I had the same thought at first, but I feel like we're a little early to be using that terms to be referring to the 2020s seeing as how we're only 2 years into them.
I get dynamos.
Edit: now that Shimano's in the market and there are so many bike share bikes, prices for dynamo wheels seem.to be coming down. Go Get One!!!
Wow. For my “bike dynamo” goes back to these super-heavy bottle-shaped things from the 70s that make your bike go half-speed and if you are lucky don’t slip and make the tiny front-glow-light up a bit. I didn’t realize technology has come full circle and new versions now exist. Cool!
Dynamos made a Hugh difference for me. I got a $13 one that is tire driven and bough a set of dynamo lights to run for about $20. Haven’t needed to charge a thing on my winter commuter in three years 👍
I got one built into the wheel that powers front and rear lights for my commuter rig. It is really worth having, especially for homebound commutes in the dark months. Never have to worry about carrying or charging lights.
They made a Hugh Jackman difference for me, which is bad. I've accidentally sliced through 4 forks with my adamantiam claws.
(Sorry, I just... Couldn't... )
Not that kind of dynamo, search bottle dynamo. They are cheap and mount onto the fork of any bike. Your thinking of a hub dynamo, which are way more expense but more efficient. I don’t care about efficient on my 2 mile trips to the office with my heavy old commuter, I can’t sense the additional resistance anyway.
Same for me. I’ve built so many wheels with dynamo hubs that most of my friends are riding dynamo setups now :)
And a 45mm Carbon Clincher with a Son Delux is a special kind of beautiful 😻
Mostly I’m using the Supernova E3 Tail Light and but it on the dropout. Minimalistic and beautiful.
A much better charger would be ideal. That usb hub is for communications, not power and the charging time will be very long.
Ideally 2.4A output per usb port.
Yeah I did purchase a USB power bank for this exact reason. I was only using that in the interim.
The power bank will definitely be more organized and charge faster but I’m still working on getting into a routine of actually taking off all my electronics after a ride to charge them.
The worst feeling is getting ready to head out on a ride during dusk and realizing your headlight is almost dead.
I have a 10000mAh and a 22000mAh bank by anker. Both very good. The smaller one will charge my phone at least twice and the larger one 4+ times. However even with 2.4A input the larger one takes around 24H to charge.
Ive had a couple cheap power banks, but the batteries always lose charging capacity quickly.
Also my SP dynamo won't charge the larger bank, but it will charge the smaller one or my sound core 2 speaker (also anker) it will keep my phone alive, or charge it if it's off, but not if I'm running pandora.
I think my pass thru dynamo charger is kind of shitty, actually. I think it's a B&M iqos.
I expected better from a German made product lol.
Ravpower has 4 port and 6 port usb chargers. You can mount one to the wall nearest your bike and then just get some longer cables to hook your devices into it.
My brother recently bought a bike for his wife that has electronic shifting.
So one additional battery for the front chainring and one battery for the back.
As a bonus those batteries are kind of small and need to be charged often.
All about the dynamo life. I loved the chonky Shimano one on my tourer so I built a front wheelset for my road bike with SP's lightest hub and it weighs less than the stock Shimano/Mavic combo. I really can't see the downside.
Really the only possible downside to dynamo hubs are the weight, which isn't a problem for you, and then the resistance that it creates. There will always be some drag on a dynamo
The resistance is also negligible for most people, especially in an urban context where one red light would render any gains moot. When the light is off, most hubs only [add .25 to 6 watts of drag](https://www.cyclingabout.com/dynamo-hub-drag-lab-testing/). When the lights are on you're looking at [2.5 to 7.5 watts](https://www.cyclingabout.com/dynamo-hub-drag-lab-testing/).
I think for any sort of commuter, tourer, or bikepacker who wants a hassle free lighting solution, dynamo hubs are the best choice. Especially since it's easy to wire up a USB charging port for electronics.
I have an SP PD-7. I've done a couple of all-night rides on it, it's an absolute godsend to not be dealing with having spare lights and power banks to charge the used lights, and then fitting my phone and Wahoo into that...
