Bike lighting for night-time cycling
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Whether it's for a Flèche Velocio arrow, a BRM or a mountain bike ride, night lighting is important and in recent years manufacturers have made interesting progress.
Lighting systems are now no longer universal, but specialized for a specific activity or use case.
Lighting topic:
- Bike lighting for night-time cycling.
- Led Lenser lighting.
- The specific headlight for the dynamo: Lumotec IQ X.
- The advantage of the dynamo hub powers the endurance cyclist's lighting.
- The electrical equipment of the bike for the long-distance touring cyclist..
Nighttime lighting is important and in recent years, manufacturers have made interesting progress.
Lighting systems are no longer universal, but specialized for specific activities or use cases. Let's distinguish between lighting that mounts onto the bike and those that mount onto the bike helmet. While some allow for both, others only provide a single support, such as the handlebar or stem.
For use on a helmet, whether it's for mountain biking or road cycling, it is preferable to use lighting with button-type batteries, as they are very lightweight. For road cycling, it is not a problem for the handlebar or stem-mounted lighting to have four AA-type batteries or a 100-gram battery.
Autonomy of lighting and his price
In terms of autonomy, which is an important factor for cyclists who may ride through the night, progress is made through the use of LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). In addition to not having a filament, these LEDs consume very little energy, allowing the cyclist to have lighting for over 40 hours.
In terms of price, there are options for all budgets and desires: from hybrid energy lamps with solar sensors and rechargeable batteries to lamps with multiple LED lights using either batteries or a battery pack.
When looking at the various products on the market, it is important to distinguish what is included in the package. There are lamps sold separately without batteries and separate electrical chargers. They can work with rechargeable or non-rechargeable batteries.
Then there are lamps that come with battery chargers and rechargeable batteries included.
Finally, there are lamps that come with a battery pack and a battery charger.
Rechargeable batteries
Regarding rechargeable batteries, they are not all equivalent: we need to distinguish between NiCd batteries that must be discharged before being recharged, and whose cadmium is very polluting when not recycled; NiMH batteries that are slightly more expensive to purchase, less polluting, and do not have the memory effect of NiCd batteries; and finally, Li-ion batteries, which are still not very widespread but are under development.
In terms of capacity, it is indicated on the battery itself and is expressed in mAh - milliampere-hours. The higher the number, the longer the battery will last.
When purchasing your lighting package, be sure to check the type of batteries included (Ni-Cd, NiMH (preferable), or Li-ion), as well as their capacity: 800 mAh and 2500 mAh.
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