Fascinating! I've been given one to put together with a SON dynohub for someone so am getting genned up on it. No doubt things are better than they were 70 years ago, but they just can't quite get it right... ...70 odd years ago Sturmey Archer developed an amazing system about 1948 or 50 for their Dynohub. This was rated at 6v AC 2Watts max, but 1.8W realistically. They did something very crafty with 5 diodes and a resistor. Sweet as a nut, years ahead of its time, solid state, and simple schoolboy electronics. You rectified your AC from the dynohub with 4 diodes as the rectifier to charge 3 x 1.5v batteries then used a 5th as a zenner diode that blocked flow from the batteries. If you slowed to less than 4.5v output from the dynohub, about 6 mph, the zenner diode stopped stopping and let the current flow from the batteries to the lights. Ingenious. But totally gutless. The rechargeable D cells were acid gel that leaked and took more current to charge than the dynohub could produce. The dynohub used 6 volt bulbs, but only in combinations of 300mA front and 40mA rear or 100mA rear with 250 or 200mA front. The batteries only added up to 4.5v, so the dismal output was even worse. New dynamo/hub regs for bulbs were set at 6v 500mA front and 6v 100mA rear from about 1985 (UK) and Sturmey Archer ceased production of their Dynohub when those new regs came in. At school I built a power supply for a dynohub with a huge 47,500mF capacitor- and about 4" x 2" too. I carried it about in a basket on the front of the bike. Above a certain speed it could power a Sony Walkman- cassette tapes in those days but it could not power that and the lights at any time. MP3 devices did not exist, and CD's bounced about, so it was cassette, radio, or whistle if you wanted tunes on your bike.
THANK YOU. Seriously. I was being a brat about the size of the Luxos U/all the external clunky bits and looking at other options. But that's gonna be the one for me. Awesome, thoughtful review.
Hello Bike Counterculture, even though I might as well ask Sinewave straight away, question: Do you know if any of these issues have been adressed by Sinewave since? (As your review ist from the end of 2018!) I'd be curious, if ever, to have your honest commentary! Kind regards
Good review, pretty much covers all the concerns I would have if I was thinking about purchasing one. Happy with my Luxos U, which seems to solve many of the issues you discussed here. Internal battery for full light output at stops, low speed shifts to a 2nd low directional light. No issues charging, but no option to run the light and charge. Priced way lower. For being plastic in some parts, it's held up well. Been on my bike since I bought it and it's seen it's fair share or touring use.
Andrew Wade Yeah the Luxos U is great but I’m not buying another B&M product with a plastic mount. Just had to toss out another one this month. It’s what I’m running on my townie though and fingers crossed it holds out until something better comes along.
@@kLiteRacing I read the announcement and viewed the video on Bikepacking.com Seems like a great upgrade from the original version. It's on my wish list, hoping to get my hands on one eventually. Cheers!
Good review; thanks. In regards to charging and running lights simultaneously I think it's kind of looking for a unicorn unless you run a rear dynohub also.. personally, I'm either riding at night or I'm riding at day and charging while on a tour but not both and I think it's asking an awful lot to get around that. All other points, super useful; I hope they improve the stand light because that seems like an easy target. You hit on a lot of things most reviews miss (while missing the most important part but there are other reviews with footage of the light in use).
I’ve been pretty happy with mine. The only time I get the flicker is at very low speeds, basically when walking my bike. I have experienced variable light performance when trying to power my phone or charging a cache battery but at downhill speeds I get a good constant beam. However, when charging I do feel some extra resistance from my hub, it’s strange and I don’t know if it’s the hub, light, or maybe a short in the wire. I agree that the standby light would be better brighter and not lasting for hours. Overall I like how bright the light is even angled down It is bright enough for cars and people to see me coming, often with confused expressions to see that the source of the light is just a bicycle. I’m riding a Crust Romanceur with 26x2.3 RTP tires. Do you feel that B+ on the evasion could play a role in performance? This is my first dynamo set up so my knowledge is limited.