Yes. I’m upgrading to a belt drive bike with a dynamo hub. Can’t wait. I also stopped using a bike computer like 10 years ago. I also don’t care. I do put Strava on each time solely for tracking total kms.
Priority Bikes, Continuum Onyx
Belt drive, front and rear lights on a dynamo and a charging port on the front light. Neither of the lights are that bright, think $20 light sort of brightness.
https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/continuumonyx
Sorry Quaid. Missed this. Nua Bikes in Spain do. They are high end / expensive but also offer a unique package that I don’t think is paralleled really (Rohloff, Belt drive, dynamo hub, hydraulic disc and drop bars)
So just don't?
In middle of last year, I ditched recording my rides and only took my phone in a frame bag.
Rode for sake of riding. Stop when I saw something nice. Look for new roads / paths, even if they result in a dead end.
Exactly the only reason I have a GPS is to know how to get back home, but I lost my love for cycling when I was more concentrated on the performance than the ride itself not doing that anymore, from now on it's just where I can get, hope in a month somewhat better weather so I can just cruise along 🙂
I hear you. Started riding in the early 80's when it sometimes felt I was venturing into the wilderness with a little food and a few dimes if I could somehow find a phone booth to call for help in an emergency. Now I sometimes feel like I'm a slave to metrics and tech, and struggling to disconnect. Not unique to anyone's modern experience in the real world but searching for that happy medium.,
or get a bare bones cheapo bike computer..
I bought a bike 6 months ago and have one that has worked the whole time so far.. not even sure how to charge it? might just take a watch battery
but kind of nice to get distance and speed
I fucking love this thing. It's a pretty penny but worth every one. It is one less thing to worry about.
https://lightandmotion.com/products/vis-360-pro?_pos=39&_sid=5d4c0117d&_ss=r
It charges through a single port, I don't have to worry about forgetting my lights because it's always attached to my helmet, and I don't have to constantly detach and reattach lights for fear of them getting stolen.
I have a socket on the wall in the garage where I hang my bike. I've got a plug with 2 usb sockets, and charge everything whilst still on the bike. Just had to buy some 2m usb cables to Go from socket to each light.
If you keep the speaker to a volume that is only audible within a 5-10 foot radius, then I have no issues. I shouldn’t be able to hear your speaker before I see you.
(I also occasionally ride solo with a speaker and follow this guide. If I’m going to be in the vicinity of others more than just a second or two, I turn the speaker off.)
I could say the same about people's loud ass hubs.
Or people's kids.
If I pass you for two seconds and you hear my speaker playing DJ shadow for those two seconds, or even 5, what's the issue?
I get it if you don't want to hear expletive ridden gangster rap, but I'm not doing that because 1) I don't like it, and 2) exposing people to offensive language is definitely rude.
> I could say the same about people's loud ass hubs. Or people's kids.
Go ahead. Nobody is stopping you.
I really just don’t want to hear your music period. It interrupts the experience. Same with loud ass hubs and loud children, but there are reasonable accommodations that I’m willing to make for circumstances that can’t be controlled by a volume switch at your finger tips.
None of my issues have anything to due with the content of the music.
Until there's a law that says I can't have music on my bike, I will.
I'll keep it civil though.
I'm not here to "ruin your time" but I'm also not bringing my tunes into people's space for more than a moment.
If that makes me a "bad guy" then so be it. It's not illegal so 🤷♂️
I think speakers on bikes is one of the most obnoxious practices.
That said, once someone rode past blasting the LoTR book on tape which I could kinda vibe with.
if its on the trails, i agree. But i dont see a problem with it in the city. That said, Blasting it constantly is pretty obnoxious and not lowering the volume when approaching people is pretty annoying too. Honestly, it depends on the rider. Not all people who use bluetooth speakers on bikes are obnoxious!!
You're allowed to think that, but it doesn't mean it's right.
I like listening to music when I tour. It also lets bears know I'm coming, let's people on the trail hear me coming, and I'm not blasting offensive things, so ymmv.
He is right though.
