Updates on the bicycle lighting review pages

2019-3-30: I'm reorganising my reviews: battery powered taillamps separated from dynamo taillamps, more sections for headlamps, so sections may move/change, and images/thumbnails may be invisible for a while until I fix it all.
2019-3-26: Added the section Motorists vs. cyclists, bad behaviour in certain countries?.
2019-3-26: A few updates about the rules in Germany and comments in an article, related to Laser projection headlamps.
2019-3-24: Start of the reviews of the Exposure Strada 1200 and the taillamp Exposure Blaze (which from first impressions seems far too bright but it has a nice light distribution.
2019-3-20: I visited bicyle lighting maker Exposure, had a tour of the facility, a talk with the owner and marketing manager about light design, interface such as OLED screens at the back, cutoff beams, the point or pointlessness of the strict rules in StVZO, and much more. I made some videos of the talk we had, which are not optimal and missing some part, but this is my first try and the main thing is to get some information about the company and how they look at certain design issues. But also some history, did you know for example that Exposure made the headlight that was used on some Cannondale bikes long ago such as the Bad boy Rohloff (2008, I was thinking of buying that bike then). I also got to know about Exposure's marine range of products, such as floating torches and torches and other devices with warning system and medical lamps. Contrary to most companies, Exposure is interested in criticism to improve, instead of praise (note that most companies whom I send suggestions to improve their products, esp. bicycle lights, never respond...). As I mentioned elsewhere: From praise you learn nothing, criticism tells you what you can or may want to improve. For my own website I'm also not interested in praise, only in discussions, and reasonable criticism. I will upload videos soon, also of the comparison of the bike lamps mentioned on 2019-3-14.
2019-3-14: First test rides done of Lupine SL and M99-pure compared to the Saferide 80. The results are quite interesting...
2019-3-10: Description of my plans to review high powered cutoff bicycle lamps for battery/e-bike. I will get a few lamps on loan as a start, then I will decide whether and how to continue with this section.
2019-3-10: I added pictures of Eneloops vs. Alkaline to my review of the Spanninga Elips XB (battery version), along wtih, Spanninga's reaction and my suggestions on how to modify the lamp to make it accept Eneloops.
2019-3-9: Dirk Strothmann from Magnic lights was apprarently offended by my review of the Magnic lights and made some stupid comments. I will publish all emails, see Magnic light.
2019-2-27: Added a note to my Spanninga Elips XB (battery version), about the fact that Eneloops don't fit according to the report of a reader. This may apply to other rechargeable AAAs too...
2019-2-14: Ah, Sunup is still tinkering with their front dynamo hub, that's why it's not yet on kickstarter...
2019-2-3: A few bits of news: - Exposure made StVZO compatible lights for pedelec/battery, you can see about it since a week or so on their site. What about a dynamo version?
- Quite a while ago Sunup finished their front wheel dynamo, ca. November 2018 there is this page Sunup front wheel dynamo for a future kickstarter project. At about 350 g, it looks interesting esp. high power with USB out, but still I think they should have gone for my original idea of a cassette type hub add-on with own hub (attached like a brake disc with bolts or lockring, and using a non-round axle end as I suggested long ago to SP, to fit into fork ends so that the hub doesn't rotate, and this axle-end can be used as well to make the non-rotating part of the hub part stay in place (not rotate). Or why not do both an own hub and make such an add-on for regular front hubs? A cassette version would mean interchangeable dynamo (could even be selectable in power, gearing or direct, etc. so there could be choices for different purposes), so in case the dynamo parts fails, you can still use your bike and replace the part (or get it serviced) later...
2018-12-6: Review of the Reelight Nova front and rear light with contactless rim dynamos.
2018-12-3: In December I will test the Reelight Nova system. It is similar to Magnic lights but separates the dynamo from the light, which long ago I mentioned on my site as what Magnic should have done (I even emailed them about that). The power output looks to be a lot more than what I saw with the magnic lights, so this could be interesting. The headlamp is not cutoff so not legal in Germany, but I will see how it fares and how blinding it is to oncoming traffic.
2018-11-9: Added tables to diagnose and prevent dynamo hub vibrations.
2018-8-13: Perhaps the Spanninga Duxo will get to no.1 in taillamps. It's similar to the Solo, but a little bigger reflector and a fully curved surface of the lamp include the retro-reflector. That eliminates a strong white glare for someone riding closely behind you that he will get otherwise from his own headlamp reflecting off of the top surface of a flat taillamp. This is what I wrote in my bike lighting standard of 2015, that should be required in taillamps! A quick test shows that the light output is good (no too bright spots) as with all Spanninga taillamps introduced from ca. 2015 onwards.

