Now that lights have become increasingly powerful, complex and expensive, what would you like to see more / less of in light designs? How about features you've not seen before?
Adjustable colour temperatures.
Adjustable beam patterns.
Clever 'one button designs. Maybe Lupine are close to the money but its probably the main thing that lets down the Hope lights.
Lower prices based on less of an assumption that I'm an idiot with very deep pockets and am easily led...
Someone ought to make a good, small mountain bike dynamo light with different brightness modes.
Can you get a disc brake dynamo hub?
Loads of people run 6 or 9W of lights off a dynamo on road bikes, and with the newest hubs, it adds very little drag, way less than you'd expect if you last used dynamo lights 10 years ago, or have only used tyre dynamos (my 6w setup I can't tell the difference in drag between on and off). 9W of power is enough to run something like a P7 or Cree MC-E LED, or a triple LED like people are putting in lumicycle conversions.
I think it'd be dead easy to build, as the hubs are current limited, so you don't have to worry about constant current supplies, all you have to do is rectify it somehow, maybe add a capacitor to smooth things out, and some kind of switching circuit for different brightness modes (easiest way would probably just be to switch in 1,2 or 3 LEDs depending on how a switch was set).
The other thing I think would be neat, would be a much smaller light head, with open airflow to the LED. I built something like this with a 20mm plastic light head (a plastic bottle cap actually) ages back, and it is still working fine, and is lighter and smaller than any light I've seen. The open airflow ensures it gets cooled very nicely without needing a massive light head. The connections can be hot glued if you're worried about rusting / short circuits, and the driver electronics potted. The downside I guess is the potential for dirt getting in, it doesn't seem to be a problem with mine, although I've only tried with single 3w LEDs so far, be interesting to see with a P7 or similar. Thinking about it, my rear dynamo light is also an open-airflow light - a 2W red LED, stuck in a bit of old seatpost (20mm inner diameter), although being on my commuter, it is above the mudguard, so quite protected from wet. My rear light is about 24mm x 50mm all in (could be shorter, it'd just be more hassle to mount).
Joe
trout light in red.
Actually make it bleu blanc rouge 😉
Just simple designs really. Not 1001 different modes, just high and low is fine thanks: A proper wide flood close up, and a long range high beam like a car really.
[img] 
[/img]
joemarshall - homebrew dynamo lights are getting almost as advanced as battery LED lights now. Remember [url= http://solidlights.stumpie.com/products/ ]Solidlights[/url]? or check out candlepower forums for some great examples. And yes you can get disc dynamo hubs, once the realm of expensive german makers but shimano even do one now! (Under Nexus and Alfine groups)
Yes, Shimano make disc compatible dynamos.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=248583
This guy has made a neat little dynamo light - even smaller than my rear light (basically the same circuit, but he had access to smaller components). That is pretty handy. A decent single LED light, in a unit about 10mm diameter by 30mm. Someone ought to build them, surely roadies would love em, given how much they'll pay for things like solidlights.
Joe
As Pieface says, adjustable colour temperature would be really good. I really like the "warmer" light that old halogens gave off, new LEDs have tonnes of output but make everything look washed out and lacking in contrast. Variable beam patterns could help in rain or fog.
Was thinking about the beam pattern thing a while back, as Germany apparently insists on a clipped top to the beam pattern for road use. Wondered if a multi led design like the Trout could be used with several of the optics modified with a bifocal-like lens, similar to the dip beam lens on my old Ford Puma. If you look at the headlamps on a Puma, the projector type lens on the dip has a line inscribed across it, giving the dip cut-off. I'm sure an optic could be produced that gives a similar effect, coupled with a switch that selects between full (all emitters on), and just those with modified optics. A seven led light could have say three or four as the 'dip' for road/town/bike path use.
Would you want to be able to set colour temperature mid-ride, or would it be an adjust-at-home sort of thing?
How might beam adjustments be made acceptably ergonomic? Could be a complex adjustment with many variables, how would you want to be able to make quick adjustments in the middle of nowhere / with gloves on / in rain / snow etc?
How about being able to set low and high brightness and beam pattern, and then having the lights fade from one to the other as you ride faster?
For me we have enough light now - I have a choice of a p7 or cree triple bar mount and a cree single helmet mount.
What I would want is smaller / lighter / longer run times.
Better optics would be good as well - as suggested above more like car headlamps with complex lenses rather than the simple lenses reflectors we now have we have.
One so bright that gives off so much heat it feels like you're riding on warm summers day even late at night in mid winter.
All I really feel is lacking from my P7 torches is burn time- one of them has a turboferret battery pack so it's pretty good but the other is just a single cell. They could certainly benefit from more power or better optics but IMO lights like these take us past the point where raw power is the big consideration any more.
Oh, and a low mode that isn't so low- this is an irritation with quite a lot of lights for me.