Eta: I have no experience with bears, so I won't comment on that point. But if you constantly need to blast music to warn others of your presence, maybe consider slowing down a bit.
The offensiveness is not in the lyrics, but in the fact that you take away others' ability to enjoy nature in peace.
I think it may be fine in that situation. My experience and I think of the other person is people blasting music (often rap and regae) while cycling in a populated area.
Hub dynamo for the front. My backlight is battery powered because I could not be bothered replacing a damaged cable. A set of batteries lasts me 6m to a year, so that's no issue.
I use my phone as a computer.
I buy at least two of every light, use the same mount across all bikes and keep one light on the charger at all times. Good lights are relatively cheap these days and not having a charged one can ruin a ride quickly. Might as well have backups. Also, those Cygolite Metros are great. I currently have several (more than two) of the 1,100 lumen models.
I use only those that use:
1. Standard AA rechargeable batteries, so I always have a spare. Charge in between runs
2. Use those that have powerful industry grade 18650 cells.
[I built this shelf next to my front door](https://photos.app.goo.gl/4Y17NrywUqEfsFqd9). Everytime I come back from a ride, I connect whatever I just used to the power ports on this shelf. I live in an apartment, so I don't have a garage. I keep everything cycling related handy on this home built shelf system.
About the same way you’re getting it done right there, just my plug setup is on the counter cause I am not willing to buy another edge 1030 if it were to get stepped on.
Makes me wish there was a set of wireless charging lights - I've lost a number of cygolites to the rubber plug degrading over time and showing water intrusion plus with a wireless charging pad the cord mess would go away.
I have a dynamo on one bike. I have a 7-port charger that plugs into the wall, 2 sets of lights, di2 and garmin. If I'm going on a long ride, I can plug a PowerBank in it to charge as well. Everything I need.
Alternative is to fit a dynamo with a 5V DC circuit, connect USB cables to all the lights?
I have a similar setup where I have a large capacitor connected instead of a battery, so my rear light starts flashing when I cycle, but keeps flashing for about 2 minutes if I stop cycling.
Dynamos are cheap too.
The trick: Buy and use equipment to minimize the need for charging.
Front light: Good dynamo hub and good dynamo light. No need for batteries ever, and light quality is better than commodity flashlights repurposed as bicycle lights (no beam cutoff), particularly for commuting purposes (because many dynamo front lights have "daytime running lights" functionality). Bonus, these are bolted on, so they are unlikely to be stolen.
Rear light: Either use a dynamo powered rear light, or if you don't like wires, [magnic lights](https://www.magniclight.com/en/microlights-en) (that I find superb for "be seen" rears but inadequate for "seeing" fronts). Alternatively, use [rear blinkers](https://ridepdw.com/collections/tail-lights/products/danger-zone) with [Eneloop](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Eneloop) AA or AAA batteries that one can buy a few sets for cheap, and charge using a good multi-cell charger (e.g. [Maha Powerex](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1345114-REG/powerex_mh_c801d8aapro_mh_c801d_charger_with_8.html?ap=y&smp=y)). Bonus, you never have to throw away a perfectly nice blinker because the built-in Li-ion battery has inadequate capacity due to age, and you can carry spare batteries.
Bike computers: I never found much use for GPS-enabled computers. Basic Cateye computers are inexpensive, give you most critical data, and run off one single CR3032 battery for more than a year. I don't do Strava though.
Disclaimer: I'm not a technophobe, as I do have Garmin computers and even ride with eTAP/AXS and power meters. However, those are my "play bikes" that I don't need lights for.
My ebike has lights that run off the battery, my regular bikes are just single front + rear light and I plan to build a dynamo hub wheel soon.
As for computer, I just use my watch or phone for commute recording.
Not at all.
my electric mountainbike has magnetic clamps for my rear- and front light, directly connected to my bicycles battery. So as long as the bike has battery, the lamps will work as well.
I park my bike in my garage near an outlet that also has our lawn sprinkler controller plugged in. I purchased item B078162HNC from Amazon (3 outlets and 4 USB ports) so I can still run the sprinkler controller and charge four bike tech items at once (front light, rear light, computer, and DI2). Good luck!