Older updates on the original combined review + analysis pages

2018-3-15: Axendo 60 USB rechargeable and Xanes SFL-01 (from Banggood.com) compared on several rides along with the Bidi dynamo headlamp in neutral white and Philips Saferide 80 neutral-white: The Xanes SFL-01 is very small and gives a lot of light but not 600lm, I would estimate from comparing e.g. light bounce against a wall with the Saferide 80 and Axendo 60 that it produces at most what the Saferide 80 produces, and likely 200-250 lm. A comparison with the Silva head mounted lamp that produces about 600 lm clearly lights up far more at at least the same intensity, so that confirms the estimate, but note that it is very difficult to estimate total light output. I have disassembled the lamp and will measure the current in high mode to get an estimate of what amount of light you will really get. The light colour is blueish, not good, and it has a low lux rating which means I can only properly see the surface of the road up to about 30-35 m (the white dots on the middle of road are barely distinguishable from that point on), whereas with the Axendo 60 about 50m, with the Saferide 80 about 60-70m. The beam of the Xanes is very even and not very wide but wide enough, so riding with it is pleasant. I would recommend this lamp as a backup to take with you on long tours even if you have dynamo lighting as it's so small and quite light. I would recommend it only for low speed cycling due to the short reach. I took the Xanes apart and will do measurements of current to the LED. More to come. [videos got unusable due to camera cutting out, I've been having problems, may need a new camera ]
2018-2-23: Finally a test ride with the Axendo 40 XDAS headlamp. Of course in a way it's not new as I had tried the Philips Saferide 40 with battery long ago and the beam of the Axendo 40 is the same as of the Saferide 40. It's really cheap (ca. €25,-), small, light weight and has a good beam for normal circumstances. It does not properly light up bends, but then that's true for just about all bicycle lamps. This is my favourite of the low cost lamps. For those who ride a lot on unlit roads I'd recommend a Axendo 60 or Roxim D6 first.
2018-2-5: Question about the Philips LBL: Does anyone have problems with the earlier version with the 1 hour 20 runtime limit)? I had a query by a reader about his non-working LBL, so I gave him my board from my almost unused LBL (I only use the LEDs/housing with a different driver for testing) and that also didn't work. The problem is this: the button acts only this way now: 1) turn it on in low mode, 2) switch to high mode, 3) turn off. Long press doesn't do anything. Then charging doesn't work. Sometimes it starts to charge the batteries and the blue LEDs lit or flash according to the actual power state but then charging stops after a few minutes. Sometimes it doesn't even start charging. I suspect some unprogramming of some bits in an EEPROM or something similar, but, strange that it would affect both boards the same way then. Does anyone else have similar experiences?
To come, likely in the 2nd half of February 2018: I want to try out a lamps with laser projection that I've seen, this differs from what others have done, some projection in red of a lane on the rear of bicycle for taillamps, or recently a V-shape by Koga (also taillamp). These are of course only variations on the road bounce effect that I mentioned in my analysis of different ways to get noticed with taillamps, but using far less light and thus far less power. It would be interesting most of all to let someone else ride with such a headlamp and/or taillamp and see if and how well I would notice such road projections.
To come later possibly March (delayed beause of circumstances): Video of some old + some new headlamps in action, comparing them by switching between them while riding. I will try the IQ-XS-T then and the Axendo 40.
2018-1-29: In progress, review of the Spanninga Axendo 40 XDAS headlamp which is possibly the best cheap headlamp. I can only do proper rides and esp. comparison rides with say the H-diver, due to circumstances, in the 2nd half of February.
2017-11-10: From now on all reviews are split off from all analysis and experiments.
2017-11-9: I have reviewed most good products, and the bad products are good examples to show problems. This along with the fact that nothing seems to be really improving in products and that this site is not appreciated enough in the sense of giving sales, it means I will stop selling some time in 2018 and I will only review in future what seems interesting, i.e. produts that could from specifications/picture have a chance to be really be better than what is available now. I will split up the technical analysis, experiments, etc. which manufacturers and customers can use to see what needs to be improved and looked at, from the reviews.
2017-11-9: Removal of all Dutch and German pages, and beginning of separation of the analysis and experimenting pages, from the reviews.
2017-5-29: Final testrides with the H-black pro and Axendo 60: Direct comparison with the Saferide 60 neutral white shows that the Saferide 60 neutral white is the best, the Axendo 60 XDAS has auto on/off and DRL and is much cheaper than the the Saferide 60 was, but still, it's not better than the almost 7 year old Saferide 60... The beam of the H-black pro is poor, overexposure from ca. 7m to a bit further on, then the annnoyance from the colour fringing, the light going upward into your eyes, all in all makes me say "not recommended". I do recommend the Axendo 60.
2017-7-14: I spoked in a new version of the Renak Enparlite, which has a better clutch which is much easier to switch. Noise is still an issue, in any other aspect this is nicer than most other dynamo hubs. But perhaps the noise can be lowered. I discussed it a bit (such as this: in old cars from say around 1900-1920 the gear noise is very noticeable, but in new cars you do not notice that, is it from sound insulation, gear shape, or all combined?) and this is being investigated. Also I spoked in the Shimano XT with centre lock (T8000-3D) for my touring bike (559mm rims) and I will review it soon. It will be interesting to see if with this dynamo on tis bike (with headshok front fork) there is a strong vibration at ca. 40 km/h as there is with the DH-3N80 on my older bike with steel front fork. I am further reviewing the Magnic light, and will hopefully finally add pictures of all headlamps/taillamps that are as yet not on my site, soon too (a lot of things get in the way all the time to finish this). Oh, yes, and I noticed the DRL didn't seem to work on my Axendo XDAS (but I gave it to a friend, perhaps I will check again soon what is going on).

2017-5-24: 2nd testride with Herrmans H-black pro vs. Roxim D6: The D6 has a nicer beam, not as wide as the H-black pro, but for a wide beam to be really useful (and not distracting when riding past fences) it needs to be shaped differently, as I mentioned in my review with description of issues that the IQ-X has, here it's almost the same. The 3 sections (as if there are 3 overlapping cones) of the beam of the H-black pro, annoy me far more than the artefacts of the beam of the D6... Also there is overexposure from about 7 metres from the tyre to a bit further, perhaps to 15m or so, compared to the brightness of the rest of the beam. I'm not impressed by the H-black pro at all, not in housing, not in beam shape, not in light output.

2017-5-23: Initial impressions of the Axendo 60 XDAS (auto on/off and daytime lights) and Herrmans H-black pro, from a 10km ride with these lamps and a comparison with the Trelock LS906 and the Saferide 80 (the last version, neutral white): on the H-black pro it says 1.3W. WTF? Is this for the stupid 1.5W DIN standard? Why not the normal 2.4W? I measured the lamp on my DC power supply and it was 0.22A at 6V (Axendo 60 almost 0.5A at 6V!), this agreed with the 1.3W. By just going for the normal standard it could have produced much more light, unless the cutoff limit of 2 lux is already reached at this power output with this lens/LED combination. The light output is reasonable, unfortunately cool white. You see colour fringing at the start (typical from diffraction by a lens), and it has 3 sections, 3 cones starting off at ca. 1.5m from the front wheel. The beam is wide but not where it's most useful. It doesn't work for tight cornering. The Axendo 60's beam is almost the same as the Saferide 60, and like most manufacturers have gone with cool white which is not so good though the advantages of neutral white become clearer at higher light levels. It seems a little more diffuse close to you (esp. the artefacts). Testing riding through tight bends, the artefacts can actually be used to see the bend and beside the road, it is when doing this, the best headlamp so far for in that respect. The beam is nice and fairly even, but as with the original Saferide 60 it has overexposure on the tyre. Despite that, after riding with the Axendo 60 I didn't like it when I went back to riding with the LS906, due to the narrower beam of the LS906 and the too many artefacts close to the bike, so the Axendo 60 may become the daily use lamp on my main bike. The H-black pro lets too much light go towards the rider and when you are riding in an aerodynamic position it becomes even worse, a lot of light goes, direct as from an almost point source to your eyes. It is if looking at a non-diffuse 5mm LED close up, it's bad, really bad, you need to make a shroud or put tape on the upper part of the lens if you want to do fast riding at night. Don't these people test their own lamps? The on/off switch on the H-black pro is fairly heavy going, it has a crappy plasticy feel too, there is no comparision with the switch on the Edelux or with the even better switch on the Bidi. Herrmans mentions automotive technology in the beam, well, most beams from car headlamps are quite poor and this beam is not really better. Nowhere near optimal. The Axendo 60 however for the price of about €45,- is very good in just about all respects. But I would have liked to have seen a lot more light output from headlamps in 2017!

2017-1-26: Start of the review of the Spanninga/Philips Elips and the Spanninga Vivo.

2017-1-21: For those into modifying taillamps: Long ago I opened the housing of the H-track (using a screwdriver to pry it open bit by bit along the edge as the glued bond isn't that strong) and then I desoldered the middle LED. This removes the annoying point source and it's then a good taillamp... (power use is also lower...)

2017-1-17: Start of review of the Union 4470 fender mounted taillamp supplied with rechargeable battery (also available with non-rechargeable battery) and the 4365 rack mounted dynamo taillamp. In construction these are good but the optics on the 4470 are not good, and partly fake. From the product picture the optic looks as if it distributes the light downwards too, but this is not so, it is just 'decoration'. The 4365 is fairly good but too bright, esp. at the centres where the LEDs are. Manufacturers should look at the Spanniga Solo and Lineo! Both have all bolts/nuts in stainless steel, except the embedded nut for the bolt to open the lamp in the 4470 which is brass. That's how taillamps should be...

2017-1-5: Update on the Secula: The mounting for any fender mounted taillamp should be stainless steel, not standard steel which is esp. important for fender mounted taillamps as in that position a lot more water gets onto the bolt... Mine was rusted so badly that in getting off the nut, the bolt damaged the housing and it is now loose in the lamp, so I will cut it open soon. A reader mentioned that the battery powered version of the Secula has bad weather proofing, and the switch far too easily switches the lamp on, already doing so 'when you look at it' ;-) That's bad for battery powered lamps, you don't want your batteries drained and then to cycle without functioning taillamp! To be tested soon: Union 4375/4470 taillamps for dynamo/battery on fender, Union 4365/4460 taillamps for dynamo/battery on rear rack, Spanninga/Philips Elips (dynamo), Spanninga Vivo, B&M Toplight 2C.

