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Bicycle Lights

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Beptud

On Training Wheels
Hey everyone,

My name is Leo and I'm a student at the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
I'm currently doing research for my Bachelor thesis into bike lighting and the possible opportunity of introducing vintage models with modern technology.

I don't know if people on this forum even use lights - they seem to be taboo for some folks - but if so, could people help me out?
I need to find out what would trigger you guys to get a vintage light for your bikes and what your budget is for a light (or set including rear).

Suggestions for design, technologies and examples are more than welcome!

Thanks bunches!
Leo

P.S. There's a very real possibility the outcome of my project will actually be used by the company I'm working for.
 
Hello Leo,
Just my personal opinion but I don't think there would be much of a market for new lights (or technology) on classic bicycles. Most of the deluxe equipped bikes came from the factory with very specific lights--some commanding huge prices. Now if you were going to do some exact reproductions that would be another story but they would have to stay true to the originals and use the orignal type bulbs and dry cell batteries. V/r Shawn
 
A subject near and dear to me! The best rundown on lighting I've found is at:
http://nordicgroup.us/s78/
On my commuter I use a 20 watt halogen spotlight which is probably excessive and an LED blinkie front and back. A vintage style light I'd buy would be:
Compact.
Have a flashing mode- illegal in the EU, but in the US a red or white blinky signifies "bicycle".
Headlight needs to throw a significant pool of light-just my preference.
I would be interested in a permanently mounted front fender mounted torpedo light and a rear fender mounted light, like a Delta Defender or a Persons reflector mount- more difficult to steal.
Use standard batteries.
Other options could be an oil lamp or Carbide lamp -looking shell housing modern high quality components.
There would probably be a market for French-looking 1940's-1950's lights as well.
 
Light!

The three I have with lights are these...

Photo0408.jpg
Photo0411.jpg


This one's a 1937, the light is wartime and was originally battery powered.

The other more common one that you'll often find associated with bikes is this type:-

norman09.jpg
Photo0421_1.jpg


This type's is dynamo powered, with a picture of the rear hub. The tube attached to the downtube, under the saddle, was a battery pack which acted as a rechargeable battery so that the lights didn't go off when you stopped pedalling.

The last type I have is this:-

Photo0379.jpg


This one (although broken!) is a carbide lamp. This was basically a paraffin lamp that had a naked flame. This was the type most commonly used until about the 30's.

Hope that helps you a bit!
 
Thanks for replying so quickly guys! And for the honest input, I'll try to keep up and reply to as much as possible!

Might be a good thing to mention that for now I'll be focusing on aftersales.

@danny7147: Thanks for the info and pics, neat!
 
Hi Leo,
If you search for LED lighting on here and ratrodbikes.com, you'll see there are some people that do want to ride their bikes at night. Lighting is very important on city streets while riding on the street.
I would be interested with LED conversion kits for vintage lights.
 
Hi Leo,
If you search for LED lighting on here and ratrodbikes.com, you'll see there are some people that do want to ride their bikes at night. Lighting is very important on city streets while riding on the street.
I would be interested with LED conversion kits for vintage lights.

This is quickly becoming a marketable place to start investing. If the price can be in the lower $20-$30 range many people would probably pop for a new light. Seeing that they will probably not be used that much (driving bikes at night...and on streets) the price range will effect sales. So, a good point to make is that during the daylight hours the housing must look attractive (and correct if doing re-pop customs of older styles), and must be functional at night.

I have seen quite a few older light bodies modified to be fitted with L.E.D. battery powered lights. These looked great but were done by the owners, so there is a trick to getting them right. Maybe a conversion kit to make things simple to those who may want to upgrade their older style (flashlight style) lights to new/brighter ones would be worth looking into.

Just some thoughts.
 
So, a good point to make is that during the daylight hours the housing must look attractive (and correct if doing re-pop customs of older styles), and must be functional at night.

Exactly what I was thinking. Aesthetics do still play a large (if not the largest) part of choosing to buy a light in the first place, no?

Thanks guys! :)
 
The latest light technology is LEDs powered by an eddy current generator which has no tire roller or any other moving parts.
 
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