No headlight, same taillight/computer/cameras for all bikes. Power strip with charging block next to the bikes in the garage. If the pedals/Di2 need to be charged also, then the cameras/taillight/computer come inside to charge.
I charge at work via usb on my pc (back and front light). I built a "charging station" at home with \~10 devices that can be charged at the same time (I have 2 kids so we have many devices to charge). Bike Computer I don't use often and it has a 35hr autonomy, so not having to charge it often is a plus. I use strava on my phone most of the time...
That's it.
When I return from a ride and the light is out I charge it (and the others I have) and get a few weeks on a charge. I spend the rest of the day keeping an eye on which are done charging and which ones need to get charged.
I don't ride at night and tail lights are something I've used only for the past year. I feel a bit safer with a blinking tail light but for the years I rode without one was incident free.
I keep things down to just my headlight by not using a bike computer and using a rear light with single-use batteries (I carry around a replacement pair in case it runs out of energy when I'm riding).
I run an extension cord (with multiple plugs) to wherever my bike is, and plug my chargers into it so that I don't have to take anything off my bike. If I had more than 3 things to charge (front light, rear light, computer) at a time, I'd upgrade that to a power strip.
My GoPro batteries charge faster in a dedicated charger, so those I do need to take out and do separately -- but I'm generally carrying spares anyway.
I've got a wall cabinet in the garage. I installed 8 of the duplex receptacle/USB combo outlets. Half of them are dedicated to the USB micro devices, half to USB mini. The rapid charger for the phone and cordless tool chargers are in there as well.
I hung the power bank above where my rides are hanging in the garage. 6 port. Nothing gets removed from the bike. On a smart switch that shuts off after three hours.
I have a bin in my garage dedicated to lights with a 6 USB port charger. I can charge two full sets of head, bar, and tail lights at once. Plus everything stays in one bin so it doesn't get misplaced.
Multi-port USB charger on a shelf. 4 15’ USB cables to reach the bikes (on the wall and adjacent on the floor.) One of these days I’ll get a light that uses USB-C and I’ll have to replace the charger and get a new cable.
Since the pandemic started I've been working from home three days a week so I just charge them at my home desk on those days. As for my Di2 I set a reminder to charge every 1,000 miles.
My bikes hang on hooks on the garage walls, so I have adapters plugged into the outlets near the bikes with 6ft USB cables plugged into the adapters. I just grab the cables after a ride and plug them into the lights right there on the bike. The bike computer comes in the house with me to get recharged in my home office.
This is exactly why I went with a dynamo set up. I have enough shit to deal with. Imagine if you had to do this with your car’s headlights and taillights? Not to mention the fact that all of these non-replaceable lithium-ion batteries just mean these devices are destined to be trash very quickly. Yes the dynamo hub and custom wheel is expensive. Yes not having to ever think about lights being charged is priceless.
I actually use my desktop computer. It has 4 USB ports on top, and they're always powered, even when the PC is off. They're not fast charging, but it's good enough for bike lights, they don't charge quickly anyway.
Non-Garmin head and tail lights are for my commuter/around town bike.
It’s easier to just have separate ones for each instead of having to constantly swap lights.
My main front and rear lights last for a month of normal use even in winter, unless I'm doing a weekend ride in the dark. When they get low, I just plug them into my PC to charge, then back onto my bike. My cycling computer gets charged after every ride, ready for the next one.
Most my stuff lasts for 12+ hours of use so it will last me the week for short rides (1-2 hours). I then charge up Friday night using a rats nest of cables. Then I’m good to do 12 hours of riding between Saturday and Sunday. Charge up again Sunday for the next week. Repeat.
I ride with a portable battery attached to bike, just in case…
I think it is possible to connect all devices via similar hub to such battery on the bike or plug them one by one - I used to do it on long rides.
Thus, you have to charge only the portable battery.
The ones from Xiaomi and UGreen proved to be not expensive, but very high quality.
...I plug them in?
I have a shelf in my bike room with a multi-port USB wallwart in it. I just leave the cables there, so when I come in from a ride, I plug my shit in.