2016-11-13: Some updates are delayed further (some beamshots from headlamps/taillamps in particular) until I remake them or rescue more data from the hard disc.

2016-11-10: I removed the IQ-X from my main bike a few weeks ago and replaced it with the LS906. Much nicer in use, but the light colour is as with most LED bicycle headlamps, quite poor, esp. today after rain. Neutral white is far better then, and I hope the Spanninga/Philips lamps use neutral white, or will they have gone with what the average people think is 'brighter'? (i.e. cool white). In Spring I demonstrated the Bidi neutral white comparing it to a Luxos U and the guy could not be made to understand/see that with proper light distribution and better light colour, you can actually see better, even with less apparent (seemingly less bright) light! This was quite interesting but nothing new. It is a big problem in making changes, in making improvements! Neutral white is far better, so why are manufacturers not all using that light colour? Well, people are not critical, not interested in reality but in that which confirms their view of reality. This is also the reason for various of the invalid criticism on my dynamo/light reviews...

2016-11-3: Spanninga took over the lights from Philips and redesigned versions of the taillamps and headlamps (of at least the Saferide 40, Saferide 60, Lumiring) will appear soon and I will test them as soon as I can get my hands on them. If you want one when I can get them, see my sales page.

2016-10-5: For the Renak dynamo hub, see the updated website, also with a history of the company: http://nabendynamo-renak.de, but it's only in German. You can leave comments, experiences, suggestions there. Comments about future versions can be sent to me too...

2016-10-4: Due to a faulty (only intermittently working) hard disc and incomplete backups of relatively recent files, updates will appear again in a while after I rescued more data... (~~Perhaps only end of October~~ Sometime in November)

2016-4-14: Start of analysis of the Raypal RPL-2261, to-be-seen lamp on Li-po battery.

2016-4-10: After some emails, updated the section on Revolights with a few comments on why it would not be possible to get this approved in Germany, added links with older somewhat similar devices, and added some of my ideas on mounting large to-be-seen lights on the front/rear fork and fenders.

2016-3-16: Update about the clutch on the Renak hub: It needs some time to 'settle in', see Renak dynamo hubs.

2016-3-14: Testride with the experimental Renak hub with 2 gears, silent, but lower power, see Renak dynamo hubs.

2016-3-12: Started using the Renak dynamo hubs. I will build the wheel with the Renak-experimental and do some tests with that and beamshots of some lamps, update my site with it all, then I need some time off soon to recover from sleep deprivation from all the testing with taillamps, headlamps, dynamos and other stuff the past few weeks! :)

2016-3-5: The review of the IQ-X is almost done, I've done a comparison with Trelock LS906, Roxim D6, Philips Saferide 80, Silva Speed trail elite head-mounted 600 lm lamp for beam shape, colour temperature etc.

2016-2-29: Dissection of PD-8 finally written up and today uploaded it with pictures. Next to come PD-8x.

2016-2-27: Cycling in St.Petersburg and a little bit about lighting to use there. Not much on lighting to be honest :) I have no idea about what is in the law text. Any additions are welcome...

2016-2-21: First testride with IQ-X in stormy conditions, so not optimal for watching the beamshape, see B&M IQ X

2016-2-16: The past few days I made beamshots of these taillamps: Sigma Stereo (battery), Sigma Mono (battery), Sigma Nugget (battery, standard and with obscured centre because of the too high brightness there), Spanninga Solo, Axa Blueline, B&M Line small, Spanninga O (= O-guard). I will crop the images and upload them soon and finalise the reviews of these taillamps too.

2016-2-6: Started with review of Trelock Bike-i-prio LS 906. I will say already that I'm not impressed... The instructions are pathetic making me waste my time, the beam is too uneven and too narrow at larger distances, the level setting doesn't seem to work and the on/off/level switch can only be fitted on 22.2mm sections of a handlebar. This wouldn't be so bad for me if esp. the morons at Shimano didn't make their gear levers such that they take up almost all the space on the handlebar! Of course, at Shimano nobody ever wants to mount a bell, computer, lamp, or anything else on the handlebar, right? It does put out a lot of light and I will compare it to the Saferide 60 for the final judgment.

2016-1-19: I will probably disassemble a dynamohub for my site soon, without caring for what happens, i.e. destructively, or not, doesn't matter, as it's dead... It was caused by my main test bike which is always outside, falling over several times in the very stormy season of 2015! This is a problem for dynamohubs, all hubs actually, as this will very likely mean rainwater gets into the hub. With dynamohubs it's worse because if there's a failure (in winter, when freezing), it's not just a rough running wheel, but likely will give a dead dynamo from ice killing some wire inside... So it made me write down another idea I've had for ages, which instead of a dynamo hub uses a magnetic clutch.

2015-12-12: PD-7s are again available from me, via a source who still has some in stock, this is the lowest priced option to give nearly vibration free riding in almost any bike ($127/EUR 130 incl. postage). Email if interested, I've made some combination offers on the sales page too.

2015-12-3: The Bidi XML lamp with taillamp will be available via me for ca. EUR 90,- + postage from ca. mid December 2015, in gray and taillamp is in black. LED is neutral white. Black headlamps will probably be available from February at the earliest. Email if interested...

2015-11-30: To come: reviews of Sigma battery taillamp Nugget, Herrmans H-trace (for the StVZO-DIN 1.5W standard which seems pointless to me, but hey... I'll just check it out for use on standard 3W systems), and finally all missing taillamp beamshots. Perhaps I will review Shimano's dynamo hub "DH-T4000" (for 1.5W standard, which seems to me a pointless standard, the regulators should just allow headlamps to use less power from the dynamo hub than as prescribed by TA, as was already allowed with taillamps...) From a comment: "it offers a significantly lower weight and a smoother running". I doubt it. The weight is apparently 581g which is more than all SP's series 8 and 9 3W dynamos, and smoother running, what does that mean? Less drag? Not necessarily and not actually an issue anyway. The price (RRP ca. EUR 55,- is a lot lower than SP's dynamos though))

2015-11-3: I'm reorganising headlamp beamshots, this may take a few days, beamshots may not be visible from various pages during that time. See until then this section directly where they are all placed: koplampen/lichtbundel/index_en.html

2015-11-2: Finally time, inclination and reasonable weather conditions combined so that I made beamshots a few days ago, of: B&M Eyc, B&M Avy, Herrmans H-flow, Roxim D6, Axa Blueline 30, Axa Blueline 30 aimed too high, Axa Blueline 50, Bidi 2015 neutral white (low end of the neutral range, about 4200K according to the maker), and for reference: Edelux 2008, Edelux 2013, Philips Saferide 80 neutral white (high end of the neutral spectrum, I think around 5000K). All pictures made with the RX100. See beamshots 2015-10-29. Comments on how to interpret them and what is bad/good about them are included but for more on this see each review/review summary. Note that interpretation of beamshots is needed, what you see on beamshots is NOT what you experience in reality. I wrote that in various places on my site already. If you just look at beamshots without knowing the issues, it does NOT tell you at all what a good and bad beamshot is...