Thanks for sharing your impressions. I've heard that there actually is a difference in the resistance of a dynamo when there is power being drawn vs when no light/charger is connected. That sort of blows my mind and I don't know if it's true or to what degree it is, but I hear riders talk about feeling a buzz in their dynamo at speed and maybe this is what you're feeling. The Beacon was previously being used with a Romeo on 26x2.1" tires and a Son28 hub so I don't think my issues are diameter based. Pretty significant difference between this and the Luxos U which I think sets the functional benchmark.
@@BikeCounterculture Not sure why ya'll are surprised that there is torque resistance/vibration when an electrical load is attached? After all, the energy isn't being harvested from thin air, there is a conversion of mechanical energy into electrical. Reverse the flow and it's the same reason that when you excite a e-bike motor there is electricity flowing form a battery and being turned into mechanical torque to spin your wheel. On a personal note I can definitely feel the load of all my dynamo headlights when I switch it on/off riding on a smooth trail. The Luxos U in particular is interesting because when the light is turned completely off I can feel a periodic vibration every 30 seconds for a 5 second burst which is a result of the Luxos U management circuit "topping off" the internal lithium ion cache battery to keep it at full capacity, ready for a phone to be connected or light being turned on. That makes the Luxos U slightly different than most other dynamo lights that typically rely on a super capacitor for standlight operation whereas Luxos relies on an internal cache battery.
I don't have one but I have been thinking about it. Some of your issues may be dynamo related. I have the Schmit Edelux with the Son 28 Dynamo hub. Haven't experimented much but so far so good. The light also cannot be turned off but is bright enough, and goes off in about 5 minutes. I was told not to plug my phone in directly but to use a battery pack because cell phones like pure power but a battery pack does not care.
Very surprised, I was expecting very good light review. I ended up here thinking to swap my Luxos U, that maybe doesnt look as good, but I can confirm to previous comments that Luxos U is a great product. Most quality lights dont even tell how many lumens there is but rather lux. It’s about light pattern not the power. Very frustrating to cycle especially in the winter when some one is blasting 1k lumens into the sky and your eyes. Just a few cents from me. Greetings from Finland.
Power analysis for bicycle touring can be extremely difficult, given the many technological devices on the market. The good news is smartphones are becoming more power efficient with chip shrinkage. Think the iphone 12 with the A14 chip. Many cyclists love to log their rides but this consumes a considerable amount of power. The solution is low powered gps loggers that last for months.
John H.T. Strong Yup see my response to Andrew. Good light but get it from someplace with a good return policy in case it breaks. I heard Bike24 is good to work with.
You've explained all dynamo lights dude. Standlight is always dim. The light is flawless yes it's an off road beam had no problems on bike paths. An off road beam makes me happy vs a road..you need a better dynamo hub like a son28. There is overcharge protection in your sinewave or your dynamo hub and power is only sent to devices when speeds are safe. Your description tells me you use shimano Alfine hub or similar like a non serviceable draggy shutter precision due to expensive light. Son gives you full beam at slow speeds. Shimano flickers. Son charged my devices better than my Alfine.
@@BikeCounterculture Thanks for the update, I was wondering which dynamo hub you used. As this is the one I intend to purchase this information is much appreciated and makes your review even more valuable ! As for the rant to which you answered, it did not really make sense. Shimano dynamo hubs usually give more power than SON or SP hubs at low speeds, the trade-off being higher drag for Shimano. Furthermore, SP hubs have a fairly low drag, comparable to SON hubs, at least way lower than Shimano hubs... the trade-off being they output relatively low power at low speeds. www.cyclingabout.com/dynamo-hub-power-drag-testing-schmidt-son-shutter-precision-shimano/
Fascinating! I've been given one to put together with a SON dynohub for someone so am getting genned up on it. No doubt things are better than they were 70 years ago, but they just can't quite get it right...
...70 odd years ago Sturmey Archer developed an amazing system about 1948 or 50 for their Dynohub. This was rated at 6v AC 2Watts max, but 1.8W realistically.
They did something very crafty with 5 diodes and a resistor. Sweet as a nut, years ahead of its time, solid state, and simple schoolboy electronics. You rectified your AC from the dynohub with 4 diodes as the rectifier to charge 3 x 1.5v batteries then used a 5th as a zenner diode that blocked flow from the batteries.