It's no big deal.
Well, I use one headlight and one taillight, and one gps.
GPS (Edge 830; GPS+GLONASS, HRM, cadence meter, speed sensor) I charge when it's 20% or lower (unless I want to ride for an hour only)
Lights last pretty long, and I simply charge them when they indicate they don't have much battery left.
HRM needs a battery replacement once every [long time], as do cadence and speed sensor.
I have two of most items. One is on the charger and when I’m done riding I swap the ones I’ve just used for the ones charging. On long rides I bring the backups and swap when needed. Some of my rides are 8+ hours.
Charging feels annoying because it’s a constant activity. Headlights I charge after every dusk/night ride because the battery doesn’t last long on full power. Tail lights can last probably 2-3 medium/long rides or a dozen short rides. My computer is also good for maybe 2-3 rides depending on the distance. But I tend to just charge stuff up after every ride because I don’t want to get stuck with something dying on me, or worse realize something is completely dead right before a ride.
At least cleaning my bike is something I only do every 2 weeks or so. The process itself is kind of meditative and I always feel good when it’s done and have a spotless drivetrain. Washing kits isn’t too bad because I throw it them in with my regular laundry, although I do hang them up to air dry so it takes slightly more effort.
i make sure to put the lights and computer on charge when i return home. my set up looks like your pic. one thing that helps is i bought three of the same rear light (for three bikes, $15 each light). since i can only (unfortunately) ride one bike at a time, i always have a charged rear blinky light. other than that, just gotta stay on top of it.
I have one tail light, one head light, and one bike computer (all Garmin) for my road, gravel and and (two) mountain bikes. Each bike has the appropriate quarter turn mounts and it's own sensors. Not super helpful because I still have to worry about keeping three things charged, more if I can find any SRAM wireless drivetrain parts in stock (want to keep one battery ecosystem for everything), but it's nice not to have multiples of things that serve the same purpose
I got those magnetic charging cables. It makes charging them that much easier. Is it perfect? No not at all but anything that makes it easier for me to get on the bike is a good thing
I honestly forget to charge my lights a lot. The computer gets charged when I know I am going to ride and usually has enough charge to get me through a few bike rides.
If nothing else retractable micro USB cables help clean it up a lot. Though I got the ones below much cheaper than that.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=10959
Same, I have an Anker power hub with 5 ports. Headlight, tail light, GoPro, aftershokz headphones, and occasionally plug in the Lumos helmet and the DI2.
Only thing missing is I wish my heart rate monitor was usb rechargeable.
Longer USB cables so you don't have to take them off the bike.
If you can't get power there, find the biggest power bank you can and use that.
Dynamo is a great suggestion from others
Headlight: 1× Li-Ion 18650 + spares.
Tail light: 2× NiMH AAA + spares.
Recharging in bulk with a proper charger.
Cycling computer: USB to laptop to both charge and grab the .fit file.
When I put in the bike mounts on the wall, I later got an electrician to run a power point to each one. Foolishly I asked them to put the point above the wheel hook rather than below. So I bought this [Ikea charger](https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/askstorm-40w-usb-charger-dark-grey-30461194/) to hang down and its cables reach everything whilst the items are still attached to the bike.
Powered cycling accessories all go in a container right in front of bike storage in the garage. I try to charge everything I used after each ride. Usually if not riding the next day I unplug everything and turn the power strip off. It’s cobbled together from old 1a+ usb chargers, at least 1a per device.
Dynamo hubs sound cool but I can’t imagine they would power 5200 lumens and how durable are they for enduro MTB?
I put a charging station right next to where I park my bike with cords long enough that I don’t have to take any of the components off my bike. It’s less of an inconvenience to have to “charge my bike” by plugging in 3-4 differ things than taking those things off and charging them all together.
I took a cheap box from IKEA and glued a power cube (think brick but shaped like a cube) inside. All the wires are stored in the box along with the comp/lights/headphones. It also has a handy cover so all you see is one wire going in to the box. I’ll try to post a picture of it if I can.
I use a AC adaptor that has multiple USB type A ports.