2015-9-2: Just saw this: Volvo lifepaint, to make the whole bike reflective:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfWzeGlaFvI. Looks interesting except that it only lasts a week or so (with rain) from reading the specifications. What's the point?

2015-8-19: Measurement/estimation of the area of light emitting surfaces of taillamps.

2015-8-17: To come, after an enquiry from someone in Brazil (quite a while ago, again lots of stuff got on the way of finishing this): Measurement/estimation of the area of light emitting surfaces of taillamps.

2015-8-17: A few comments about Revolights after an enquiry by a reader.

2015-8-13: Also to come: Reviews of the Axa Blueline 30, Blueline 50, Blueline taillamp. The taillamp looks good from first impression, I can't say much yet about the headlamps except that their design is nice.

Note: 2015-7-10: To come very soon a review of the Bidi 2015 dynamo powered headlamp (no cutoff) + taillamp. In construction/housing this lamp is better than anything else I've seen, including Supernova. The switch is as in the original version, the best I've ever seen, the selected cables too. Beamshots will be made very soon, along with the Roxim D6, and a bunch of sucky headlamps: Herrmans H-flow, B&M Avy plus N, B&M Eyc N plus.

2015-7-10: Finally I had some time and inclination to do an update of the page Croatia: Bicycle lighting rules, with a correspondence with Vladimir.

2015-5-3: I started to write down my experiences so far with the head-mounted lamps Silva Trail elite and Sigma Mono HL (similar to Mono FL)

2015-4-23: Provisional version 2 of WHS 2015 bicycle lighting standard. I will soon finish the beam patterns and add pictures of e.g. white surface reflection on taillamps.

2015-4-9: Reorganisation of the main page to make it more readable and smaller [ links don't always work yet ]. All technical explanations are placed in separate pages as I already did partially, and summaries will be placed on the main page. The review summaries (for headlamps, taillamps, dynamos) are placed on separate pages, only a list of tests and the results of which lamps/dynamos I recommend and for what reason remain on the main page. Also to come are some additions/changes to the page on Croation bike lighting rules.

2015-3-11 A reader gave me a good overview of the Croation bicycle lighting rules. You may find it interesting!

2015-2-27: Added pictures to the reviews of the Philips lightring, Herrmans H-track (at 10m, 30m), Basta Ray, Solo battery.

2015-2-23: I sent my query about the contradictory requirements in StVZO/TA, namely between TA.14 and TA.14b for bicycle taillamps, with a list comparing all points in both sections, to someone from the "Lichttechnisches Institut der Universität Karlsruhe" because that is the "zuständige Prüfstelle" (where all dynamos and lamps are tested), and because publisher Kirschbaum said both sections are really part of TA. If that doesn't give a useful reply I will send my list with comments + my comment/explanation that the headlamp aiming requirement in StVZO.67 doesn't make sense, to KBA (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt)...

2015-2-23: Added pictures of the Axa Luxx70plus.

2015-2-23: For your information and amusement I have placed on my site my final response to someone who doesn't understand anything about bike lighting, has no ability to reason and doesn't behave. Anyone else who wants to share his views in a similar manner: Don't bother, I am not interested and will not waste further time on (and give no attention on my site to) anyone like that. I have enough experience with people who are indoctrinated, to know that trying to convince such people of reality, doesn't work... What may be interesting in my reply, is my explanation and correction of his view of what sirens and flashing lights on police cars and ambulances are for... And note that flashing lamps on slow moving vehicles or stopped cars are orange/yellow, so if anything is to be flashing definitely NOT the taillamp, but an extra lamp, orange or yellow, some distance from the taillamp so that speed/distance estimation remains possible. This is what pedal reflectors also do already! (in a far better way than flashing)

2015-2-21: Added pictures of the Spanninga O, Sigma Mono, Spanninga Solo.

2015-2-19: Added pictures of the Spanninga Vena and Nr.9, started the review of Herrmans H-flow.

2015-2-18: Added pictures of the SP PD-8x, Velogical Special (blue), Axa Slim, B&M Secula + beam shots. More to come soon.

2015-2-8: Bicycle lighting standard WHS-2015. The rules used in StVZO and BS are too limited, even contradictory in case of StVZO, illogical, bad, not free, don't explain the requirements, show no sign of really understanding people (psychology, physiology) nor physics, nor logic.

2015-2-2: Update to the EU harmonisation page. I'm updating the page on ECE R113 lighting rules (motorcycles, E-bikes) while going through the documents.

2015-1-30: 1.5 W dynamos (which the Velogical rim-dynamos have been approved as) are ruled by DIN33958. I read somewhere else that at some point TA (technical rules in the German StVZO) could be replaced by this DIN standard. Or at least supplemented? It is possible by virtue of TA.1.3 which says "The Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt (KBA) can deviate from the technical requirements wenn road safety allows it and the technical development requires it.". So they could choose a conformance to DIN 33958 if they think it's a good idea, to give a StVZO approved dynamo or lamp. With 2 dynamos it's been done, the first a Shimano, the second the Velogical rim-dynamos, but what are the rules exactly and what do they say about headlamps and taillamps? Oh, and by the way, all standards used in any laws/approvals should be free (to download etc.)!

2015-1-28: Analysis of UK's BS 6102-3 done, Analysis of ISO 6742-1 bicycle lighting standard done (only what was interesting, as it's very similar to BS 6102-3). Next I will analyse the documents that I have of ECE R113 which are relevant for e-bikes (I hope I have all docs).

2015-1-27: Analysis of UK's BS 6102-3 in progress. I've also analysed the latest StVZO (current as of 2015-1-6) and may write a bit more about this on my page on StVZO.

2015-1-23: In December I had another look at Roxim's website and apparently they are working on changing the housing of the D6 (the new housing is not yet StVZO approved).

2015-1-23: Added a summary section before the headlamp reviews of the best dynamo headlamps, and a summary section before the taillamp reviews of the best dynamo taillamps.

2015-1-19: I did a test in reasonable (not very thick) fog to see whether retro-reflection due water droplets is a contribution or even most of the "wall of light" phenomenon. Someone on cpf mentioned this in 2014 or so, I disagreed that it would be a big part theoretically, due to the refractive index. Today I tested this. I looked at the beam a a strong flashlight in fog from the rear and sides. I see the wall of light from the side of the direction of light too. Shining a second torch to an object but far below me (not looking must through the beam of that torch), and shining the other torch to the side, gives a similar obstruction of what you see as when looking through the 1 one torch close to my face. But in this case, in the direction of light it is a bit stronger, logical, because you look through a wider layer of scattered light (namely in the direction of the light, as opposed to that of the width of the beam of the sideways shining torch).

2015-1-16: Reviews of the taillamps Spanninga Vena, Spanninga Nr.9, Axa Slim steady. None of these are any good...

2015-1-6: Because especially some (still very good) headlamps and taillamps are no longer made, I'm now putting links to reviews in brackets for any products that are no longer made (you may still be able to find them in some shops). I will also add notes of when a product went out of production.

2014-12-30: Recently SP released the SV-9 dynamo hub, which I alluded to long ago (April 2014) in my review of the PD-8X... A new record low mass, and efficiency should be very high like the PD-8X. This hub is of interest to weight weenies or people with bicycles with small wheels, but not really to me. I'm not sure whether a review is that useful, except in a bike with small wheels, but I don't have such a bike...

2014-12-26: Some more Velogical special dynamo (blue) experiences added.

2014-12-1: Review of the Roxim D6, preliminary, pictures to be added.

