. You might want to use SON Koaxial cable for maximum life when the bike is folded twice daily.
I ride at night sufficiently rarely that I'm happy with a battery rear light (can last all winter with lithium AAAs). I do like a dynamo headlight, though, as headlights either eat batteries or require some sort of charging regime - annoying when the bike is used intermittently.
I ride at night sufficiently rarely that I'm happy with a battery rear light (can last all winter with lithium AAAs). I do like a dynamo headlight, though, as headlights either eat batteries or require some sort of charging regime - annoying when the bike is used intermittently.
berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
Hmm, didn't and don't find the wiring in any way complicated or confusing and never suffered from vulnerability. Do second the hint regarding the SON coax-cable, I do use it as well.