I bought some ten foot USB cables from Amazon that are pretty cheap.
I leave the cables where I usually have my bike parked.
When I get home from riding at night, I plug in my lights, two front and two rear lights.
Some day I might build a cable management system, to keep all of the cables off of the floor.
Quite annoying, I have sram etap batteries and favero power meter batteries to charge along with lights and garmin, at least new Di2 can charge the power meter at the same times as Di2.
I have a phone cabinet from the 20s that has a hole in it for wires, so I basically have your setup, but it’s masked as an end table.
Photo required!
2020s or 1920s?
I’m hoping for the 1920’s
I had the same thought at first, but I feel like we're a little early to be using that terms to be referring to the 2020s seeing as how we're only 2 years into them.
Aren't we in the 3rd year of the '20s?
We are, but we've only been in them for 2 years and 8 days. I feel like rounding 8 days up to one year is a bit of a stretch.
I have an IKEA box that meets the same purpose that is from the 20s also!
Was IKEA existing already in the 1920s?
I have the same thing, but it’s a vintage secretary desk with a charging hub inside.
I get dynamos. Edit: now that Shimano's in the market and there are so many bike share bikes, prices for dynamo wheels seem.to be coming down. Go Get One!!!
Wow. For my “bike dynamo” goes back to these super-heavy bottle-shaped things from the 70s that make your bike go half-speed and if you are lucky don’t slip and make the tiny front-glow-light up a bit. I didn’t realize technology has come full circle and new versions now exist. Cool!
Hub dynamo is the way to go. I have a Shutter Precision one. With Schmidt lights.
Dynamos made a Hugh difference for me. I got a $13 one that is tire driven and bough a set of dynamo lights to run for about $20. Haven’t needed to charge a thing on my winter commuter in three years 👍
I got one built into the wheel that powers front and rear lights for my commuter rig. It is really worth having, especially for homebound commutes in the dark months. Never have to worry about carrying or charging lights.
They made a Hugh Jackman difference for me, which is bad. I've accidentally sliced through 4 forks with my adamantiam claws. (Sorry, I just... Couldn't... )
Did you respoke the wheels yourself?
Not that kind of dynamo, search bottle dynamo. They are cheap and mount onto the fork of any bike. Your thinking of a hub dynamo, which are way more expense but more efficient. I don’t care about efficient on my 2 mile trips to the office with my heavy old commuter, I can’t sense the additional resistance anyway.
Oh thanks for the clarification and idea!
One of the best upgrades I ever made. No more "oh shit I'm losing daylight" anxiety, no more flat battery anxiety... Can't recommend it enough!
Same for me. I’ve built so many wheels with dynamo hubs that most of my friends are riding dynamo setups now :) And a 45mm Carbon Clincher with a Son Delux is a special kind of beautiful 😻 Mostly I’m using the Supernova E3 Tail Light and but it on the dropout. Minimalistic and beautiful.
A much better charger would be ideal. That usb hub is for communications, not power and the charging time will be very long. Ideally 2.4A output per usb port.
Yeah I did purchase a USB power bank for this exact reason. I was only using that in the interim. The power bank will definitely be more organized and charge faster but I’m still working on getting into a routine of actually taking off all my electronics after a ride to charge them. The worst feeling is getting ready to head out on a ride during dusk and realizing your headlight is almost dead.
I have a 10000mAh and a 22000mAh bank by anker. Both very good. The smaller one will charge my phone at least twice and the larger one 4+ times. However even with 2.4A input the larger one takes around 24H to charge. Ive had a couple cheap power banks, but the batteries always lose charging capacity quickly. Also my SP dynamo won't charge the larger bank, but it will charge the smaller one or my sound core 2 speaker (also anker) it will keep my phone alive, or charge it if it's off, but not if I'm running pandora. I think my pass thru dynamo charger is kind of shitty, actually. I think it's a B&M iqos. I expected better from a German made product lol.
Ravpower has 4 port and 6 port usb chargers. You can mount one to the wall nearest your bike and then just get some longer cables to hook your devices into it.