2014-11-26: Reviews of the B&M Avy and B&M Eyc, only the summary written, and pictures to be added, but the pictures and full text are barely important with these 2...

2014-11-13: Soon lots of updates including reviews of the Avy, Eyc, Roxim D6 and update on the review of the Velogical rim dynamo.

2014-7-28: Velogical are going to send me a dynamo (thanks!) to test myself long term (in all weather conditions, and I will try rear and front wheel and various wheels, new and old to see how much the rim influences any slipping of the dynamo.

2014-7-21: Another user report on the Velogical rim dynamo added.

2014-5-7: A reader of my site notified me of an announcement by Osram which may help explain why Roxim didn't reply to my email about buying a D6: Osram bike lamps 2014-7-5. The shape of the 70 lux lamp FX70 is the same as of the Roxim M6 (which is very similar to the D6), so is it a Roxim? And the FX35 looks like Roxim's RS3. So perhaps Roxim when I enquired about buying a D6 was working on making a deal with Osram and didn't want to respond yet to enquiries? However Osram seem to be going to sell only battery powered lamps, not dynamo powered...

2014-4-11: Added pictures to the Acxing go go shine page and the PD-7 review (flat part of the axle). Added information with the dynamos on whether they are user serviceable. Added a link to a page with SON28 disasembly using a self-made tool. I'm working on a huge backlog of images to be edited and added to this site. Not just lighting, also saddles, kickstands and more. I'm also working on (non-destructively) disassembling SP PV-8/PD-8/PD-7 hubs for a maintenance section.

2014-4-9: SP PD-8x review: Update with more experiences and some thoughts. Also, I want to do DIY bearing replacement for the PV-8/PD-8, I hope to have some experiences soon. And I will add a section on dynamo hub servicing.

2014-4-4: SP PD-8x review: Update with vibration experiences (probably the best ever dynamo hub I tested in this respect, I only need to compare with the PD-7, although the results seem to make this not needed (but of course I'm going to compare with swapping wheels))

2014-3-30: Updated the reviews of the SP hubs with information about cost to replace bearings, if needed outside warranty, updated the link to the Sapim spoke calculator, and added the measurements the flanges of the PD-7 for that.

2014-3-27: Philips Lumiring dynamo taillamp experiences, disassembly and modification: Report from a reader of my site on how the Lumiring taillamp works in the UK, and on a modification to make it brighter. Further a brief comparison of Saferide 60 and Cyo.

2014-2-5: Very disappointing news (if real, no confirmation yet): http://www.mtb-news.de/forum/ philips will discontinue its bike lamps. Related to this: I still haven't had time to put up the comparison beamshots of the Saferide 60/80 neutral white and cool white, hopefully this week I will have time to edit the pages. 9-4-2014: In the mean time less and less can be supplied by the distributor so I presume the posting was correct and that Philips quits. Bad move!

2014-2-5: Made a note of why I don't want to do Supernova reviews at the end of the section on Supernova in the section of lamps that might be of interest. This is just in case it wasn't clear from the various places such as in my review of the E3-pro-StVZO, where I mention their immoral behaviour (which hasn't changed up to now).

2013-12-20 Made beamshots of Edelux 2008, Edelux-2013, Edelux II, Hermans H-one S neutral white, Philips Saferide 60 neutral white, and unfortuntely at the wrong mounting height also of 0.75 m Philips LBL/Saferide80 on H-diver and Philips LBL/Saferide80 neutral white. The road was unfortunately still somewhat damp, which means esp. not a good view of illumination of the road at long distance and at the sides. But the results are still very interesting, and again show that beamshots tell by no means the true story. The Edelux II looks great on the longer exposure beamshots (but not on the shorter exposure which shows the difference in how the light is spread), not so much when I use it and compare it to the Saferide 60 never mind the LBL/Saferide 80. I will upload the beamshots soon and start some more test to make sure the results get interpreted correctly (anyone who thinks beamshots tell everything as I saw not long ago on the IBC forum just doesn't know what he's talking about, see for example here for a comprehensive but readable overview of one of the issues in interpreting beamshots, how experienced brightness varies:http://www.telescope-optics.net/eye_intensity_response.htm, note that gamma correction should be in camera JPEGs but this is not enough apparantly as the dark areas do not get shown brightly enough and camera images do not show what I see in reality...). I think I can make sense of the results of especially Edelux II vs. LBL/Saferide 80 with this: A smooth beam pattern is essential to be able to see far... And a smooth beam pattern that is where the LBL/Saferide 80 is king. More soon.

2013-12-16: Updates on the B&M IQ reflector page. After my tests of a newer Edelux I had a closer look at the reflector... Pictures to follow. Added a report on using the Velogical dynamo. If anyone else has experiences with this he'd like to share, send me an email...

2013-12-15: Lots of updates on the review of the Edelux II.

2013-12-13: Updated the H-one S page with pictures of the beamshots as they have been used on this main page already and with some other information, in particular an issue with the mounting bracket, which broke 3 times with one of the readers of my site.

2013-12-11: Added some clarification about lux values of bike lamps, they are different for wall projection and ground projection (where the lux values are far, far lower) and about candela in 'terminology'. First ride done with the Edelux II.

2013-12-8: Added more on luminous intensity but also the resolving power of the eye on the theory page on luminosity/luminous intensity.

2013-12-1: Tested a Saferide 60 from week 46 2012, and it has neutral white LEDs like the Philips LBL/Saferide 80 from end of 2012 on, excellent! Oh yes, and I got 2 emails quite a while ago about the Saferide 60 messing up radio reception. I don't listen to radio, so I've not tested this, but it is caused just like the problems that lots of LED based headlamps cause for wireless bike computers, by the electronics to regulate the power to the LEDs. Increasing distance between bike computer and headlamp usually works, but for radio reception with the Saferide 60 you keep getting too much interference. I expect that this problem with radio reception is not limited to the Saferide 60.

2013-12-1: Note on LEDs: As I'm working on a reflector program again, to see what's possible, I thought back to something I wondered about along ago already: Why doesn't Philips (which has its own LED factory) make LEDs that are not square but long narrow rectangles? That would make very sharp (vertical) cutoffs possible with a small reflector. Well, it will give unsharpness too, but different. I will calculate what the effects would be, in v3 of my reflector program.

2013-11-30: Small update: I got an email from someone who bought a Luxos U and it doesn't work with the Sunup dynamo. So I added a bit more to the section on dynamo types and some warnings in the review summaries.

2013-11-26: Just a note to say that I will update the pages of the Luxos U, Secula, Stereo, Saferide 80 in neutral white, Luxx70 plus with pictures, beamshots, and camera comparison RX100/EX1 etc. soon. I'm working on some computer programs and electronics at the moment which I need to spend time on first.

2013-11-20: I knew about the new version of the Luxos U with fixed switch wire long ago, but today I saw this http://www.bumm.de/news/detail/article/luxos-u-lieferbar-mit-neuem-tasteranschluss.html where B&M blame the users for 'occasional' problems with the switch because they're not plugged in correctly. Yeah right! Btw. I sent my Luxos U back to the distributor end of October, not just because of the leaking switch but it didn't work at all any more.