So I guess I want:
Inexpensive
600-1000 luments
Waterproof and tough/reliable
Lightweight
Burn time 4 hours +
Replacable batteries
Sensible choice of modes Hi, medium and off maybe. Customisation would be nice!
longer run times, and simplicity. None of this changing colour etc nonsense. A single white light, with a good beam pattern which negates the need for having a second 'more floody' light or whatever. And a simple switch. On or off. None of this hi/low/flashing bolox.
@AndyP - how long would be an acceptably long runtime, and how much would you expect to pay for it? Would weight be a factor for you?
laser beams capable of puncturing tyres, would make 24hr racing more enjoyable, at least for me.
Speed sensitive power rather than a switch.
Faster you are going the brighter the lights.
So for uphills they are low and when your stopped to talk to your mates you dont blind them.
Speed sensitive power rather than a switch.
Faster you are going the brighter the lights.
what about those slow technical sections where you want full brightness
Thought controled switching would be cool
Northwind - IME you just described Ay-ups now they have the new hi/low mode on the batteries.
TBH, I don't want anymore than what my Ay-Ups offer; for riding at night, you need some darkness to remain. If you want perfect vision and visibilty, ride in daylight; part of night riding is the fact that it is different in this way.
If you have to fettle, then make it burn times, weight and size, not how bright it is. The lens/optic thing doesn't bother me, but is possibly more relevant than just more lumens.
[i]Thought controled switching would be cool [/i]
only if you had to think in Russian.
[i]@AndyP - how long would be an acceptably long runtime, and how much would you expect to pay for it? Would weight be a factor for you? [/i]
6hrs would be good. Weight of course a factor - I believe you can get close to this with some massive bottle-battery type thing like Lupines use. As long as the head unit were small and the cable long enough to get from helmet to camelbak, weight of battery not so much an issue - but obviously the smaller the better.
> Speed sensitive power rather than a switch.
> Faster you are going the brighter the lights.
> So for uphills they are low and when your stopped to talk to your mates you dont blind them.
Was thinking about this while spending most of today driving, how about this:
* Set high and low light levels
* Set low and high speeds
* If moving below 'low' speed, light is at 'low' level
* If moving above 'high' speed, light is at 'high' level
* Light level ramps between the two levels for intermediate speeds
* Estimate of speed is always maximum reading from last 30 seconds to prevent lights suddenly going dim if you slow down
* Override mode for 'those slow technical sections where you want full brightness' etc
* Lights go into extra-low-power standby mode if bike is stationary for more than 30 seconds to save battery life. Again, can always be overidden if you need to do trailside repairs / read the map / etc.
KISS
just a high low switch. Small /light/ long run times /reliable /good beam pattern
Beam pattern is the area to improve I think.
@AndyP - 6hrs would be good. Weight of course a factor...
Pick any two from three:
* Long runtime
* Light weight
* High output
You can get six hours runtime, but perhaps not on 'full beam'.
If you wanted six hours runtime, what sort of 'Lumicycle halogen spot equivalent light output wattage' would you be wanting? I hesitate to ask for a 'Lumens' figure as that is dependent on beam pattern, and no-one seems to use Lux other than the recent WMB lights test - hooray for them for using the relevant and useful measurement.
Dr Rad, I love that speed sensitive system. Just have the battery being boosted by a hub dynamo, and we're there...
I hear you, but I'm thinking about a modular system. Basic is lighting heads plus batteries with switching somewhere between the two.
However, I was thinking of a system for tourists and endurance racers which would integrate with a dynamo to provide power to recharge gadgets and batteries for high powered lights. That would require a 'management' module, and once you have that, you can add pretty much anything you can conceive of in software with only a minimal overhead for interface and sensor hardware.
Hence my original question: what do you want your lights to do?
Bar mounted switch so you could change power settings without taking your hand off the bars.
Voice-operated ones that switch between 'high', 'low' beams for distance would be cool.
"[i]Bar mounted switch so you could change power settings without taking your hand off the bars[/i]"
This one can do that:
[img] 
[/img]
L.
"Bar mounted switch so you could change power settings without taking your hand off the bars"
I had that on an old clunky lead acid 10w cateye. Can't say i really miss it.
You can get six hours runtime, but perhaps not on 'full beam'.
the XP-G triple setup I put in my lumi HID case runs for 4 hours on full (>1000 lumens at the LED's) on the standard old lumicycle 40Watt Hour NiMh Battery . . . a more modern and larger capacity lithium tech battery should give 5-6 hours easily at the same power . . . All these new LED lights come with small capacity batteries, fine if you want lower runtimes, and also probably quite appropriate given few people need 6 hours runtime . . . but it's worth looking at battery capacity . . .