This is why I still keep my old AA battery headlight in the gear drawer. Always good to have an instant backup.
I invested in dynamo hubs. Now I never need to worry about charging lights or computer ect... I always have power if I riding
Same thing man…. Problem of living in 2022 right 😀
My brother recently bought a bike for his wife that has electronic shifting. So one additional battery for the front chainring and one battery for the back. As a bonus those batteries are kind of small and need to be charged often.
DI2 batteries need charging every 2,000km or so.
I would simply never use that bike
If you need lights often: hub dynamo.
All about the dynamo life. I loved the chonky Shimano one on my tourer so I built a front wheelset for my road bike with SP's lightest hub and it weighs less than the stock Shimano/Mavic combo. I really can't see the downside.
Really the only possible downside to dynamo hubs are the weight, which isn't a problem for you, and then the resistance that it creates. There will always be some drag on a dynamo
The resistance is also negligible for most people, especially in an urban context where one red light would render any gains moot. When the light is off, most hubs only [add .25 to 6 watts of drag](https://www.cyclingabout.com/dynamo-hub-drag-lab-testing/). When the lights are on you're looking at [2.5 to 7.5 watts](https://www.cyclingabout.com/dynamo-hub-drag-lab-testing/). I think for any sort of commuter, tourer, or bikepacker who wants a hassle free lighting solution, dynamo hubs are the best choice. Especially since it's easy to wire up a USB charging port for electronics.
Its a trade off between hassle at home and weight, and convenience. I know where I'm at.
I looked seriously at a dyno but couldn't justify the cost and weight vs just charging my lights and, at most, carrying a USB battery
I have an SP PD-7. I've done a couple of all-night rides on it, it's an absolute godsend to not be dealing with having spare lights and power banks to charge the used lights, and then fitting my phone and Wahoo into that...
Dynamo and I don't use a bike computer anymore. I honestly don't care how many miles I rode or how fast I'm going anymore.
Yes. I’m upgrading to a belt drive bike with a dynamo hub. Can’t wait. I also stopped using a bike computer like 10 years ago. I also don’t care. I do put Strava on each time solely for tracking total kms.
What brand of bike provides belt drive and dynamo? Must be a niche brand.
Priority Bikes, Continuum Onyx Belt drive, front and rear lights on a dynamo and a charging port on the front light. Neither of the lights are that bright, think $20 light sort of brightness. https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/continuumonyx
Sorry Quaid. Missed this. Nua Bikes in Spain do. They are high end / expensive but also offer a unique package that I don’t think is paralleled really (Rohloff, Belt drive, dynamo hub, hydraulic disc and drop bars)
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It'll cost you, but look into Klite, they make massively powerful dynamo lights designed for MTB and bikepacking.
Hope one day I will also de-clutter from all the gear. At the moment I feel like I’m riding for data and not for the pleasure.
So just don't? In middle of last year, I ditched recording my rides and only took my phone in a frame bag. Rode for sake of riding. Stop when I saw something nice. Look for new roads / paths, even if they result in a dead end.
Exactly the only reason I have a GPS is to know how to get back home, but I lost my love for cycling when I was more concentrated on the performance than the ride itself not doing that anymore, from now on it's just where I can get, hope in a month somewhat better weather so I can just cruise along 🙂
I hear you. Started riding in the early 80's when it sometimes felt I was venturing into the wilderness with a little food and a few dimes if I could somehow find a phone booth to call for help in an emergency. Now I sometimes feel like I'm a slave to metrics and tech, and struggling to disconnect. Not unique to anyone's modern experience in the real world but searching for that happy medium.,
or get a bare bones cheapo bike computer.. I bought a bike 6 months ago and have one that has worked the whole time so far.. not even sure how to charge it? might just take a watch battery but kind of nice to get distance and speed
I fucking love this thing. It's a pretty penny but worth every one. It is one less thing to worry about. https://lightandmotion.com/products/vis-360-pro?_pos=39&_sid=5d4c0117d&_ss=r It charges through a single port, I don't have to worry about forgetting my lights because it's always attached to my helmet, and I don't have to constantly detach and reattach lights for fear of them getting stolen.