2013-11-6: Now something I should have perhaps written a few years ago, about advocacy, so how do we get changes in bicycle lighting? As you can see from my pictures of neutral white vs. cool white, neutral is far better, and taillamps with point source are as you have probably experienced, annoying and even blinding (in 2 senses, physiological and psychological): When buying a headlamp ask for neutral white LEDs. Ditto in case you send an email to a company making bicyle lamps. For taillamps, ask why they make taillamps with point sources which are simply bad and annoying and worse than old incandescent taillamps... Perhaps then if more people enquire about why bicycle lamps are as bad as they are, will the manufacturers will see the light and make changes. B&M gave a bogus reply to a reader of my site about whey they make taillamps with point source, that it would be too expensive to have all use proper optics that distribute the light. This is rubbish! They just want to make more money off of the newer ones and that they still introduce garbage like the Toplight mini after the Toplight plus is disgraceful. Neutral white headlamps are being produced now which is excellent, but it is strange that most manufacturers still don't see the light...

2013-10-29: I'm busy writing down how we see what we see and why headlamps and taillamps can be annoying because of the intensity of the direct light that comes into our eyes: luminance, luminous intensity, inverse square of the distance and much more.

2013-10-8: Start of test of the Sigma Stereo taillamp which looks fairly well thought out: proper optics, NiMH batteries, micro-USB rechargeable, nice!

2013-10-4: A few days ago I tried for fun, even though I expected that it wouldn't work, a Philips 2 LED headlamp without electronics (so just the 2 LEDs with reflector in the housing) driven by the driver from a Herrmans H-diver on dynamo. I hoped it would work as StVZO lamps are generally current limited which means about 0.73A through the LEDs as typical LEDs used run at ca. 3.3V to get tot 2.4W. It works! The taillamp even works! (but with taillamp the headlamp gives noticeably less light). It gives a huge amount of light, almost as much as the Saferide 80 on battery. At least, that's what it looks like (comparing the dynamo modified and original versions side by side). Measurements gave strange results... I guess I need better equipment, in particular a setup so I can measure 2 channels (voltage /current) with a PC at the same time. More to follow.

2013-9-27: The new version of the Philips Saferide 80 with neutral white LEDs is fantastic. Never mind the ballhead mount. I read on a German forum that there is an exchange action to get an old style mount.

2013-9-27: I bought a newer version of the Saferide 80 (production date week 41 of 2012) with the ballhead, but only beause I got a report that the light colour is warmer. Which it is... I will report on the different status LED(s) and how it acts when the battery is getting empty, and make some comparison beamshots with the old version.

2013-9-19: Pictures and text added to the reviews of the Bidi triple LED dynamo headlamp and the Sheng-li bank light.

2013-8-20: Addition to reviews with a description of the maintenance that I did to fix problems: Sanyo NH-H27, no power output caused by corrosion near the connector and Sunup DS: strange noise, caused by a dry running bearing and I saw slight water damage.

2013-8-14: B&M Luxos U review finished. Perhaps some details to be added, but they won't change the conclusion.

2013-8-4: Got my hands on the UK's lighting regulations, BS6102-3-1986.

2013-7-30: Luxos U review almost done...

2013-7-29: Finally got some time to spend on bike tests and did the long expected beamshot session: H-diver (need to redo these, bit blurry), H-one S old version, H-one S new version (colour difference doesn't show well on the beamshots), Dosun U1, Luxx 70 plus, Luxos B, Luxos U standard mode, Luxos U high mode (but these for some reason turned out identical to the low mode, not sure what happened, so will remake these soon), Bidi triple LED dynamo lamp, Philips LBL at 0.75m (should have made it at 1.05 m as well, another time!), old Soubitez halogen headlamp for fun. Beamshots will be added soon to the website.

2013-7-5: Added a little information about SP's upcoming PD-8X dynamo hub which has an efficiency increase of 7% over the PD-8/PV-8. Start of the reviews of the B&M Secula and Axa Luxx 70 plus.

2013-7-1: I mentioned a long bike trip, and it will be (if all goes well) from early August starting in NL, through Germany, Poland (also to meet a bicycle lamp maker there), to Ukraine, where I will travel the country and then back again to NL, possibly via another route, through the Czech republic for example. I will test USB charging devices (Luxos U, Luxx 70 plus?, Sheng li powerbank), headlamps (as mentioned) and taillamps, namely Philips Lumiring, Lightring, Spanninga Lineo and I intend to try a DIY job of the type of Dinotte just to see what will happen (to see whether the ground-flood works) and how well the lights work on the various road conditions and style of driving in the particular countries. Note that I heard a lot about the dangerous driving style in Ukraine, but I didn't see that at all while I was there on a vacation. So what will happen? Especially lawyers should apply to make predictions about some of these possibilities! ;-)

I get arrested for running multiple taillamps at the same time, in Germany
I am warned for not using a flashing taillamp in Poland ;-))
I get into a trafffic accident in Germany despite using the best available bike lights, but not Poland nor Ukraine
I am complimented by police in Germany despite my illegal lights (according to StVZO, but note the rules about travelling from one EU country to the next in the rules section)
Cyclists in NL growl at the glare of the Luxos U
Cyclists in Ukraine plead to let them have some of my lights

What will happen? What could happen? Send your comments!

2013-6-22: Updated the links to forums and added some comments in the section References.

2013-6-17: Started writing down my experiences with the Luxos U. Beamshots will follow once I've gathered all stuff needed for that (I'm still missing a few things after a temporary move).

2013-6-13: Added a note on the seals of the bearings of the Shimano HB-NX70 dynamo hub.

2013-6-13: I want to make a long cycle trip this summer, and use the dynamo to generate power for USB devices, in particular for navigation with a tablet and smartphone (both Android). Which other devices besides say the Luxos U/Luxx70plus headlamps and the 'Bank light' could be useful? Pedalpower? Which would you like to see reviewed? Perhaps this should go into a separate section though it fits into the lighting pages for now.

2013-6-13: Description of being blinded by an Edelux. It's clear that aiming bicycle lamps correctly is essential!

2013-6-5: After a long break I will hopefully soon be doing beamshot sessions, a test of the Luxos U, more on the Bank light, using the Sunup rear wheel dynamo without power limiting circuit and more. Life got in the way for a long time... Another thing, perhaps I should add a request section, for dynamos or lights to be tested, or for different test methods you might be interested in. I'm always interested in suggestions, new ideas or refinements of older ideas. For myself I take a often rigorous viewpoint esp. in which lamps to test, though I am willing to compromise depending on feedback. So email with suggestions... I will also add an experience of being blinded by a Edelux in April 2013 just before my trip, to show how serious the issue in aiming lamps is.

2013-4-19: Got a Sheng-li LD-101 Banklight, a headlamp with cutoff using 3 AA batteries that are charged by dynamo or via USB and the batteries can power USB devices... Review to come soon.

2013-4-18: Finally got my hands on a Luxos U. Review to come soon.

2013-4-17: I hope I can soon start making beamshots, lots of other stuff (AKA life) got in the way... I bought a Sony RX-100 camera which should give better nighttime video than the Samsung EX1. I will compare the RX100 to the Samsung EX1 for my purpose for this site, and in general for say on holiday. I have Bidi 3 LED (non-cutoff) dynamo headlamp for testing. Quality is as good as anything you can buy for lots of money, but this will be a lot cheaper. Power output is dependant on the dynamo driver of course and this I will test this in the next few days.

2013-4-13: Hilight 60, I mentioned this lamp on candlepowerforums long ago, but never got round to testing nor even, before today, mentioning it on my site. Then there could be a new version of Sunup's rear-wheel generator, with more power output and USB output, the Maxidyn... They want to know about the interest, so does anyone want to pre-order or indicate interest otherwise?