Funny enough I was thinking about this auto high/low thing just the other day . . . speed is far too much of a pain in the arse to do . . . extra wires/sensors are pointless and reliability liabilities . . . however . . . vibration would work . . . probably only need a one axis sensor and a wee microcontroller to interpret the data . . . then I thought . . . with 4 hours runtime at full . . . who cares . . . should patent that . . .
Lastly . . . I have a bFlex controller in my lamp, anything other then high and low with a simple toggle switch is far too much complexity . . . and I also agree that low should not be too low . . . I use 100% for high and 75% for low . . . of course if you use a tiny wee battery you may have different desires . . .
Fd
JW.
What lights do you run now ?.
L.
why square optics in a round hole ❓
BB.
The round shape allowed me to use 6 LEDs and achieve a decent spread of light, getting light down to the front wheel without using strange shaped and potentially difficult to seal lenses.
Also, having a round design allows me the option to use some of those cutter MCPCBs and round optics too, but I don't think there is a 6 XPG MCPCB and optic available.
And, I quite like the look actually.
🙂
L.
[i]@AndyP - 6hrs would be good. Weight of course a factor...
Pick any two from three:
* Long runtime
* Light weight
* High output
You can get six hours runtime, but perhaps not on 'full beam'.[/i]
aye - so that's what I [i]want[/i] from lights - all 3! any 2 from 3 is do-able at the moment. So in future I want to see full beam (as it'd just be on/off mode) for 6 hours, with a light weight. Get to work on it! 🙂
[i]> Funny enough I was thinking about this auto high/low thing just the other
> day . . . speed is far too much of a pain in the arse to do . . . extra
> wires/sensors are pointless and reliability liabilities . . .[/i]
Speed measurement is already built-in if you have a hub dynamo, you just measure the frequency of the output of the dynamo and calibrate that against wheel diameter. Can also do it with very little hassle and no extra sensors using a £40 GPS module. The third alternative is to have a wheel sensor and have the 'management' unit replace your cycle computer.
[i]> however . . . vibration would work . .[/i]
Not on the road it wouldn't... would be very difficult to calibrate against speed (or even 'required light brightness').
So for uphills they are low
Speed sensitivity better be bloody easy to override trail side. Just thinking of proper technical climbs where sometimes full power is more of a requirement than coming back down.
If it's going to be so easy to override, and you'd do it often, then why does the speed sensing need to be there in the first place? To me it just seems like it's over-complicating things for very little practical benefit.
@ DoctorRad
Fair enough on the road comment, where I live the road, on a bike, at night, is where people go to commit suicide . . . hence it doesn't cross my mind . . .
Huge oercomplexity just adds cost and unreliability (or both) . . . a high/low/on/off switch is quite sufficient . . . with increasing run times as the tech improves you just don't need anything very clever . . .
Personally I think 2 hours run time is insufficient, I always want sufficient contingency such that I have a decent light to get off the hill if things go pear shaped . . . and that is what low power mode is for 😉
Fd
I think there'd be a use for it, I'm obviously not the only person to have conceived of the idea of speed sensitive lights. For a lot of typical rides, I think it would be useful.
Often, it's not so much a change in brightness you need as much as a change in beam pattern. On a slow-speed technical climb, you might need a lot of light focussed close to the front wheel, whereas on a high speed downhill you'd want the beam to penetrate a lot further down the trail. Being able to adjust beam pattern with speed is therefore as relevant as being able to adjust brightness.
With an integrated GPS unit, you could even have the light unit remember settings for sections of your favourite ride or night laps of a 24 hour race.
Be good to have a "volume knob" to control the brightness so you could adjust it to what you need/want.
I'm sure Trout could do one that goes to "11" Spinal Tap stylee 😉
I'd like a joystick with 600ish lumens, 8 hours burn time and a switch that is easy to operate with gloves on.
yes surly the tech exists to do speed sensative control
the beam focusing would be quite difficult as to alter the beam with leds would mean some sort of flexible optic as they dont work like an incan bulb where moving the reflector does the biz .
Yeah, I've thought about the 'volume knob' interface too, but it's the old pick any two from three: small, sealed and cheap. I think it would be a great way to do a user interface, but could be easily replaced by up/down buttons.
With current technology, for 600 lumens and 8 hours runtime, you're looking at six Li-ion cells. 3 LEDs for cool white, 4 for wamr white. In a joystick format, that would need to be about six inches long and 1.5 inches in diameter. Quite a chunky joystick, but do-able. With cool white LEDs, you could almost double the drive current for approaching 1000 lumens and 4-4.5 hr runtime. Could operate as a stand-alone unit, or in conjunction with external switches or management units. Food for thought.
I was thinking of doing variable beam pattern by having emitters with different beam optics and varying their relative intensity. Feasible?
DR Rac, yeah, i think that sort of idea would work quite well.
I would say the simplest thing would be to tap into the speedo signal and uses those pulses in a control circuit for the speed / beam pattern.
hmmmm lots of ideas .... but i'd never get round to them.