Headlight upgrades for ebikes with stock headlights?

[tomjasz]

Stvzo for the win.

 

[kmccune]

, go here and get a multivolt led light( great selection) with a bracket I will use a 6ah Ryobi battery that also fits my inflator, you can run many lights make an adapter out of a donor charging base add blinkers( no fluid please) and turn signal,etc, the Ryobl batteries most have a fuel gauge and the added bonus you can use the light weight inflator to pump up your tires or even a small sawzall( if you ride off the beaten oath and you will not deplete the main battery, simple wiring as well.

 

[kmccune]

If you want cheap bright rear blinkers go get the harbor freight triangles and hard wire them, there is really no need to overthink these matters, I think these run a 4.5 volts so the 6 volt controller or the 5 volt USB bus voltage will probably work fairly well, if you need a resistor in series so be it.

 

[kmccune]

We used to ride at night with 2 cell Eveready flashlights( usually had one) we had awful crashes, the thing is when you are young you know the swelling will go down.

 

[DiggyGun]

I feel super safe using the headlight at night and also running it on low power as a daylight running time during the day.

Likewise. I like to be seen. My wife and I both use Moon lights which are very good.

As well as the bike lights already fitted, we use rechargeable ones with a day double flash, both front and back. These are our “To be seen” lights.

When it’s dark, we use front lights with a higher lumen rating. Mrs DGs has a maximum of 2000 and mine has a maximum of 4000. However, the patterns and the brightness are very adjustable so we can choose the setting to suit our cycling environment. These are our “To see with” lights.

Only time we’ve had to use full power was going through an old, disused, but long railway tunnel.

I am a firm believer that you cannot have too much lighting when used correctly.

 

[tomjasz]

We used to ride at night with 2 cell Eveready flashlights( usually had one) we had awful crashes, the thing is when you are young you know the swelling will go down.

Nothing beats a real headlight. I agree with multi-voltage and properly focused headlights.

 

[m@Robertson]

Since I posted awhile back, I wrote up headlight and taillight articles, linked some of the research and so on etc.

Which Front Bicycle Lights Should I Use?

What front bicycle lights give the best beam pattern? Are blinking lights safer?

talesontwowheels.com

I think - for the rider - its better to have multiple beams pointing in multiple directions, to widen the arc of light you are traveling thru. I had a pair of excellent but extremely narrow beams on my commuter bike once, and got the shock of my life when I whizzed past some guy standing on the curb next to a car in a darkened residential street. Only reason I saw him at all was he took a pull on his cigarette right as I went past. From that point forward I added two small lights on each side of my main forward beams that are wide beams and that illuminate the areas just to the side of me a bit. My overall light pattern is that of an elongated pear.

Part and parcel with this use of multiple beams: I don't need anything to be running at full blast. I have very bright lights in some cases, but I use all of them at minimum intensity. Even in broad daylight. This gives me long intervals between recharges (I do it once per week).

Not so long ago I added ground effect lights on my Bullitt. It has the effect of lighting up the frame as well as the ground directly to my sides; creating a much larger visual 'footprint'. On a more traditional frame, something like this could be done on the downtube and chainstays. Bear in mind the blindingly-bright look in the pic is NOT the actual visual effect and is 100% an artifact of the camera lens. Its a very ... dispersed ... effect, for lack of a better term.

 

[DiggyGun]

Since I posted awhile back, I wrote up headlight and taillight articles, linked some of the research and so on etc.

Which Front Bicycle Lights Should I Use?

What front bicycle lights give the best beam pattern? Are blinking lights safer?

talesontwowheels.com

I think - for the rider - its better to have multiple beams pointing in multiple directions, to widen the arc of light you are traveling thru.

I have three lights at the front of my Riese and Muller Nevo3 GT Vario GX bike:
- The Busch and Muller Supernova mini 2 Pro, that came fitted to the bike. This is to the German StVZO standard. It is on all the time and I have it pointing to the ground about ten feet in front of the bike to illuminate the immediate area.
- The Moon Nebula this is on all the time and is set on the day double flash mode.
- The Moon Canopus. This is used when the light starts to fade and has variable settings so is used on different settings depending on the environment we’re cycling in. However, although used for distance it is not pointed at car users or pedestrians so as not to blind them.
I have two lights at the rear:
- The Busch and Muller Toplight 2C that came fitted to the bike. This is on all the time.
- The Moon Nebula. This is on all the time and is set on the day double flash mode.

Mrs DG has a similar set up on her Wisper 705, but has four front lights:
- The Wisper Classic front light that came fitted to the bike. It is on all the time as it is not that bright, more of a to be seen light.
- The Moon Orion. This is on all the time and is set on the day double flash mode.
- The Moon Meteor Storm Lite. This is used when the light starts to fade and has variable settings so is used on different settings depending on the environment we’re cycling in. It is pointing to the ground about ten feet in front of the bike to illuminate the immediate area.
- The Moon Meteor Storm Pro. This is used when the light starts to fade and has variable settings so is used on different settings depending on the environment we’re cycling in. However, although used for distance it is not pointed at car users or pedestrians so as not to blind them.
There are two lights at the rear:
- The Wisper Blaze-Lite rear light that came fitted to the bike. This is on all the time.
- The Moon Shield X. This is on all the time and is set on the day double flash mode.

I have to say that the Supernova is a very good light in its own right and is better than all the other lights that were fitted to mine and Mrs DGs previous bikes. But using these lights in this combination seems to work well for us.

 

[Camasonian]

Wow, thanks guys. Lots to absorb here. Some of you guys have some serious "cockpits" going on there.

It seems like the bottom line is to not mess with the stock wiring and headlights/taillights that come with these ebikes. But rather supplement them as necessary according to your needs with separately powered aftermarket headlights and taillights that are independent of the ebike wiring. With advances in both LED and battery technology one can get some pretty impressive lights these days that are pretty compact without need to drive off an existing power source. And since we are talking about 50 lb. ebikes, it's not exactly like we are carefully counting the grams.

 

[DiggyGun]

Wow, thanks guys. Lots to absorb here. Some of you guys have some serious "cockpits" going on there.

It seems like the bottom line is to not mess with the stock wiring and headlights/taillights that come with these ebikes. But rather supplement them as necessary according to your needs with separately powered aftermarket headlights and taillights that are independent of the ebike wiring. With advances in both LED and battery technology one can get some pretty impressive lights these days that are pretty compact without need to drive off an existing power source. And since we are talking about 50 lb. ebikes, it's not exactly like we are carefully counting the grams.

Agreed. When I made initial enquiries about adding extra lights, I was advised not to wire into the existing bike wiring, but to use rechargeable lights.

This way, any potential wiring issues are avoided, plus importantly, any potential warranty issues are also avoided.