2013-3-21: The OEM line-plus taillamp without reflector from B&M seems to be older, from 2012, at least they are shown in a distributor catalogue as coming with some models of a few brands of rear rack, such as Hebie. That reminds me, in 2011 I put some more of my ideas for a fully modular system on this page, I removed most of it as I wanted to do more with this, didn't get round to it sooner, but I will put these on a new page soon as part of an expanded section on what direction bicycle lighting should and/or could go to.

2013-3-17: The section Vibrations caused by dynamo hubs has been expanded with a summary of how to choose a hub in this respect and what you might be able to do to mitigate this problem somewhat if you already have a dynamohub that you can feel the vibrations of.

2013-2-26: Something curious: Long ago I mentioned a modular system such as splitting the taillamp into reflector and emitting part (see further on on this page) and on 23-2-2013 I saw a new taillamp on a bike that's probably OEM-only where B&M do exactly this. Here are some pictures.

2013-2-24: Update of bicycle regulations, namely a bit on the rules in the UK, EU-wide rules allowing use of bicycle lighting that is approved in another countries even though it may not be approved in the country you use it. Dissection of a Philips Lumiring battery taillamp that got defective from waterdamage. Notes from readers about the Philips LBL mounting bracket, the old one and the new ball-head. Finally: I will start to do more testing of non-cutoff headlamps for situations where this is useful such as world travellers in bad terrain (or for people riding in Australia ;-)). Soon to come a test of a new triple LED headlamp for dynamo. I also asked Fenix-NL for a sample or loan of a Fenix BT-20 which could be interesting. It seems this lamp doesn't have a sharp cutoff, but it does have neutral white light according to the specifications.

2013-2-21: Medium distance test 1 of taillamps (2013-2-21)

2013-2-15: No tests/beamshots of headlamps for at least 3 weeks due to circumstances.

2013-2-6: Start of review of the current version of the Spanninga 15 (which is as I feared not the same as the original version), and of the Axa Go steady taillamps.

2013-2-2: Wall shots etc. for Spanninga 15 with 0.6W bulb (instead of 0.3W).

2013-1-20: Wall shots etc. for Spanninga Pixeo, Spanninga SPX, Axa Spark steady, B&M line brake plus, Spanninga Brasa, Spanninga Lineo, Philips Lightring.

2013-1-4: Started doing dynamo power measurements at various speeds using the method used to test them for StVZO compliance. More testing of the H-one S with new LED, and compared it with the Luxos B during rain.

2012-12-31: I've been working on headlamp reflector design the previous weeks. I will not tell much about it yet but the results are interesting. I've also been working on finishing the latest version of my switchbox to compare headlamps and taillamps. See here, pictures to follow.

2012-12-19: Start of my test of the Luxos B headlamp.

2012-12-8: Some comments on the article in Fahrradzukunft 14 on dynamos + addition about the H-one S' squarish section before the main beam being of use for safety in cities + start of review of the Dosun U1 + note about Herrmans' H-track in tight traffic (think about Vietnam and Taiwan with lots of scooters). Related to this: I want to do a more comprehensive comparison of taillamps, comparing them at the same time at various distances and making a video of it.

2012-12-6: Finally added the comparison pictures of Edelux-Cyo RT and Edelux-E3-pro-StVZO to the page on lamp size.

2012-12-3: Added an example of light reflection off of asphalt to the taillamp section + pictures on how to remove the lens from the Philips Saferide 60/LBL/Pedelec + pictures of the Herrmans H-diver crack + inaccurately glued lens on another sample.

2012-11-30: Legal use of bicycle lamps on public roads in Germany and elsewhere.

2012-10-1: Added a user experience to the review of the Union 8601 roller dynamo.

2012-9-25: I've disected a Saferide 40 (battery version, the engineering sample) as I had problems with it, so pictures of that will come soon.

2012-8-23: Start of my test of the Herrmans H-one S 60/80 lux headlamp.

2012-5-8: After some questions related to overvoltage protection I started on this section: Voltage, current, dynamo types.

2012-5-8: Addition to the review of the Herrmans H-diver. Still no beamshots as I haven't got round to a beamshot session yet.

2012-2-27: Opening the Philips headlamps by removing the lens. This keeps the housing intact but the LEDs come loose from it so need to be fixed with thermal glue after that if you don't use the internals (which press the LEDs to the housing).

2012-2-24: Start of reviews of the Spanninga Brasa and B&M Line brake plus taillamps.

2012-2-23: Update of the Edelux dissection page, a new page with dissection of an E3 (2009, P4 LED).

2012-2-23: Actually done a while back: Completer overviews of technical, psychological and physiological matters of importance in headlamps, taillamps and camera issues are now placed on separate pages and have been expanded (and I will continue with that):
Camera: Interpretation of beamshots (This is important because beamshots do not show what human vision sees in reality).
Headlamps: Lots of issues (e.g. why lux ratings are important for headlamps with cutoff).
Taillamps: Lots of issues (what you need, want, don't want etc.).

2012-2-23: I consider the review on Sunup eco's DS rear wheel generator finishe, but I will add results of my tests without power limiter.

2012-1-30: Oh almost forgot, end of December Olaf Schultz tested some PV-8s that I sent him/Fahrradzukunft. So there will be test results from him soon on the Fahrrad zukunft website.

2012-1-23: Philips LBL: Report on runtime of 2 samples with production dates 0911 and 2111.

2012-1-21: Starting my report of the Philips: Bicycle lighting day 19 January 2012.

2012-1-3: Philips Saferide 60 modifications and a disassembly (with a hacksaw :) ). Also, running it on the LBL's driver, running the LBL with an h6flex at 0.92A (instead of 0.70A of the factory version). See here.

2011-12-25: Added a chapter on reflection: Passive lighting: Reflection.

2011-12-10: Added a graph with power output results from various dynamos using the special dynamo driver running 3 XM-L LEDs, and a graphs of the Sunup DS' power output using 1 or more XML LEDs.

2011-12-9: Added a section called "Artefacts and glare for oncoming traffic (2011-12-9)" to the review of the Philips LBL.

2011-12-4: Power output measurements put on the review page of the Sunup DS in table form (graphs to follow). Added a bit on the battery holder and comparison results with the Philips Saferide 40 to the now completed Test of the Q-lite 269 headlamp with cutoff (Cree MC-E).

2011-12-3: Taillamps: Power use and long distance test results moved to a new page: Taillamp comparison.

2011-11-15: Finally completed the translation of the LED experiments page to Dutch: LED experiments. Also made a few clarifications to the English page.

2011-10-13: Forgot to add this earlier, a pdf from SP with an overview of their series 8 dynamos and information on efficiency to the SP series 8 review.

2011-10-10: A new overview: The future of bicycle lighting: What do we need and what must be changed?

2011-10-9: Added beamshots to the B&M mini plus review.

2011-10-5: XM-L tests with various light colours.

2011-10-3: More taillamp considerations on what's good, bad and necessary.

2011-9-26: SP's 2.4W SD-8 tested in a standard sized wheel (622mm rim). Also added a note about power output and vibration on the Sanyo NH-H27 review page as that is apparently lower than StVZO requires and probably explains why vibrations are less than with e.g. Shimano hubs.