If you slowed to less than 4.5v output from the dynohub, about 6 mph, the zenner diode stopped stopping and let the current flow from the batteries to the lights.
Ingenious. But totally gutless. The rechargeable D cells were acid gel that leaked and took more current to charge than the dynohub could produce. The dynohub used 6 volt bulbs, but only in combinations of 300mA front and 40mA rear or 100mA rear with 250 or 200mA front. The batteries only added up to 4.5v, so the dismal output was even worse. New dynamo/hub regs for bulbs were set at 6v 500mA front and 6v 100mA rear from about 1985 (UK) and Sturmey Archer ceased production of their Dynohub when those new regs came in.
At school I built a power supply for a dynohub with a huge 47,500mF capacitor- and about 4" x 2" too. I carried it about in a basket on the front of the bike. Above a certain speed it could power a Sony Walkman- cassette tapes in those days but it could not power that and the lights at any time. MP3 devices did not exist, and CD's bounced about, so it was cassette, radio, or whistle if you wanted tunes on your bike.
Can't thank you enough for making this video, you just saved me a lot of hassle.
THANK YOU. Seriously. I was being a brat about the size of the Luxos U/all the external clunky bits and looking at other options. But that's gonna be the one for me. Awesome, thoughtful review.
Hello Bike Counterculture, even though I might as well ask Sinewave straight away, question: Do you know if any of these issues have been adressed by Sinewave since? (As your review ist from the end of 2018!) I'd be curious, if ever, to have your honest commentary! Kind regards
Good review, pretty much covers all the concerns I would have if I was thinking about purchasing one. Happy with my Luxos U, which seems to solve many of the issues you discussed here. Internal battery for full light output at stops, low speed shifts to a 2nd low directional light. No issues charging, but no option to run the light and charge. Priced way lower. For being plastic in some parts, it's held up well. Been on my bike since I bought it and it's seen it's fair share or touring use.
Andrew Wade Yeah the Luxos U is great but I’m not buying another B&M product with a plastic mount. Just had to toss out another one this month. It’s what I’m running on my townie though and fingers crossed it holds out until something better comes along.
@@BikeCounterculture have a look at k-Lite Bikepacker Pro V2. Might be just what you're after.
@@drucyphr thx for the plug....have you seen the new version, the kLite ULTRA??
@@kLiteRacing I read the announcement and viewed the video on Bikepacking.com Seems like a great upgrade from the original version. It's on my wish list, hoping to get my hands on one eventually. Cheers!
Good review; thanks. In regards to charging and running lights simultaneously I think it's kind of looking for a unicorn unless you run a rear dynohub also.. personally, I'm either riding at night or I'm riding at day and charging while on a tour but not both and I think it's asking an awful lot to get around that. All other points, super useful; I hope they improve the stand light because that seems like an easy target. You hit on a lot of things most reviews miss (while missing the most important part but there are other reviews with footage of the light in use).
Does it charge when the light is “off”?
Great review Dan - SOLID information.
I’ve been pretty happy with mine. The only time I get the flicker is at very low speeds, basically when walking my bike. I have experienced variable light performance when trying to power my phone or charging a cache battery but at downhill speeds I get a good constant beam. However, when charging I do feel some extra resistance from my hub, it’s strange and I don’t know if it’s the hub, light, or maybe a short in the wire. I agree that the standby light would be better brighter and not lasting for hours. Overall I like how bright the light is even angled down It is bright enough for cars and people to see me coming, often with confused expressions to see that the source of the light is just a bicycle. I’m riding a Crust Romanceur with 26x2.3 RTP tires. Do you feel that B+ on the evasion could play a role in performance? This is my first dynamo set up so my knowledge is limited.
Thanks for sharing your impressions. I've heard that there actually is a difference in the resistance of a dynamo when there is power being drawn vs when no light/charger is connected. That sort of blows my mind and I don't know if it's true or to what degree it is, but I hear riders talk about feeling a buzz in their dynamo at speed and maybe this is what you're feeling.