2011-8-18: Taillamp test finished bar some details, a little more information in the review of SP's PD-7 (=HB015) switchable dynamo hub after the preliminary review of SP's new small dynamo hubs PD-8. Changed all names of SP dynamos because since they are promoting them themselves they have a new SP designation: 63D -> HB015 and 83D -> PD-8.

2011-8-5: Automatically generated taillamp beamshot overview pages allowing you to choose the light intensity and thumbnail size.

2011-6-25, 2011-7-26 & 2011-8-5: Website reorganisation: Headlamps, dynamos, taillamps, StVZO, camera stuff etc. have been put into separate directories. This means old direct links to reviews of a specific taillamp or dynamo won't work any more... Some old references are forwarded, others go to an index page. For a link the best course of action is to take the link as in the table of contents to a summary on the main index page.

2011-6-20: Finally added corner and wallshots of all taillamps, added a taillamp size comparison picture to the Bicycle lamp size page and finally added pictures to the review of the SP PD-7 (=HB015) switchable dynamo hub.

2011-6-13: Review of the SP PD-7 (=HB015) switchable dynamo hub.

2011-5-19: Added a page with videos of bicycle lamps in action.

2011-5-1: A start on StVZO's requirement about how bicycle headlamps should be aimed.

2011-5-1: 'Vienna' from Japan made a series of beamshots with the camera on a tripod, Link + interpretation.

2011-3-2: Sunup Eco listed with a reference to their website as the manufacturer of the upcoming Dosun DS1 rear wheel dynamo. Also, I made an estimate of the light output of the Supernova E3 pro with terraflux lens, both XP-E and XP-G versions.

2011-2-14: I just wanted to share that my estimates about the maximum output of the Supernova Airstream have been confirmed by 'Siam'. My estimate for the XP-G version was: at most 240 lm, well the results are: http://www.mtb-news.de/forum/showpost.php?p=8019707&postcount=1145: 217 lm for the XP-G version, and 175 lm for the StVZO version. This is lot less than the Philips LBL (270-291 lm) which also doesn't have a diverging beam, which confirms that my estimate that useful illumination of the road surface and throw by the Supernova Airstream would never get close to the Philips LBL, was also correct. I was of course already pretty sure of this after my tests of the E3-pro-StVZO, but it's nice to get objective confirmation by virtue of measurement of the light output of the Airstream.

2011-2-13: Update of the StVZO page about the ability for endusers to open housings, and about the differences in requirements between car- and bicycle headlamps which largely explain the problems cyclists have on parallel roads.

End of January 2011:

Due to circumstances all tests of lamps & dynamos had been postponed until early June (and it only got going slowly at that time). I did make some missing pages in Dutch and several pages in German.

2011-1-10: Review of the Supernova E3 triple from 2009, advertised as 550 lumen.

2010-12-22: Review of the Supernova E3 pro StVZO, version from end of 2010, advertised as 305 lumen.

2010-12-18: Added beamshots of Philips LBL + Betty on road 3, including oncoming shots at various aims of the Betty on that road.

2010-12-4 & 2010-12-5: Various updates with examples of decoding what's in StVZO: Standlight, taillamp shining forwards, and what I think is the reasoning behind the power limits for headlamps and taillamps.

2010-11-20 and later: Test of the runtime on high of the Philips LED bike light that I bought. There's probably a batch of these with incorrectly programmed electronics... I've done various tests and sent my findings to Philips.

2010-11-17 - 2010-12-16: Tests of the B&M IQ Cyo RT, Trelock LS 885, Lupine Betty 2011. New beamshots of the Philips LED bike light on road 2 with camera at 1.65 m. New beamshots of the Edelux and Philips Saferide LED dynamo with lampheight of 1.05 m and angled properly to give best illumination of the road up to ca. 50 m.

2010-11-17: I tried out foglamps on a bicycle. I made pictures of torches in the fog at various distances from the camera lens to see at which distance a lamp should be from your eyes so you won't get blinded in the fog. See Experiments with LEDs.

2010-11-11: I made new beamshots of the Philips dynamo, Edelux, Frankenlamp on road 3 at 0.75m, 1.05 m both with camera height of ca. 1.55 m which is more as you'd see the beams when riding slightly less upright. But I think the final camera height setting is going to be 1.65m... These new beamshots are at the moment only shown on the new beamshot page, not the individual review pages.

2010-11-9: Added a section on dynamos that could be of interest (Note that I already mentioned them with their strengths and weaknesses, since the start of these webpages, in the review of the SON 28 and the section on magnet strength). Added beamshots of torches with LEDs in various light colours on a wet road and in fog, see Experiments with LEDs.

2010-11-7: The main bicycle lighting page got too long, so it has been split up into various webpages. Each review of a lamp or dynamo is now on a separate page. A synopsis will be placed on the main page for each lamp/dynamo. It may take a bit of time for all links and image locations to be fixed.

2010-11-2: Beamshots of the Lumotec oval senso plus modified with Cree XP-G R4 neutral white (5B1) have been made on a wet road. Also some shots to the side of the road, comparing it to the Edelux (for light colour) on a wet road and wet grass.

2010-10-27: Test of the Philips Saferide LED dynamo (beamshots added; Final verdict to come)
Beamshots and picture of artefacts in the light beam of the Schmidt Edelux.

2010-10-22: Test of the Philips Saferide LED dynamo (First impressions and comparison with the Edelux).

2010-10-2: Edelux dissection and brief analysis of the lamp.

2010-9-15: Neutral white/cool white LED comparison on a wet roads (LED experiments page)

2010-9-12: The LED experiments page is now linked from the main bicycle lighting page.

1 &2 September 2010: Added a description of tests with the Philips LED bike light I had already done ca. 21 August: Mounting the lamp lower at fork crown height just to see what would happen. No beamshots yet. Also comparison in light output on the road of symmetric beam vs. beam with cutoff.

1-21 August 2010 Tests of 2 lamps that are not for dynamo and/or road use but give a view of what's possible in future dynamo lamps with cutoff:

Philips LED bike light (battery powered lamp with cutoff).
Ktronik's 3 XP-G cool white lamp (dynamo powered triple XP-G with no cutoff)

30 June & 1 July 2010 A new page with descriptions of annoyances from bike/car lamps, but also LED streetlamps (to be added: LED traffic lamps). The section on parallel roads was also moved to that page. Also, a few days ago I elaborated a bit on what you see when someone with a Magicshine P7 lamp is riding towards you: My description was for the worst case scenario (a completely unlit road), and I added a description of what you see when encountering someone with this Magicshine P7 lamp at night on a well lit street.

14 & 15 & 21 June 2010 I've done various tests on ca. 6-15, 21 June 2010. Result:

A comparison of the Schmidt Edelux (180 lumen at 30km/h) and Magicshine (P7 LED lamp with Li-Ion battery, ca. 550 lumen), to see how more light influences what you can see on the road, but also how annoying they are for oncoming traffic.
Pictures showing the difference of a neutral- and cool white LED in what you see at night (garden pictures).

fall 2008: My experiences with the Shimano DH-3N80 dynamo hub.

2008-9-16: Bicycle lighting page created, with a review of the Edelux, the union roller dynamo, the SON28 dynamo hub and various other information in response to the pathetic 'reviews' in magazines. I made earlier mention of my ideas of what's needed in good reviews, and some issues such as the vibration problem I had with the SON28, on the dutch forum of cyclingmagazine 'Fiets'. Neither the people from that magazine nor the other readers of that forum were interested...

Last modified: 2015-1-3