The Beacon was previously being used with a Romeo on 26x2.1" tires and a Son28 hub so I don't think my issues are diameter based. Pretty significant difference between this and the Luxos U which I think sets the functional benchmark.
@@BikeCounterculture Not sure why ya'll are surprised that there is torque resistance/vibration when an electrical load is attached? After all, the energy isn't being harvested from thin air, there is a conversion of mechanical energy into electrical. Reverse the flow and it's the same reason that when you excite a e-bike motor there is electricity flowing form a battery and being turned into mechanical torque to spin your wheel. On a personal note I can definitely feel the load of all my dynamo headlights when I switch it on/off riding on a smooth trail. The Luxos U in particular is interesting because when the light is turned completely off I can feel a periodic vibration every 30 seconds for a 5 second burst which is a result of the Luxos U management circuit "topping off" the internal lithium ion cache battery to keep it at full capacity, ready for a phone to be connected or light being turned on. That makes the Luxos U slightly different than most other dynamo lights that typically rely on a super capacitor for standlight operation whereas Luxos relies on an internal cache battery.
what bars?
I don't have one but I have been thinking about it. Some of your issues may be dynamo related. I have the Schmit Edelux with the Son 28 Dynamo hub. Haven't experimented much but so far so good. The light also cannot be turned off but is bright enough, and goes off in about 5 minutes. I was told not to plug my phone in directly but to use a battery pack because cell phones like pure power but a battery pack does not care.
Very surprised, I was expecting very good light review. I ended up here thinking to swap my Luxos U, that maybe doesnt look as good, but I can confirm to previous comments that Luxos U is a great product. Most quality lights dont even tell how many lumens there is but rather lux. It’s about light pattern not the power.
Very frustrating to cycle especially in the winter when some one is blasting 1k lumens into the sky and your eyes.
Just a few cents from me.
Greetings from Finland.
check out Cygolite
Did you make that mount out of something? I need something like that but having a hard time finding one.
Yeah I chopped down and filed a disc brake adapter
@@BikeCounterculture nice thank you
Great review, thanks!
Hi, thanks for the review. What hub are you running this off of? And about what speed do you ride?
Peter Szabo Son28 hub and I’m usually average 10-12mph around town
Power analysis for bicycle touring can be extremely difficult, given the many technological devices on the market. The good news is smartphones are becoming more power efficient with chip shrinkage. Think the iphone 12 with the A14 chip. Many cyclists love to log their rides but this consumes a considerable amount of power. The solution is low powered gps loggers that last for months.
Thank you!
Thanks for sharing - by any chance have you been able to try out the Luxos U?
John H.T. Strong Yup see my response to Andrew. Good light but get it from someplace with a good return policy in case it breaks. I heard Bike24 is good to work with.
Awesome.
Mine is working really well. Too bad about the wires. Twat 😂 I have a basket on the front of my bike. I recommend it
You've explained all dynamo lights dude. Standlight is always dim. The light is flawless yes it's an off road beam had no problems on bike paths. An off road beam makes me happy vs a road..you need a better dynamo hub like a son28.
There is overcharge protection in your sinewave or your dynamo hub and power is only sent to devices when speeds are safe. Your description tells me you use shimano Alfine hub or similar like a non serviceable draggy shutter precision due to expensive light.
Son gives you full beam at slow speeds. Shimano flickers. Son charged my devices better than my Alfine.
I use SON28 hubs and have a number of dynamo lights to use as reference, dude.
@@BikeCounterculture Thanks for the update, I was wondering which dynamo hub you used. As this is the one I intend to purchase this information is much appreciated and makes your review even more valuable !
As for the rant to which you answered, it did not really make sense. Shimano dynamo hubs usually give more power than SON or SP hubs at low speeds, the trade-off being higher drag for Shimano. Furthermore, SP hubs have a fairly low drag, comparable to SON hubs, at least way lower than Shimano hubs... the trade-off being they output relatively low power at low speeds.
www.cyclingabout.com/dynamo-hub-power-drag-testing-schmidt-son-shutter-precision-shimano/
Thanks think I'll save my pennies, as it's a lot to pay out for those issues. I'll stick to a B&M.