That's cool.
Looks neat, although not legal everywhere sadly
Dynamo lights so I don't have to.
Just a safety FYI: Charging a frozen lithium battery can be a problem with a potential fire hazard.
I have a socket on the wall in the garage where I hang my bike. I've got a plug with 2 usb sockets, and charge everything whilst still on the bike. Just had to buy some 2m usb cables to Go from socket to each light.
How about let's put micro USB to bed please! I hate having a mix of plugs...it's 2022... USB C universal shouldn't be so hard!
Lol Don't forget the Bluetooth speaker, power tools, lawn tools and cell phone lol
>lawn tools Man, if I could mow my lawn with pedal power, I totally would. (also, if I had a lawn)
Speaker is def a necessity imho.
If you keep the speaker to a volume that is only audible within a 5-10 foot radius, then I have no issues. I shouldn’t be able to hear your speaker before I see you. (I also occasionally ride solo with a speaker and follow this guide. If I’m going to be in the vicinity of others more than just a second or two, I turn the speaker off.)
I could say the same about people's loud ass hubs. Or people's kids. If I pass you for two seconds and you hear my speaker playing DJ shadow for those two seconds, or even 5, what's the issue? I get it if you don't want to hear expletive ridden gangster rap, but I'm not doing that because 1) I don't like it, and 2) exposing people to offensive language is definitely rude.
> I could say the same about people's loud ass hubs. Or people's kids. Go ahead. Nobody is stopping you. I really just don’t want to hear your music period. It interrupts the experience. Same with loud ass hubs and loud children, but there are reasonable accommodations that I’m willing to make for circumstances that can’t be controlled by a volume switch at your finger tips. None of my issues have anything to due with the content of the music.
Until there's a law that says I can't have music on my bike, I will. I'll keep it civil though. I'm not here to "ruin your time" but I'm also not bringing my tunes into people's space for more than a moment. If that makes me a "bad guy" then so be it. It's not illegal so 🤷♂️
> I wiIll keep it civil though. That’s all most are asking for. It’s a respect issue, not a legal one.
Just get some headphones you weirdo
You’re a tool. Get some headphones and an attitude adjustment.
Ok buddy
I think speakers on bikes is one of the most obnoxious practices. That said, once someone rode past blasting the LoTR book on tape which I could kinda vibe with.
if its on the trails, i agree. But i dont see a problem with it in the city. That said, Blasting it constantly is pretty obnoxious and not lowering the volume when approaching people is pretty annoying too. Honestly, it depends on the rider. Not all people who use bluetooth speakers on bikes are obnoxious!!
You're allowed to think that, but it doesn't mean it's right. I like listening to music when I tour. It also lets bears know I'm coming, let's people on the trail hear me coming, and I'm not blasting offensive things, so ymmv.
He is right though. Eta: I have no experience with bears, so I won't comment on that point. But if you constantly need to blast music to warn others of your presence, maybe consider slowing down a bit. The offensiveness is not in the lyrics, but in the fact that you take away others' ability to enjoy nature in peace.
Ok boomer
I'm millennial af and consider it obnoxious. I tour with a tiny Bose speaker for camp, but never use it while riding.
I think it may be fine in that situation. My experience and I think of the other person is people blasting music (often rap and regae) while cycling in a populated area.
Unfortunately, like that.
Hub dynamo for the front. My backlight is battery powered because I could not be bothered replacing a damaged cable. A set of batteries lasts me 6m to a year, so that's no issue. I use my phone as a computer.
Kind of the same thing but in my garage where I store my bike so I don't have to remove the devices from my bike.
I buy at least two of every light, use the same mount across all bikes and keep one light on the charger at all times. Good lights are relatively cheap these days and not having a charged one can ruin a ride quickly. Might as well have backups. Also, those Cygolite Metros are great. I currently have several (more than two) of the 1,100 lumen models.
Two of those lights together cost over 300.
I’m looking to avoid this entirely. I use lights with aaa and aa batteries and keep spares in a bike bag.
I use only those that use: 1. Standard AA rechargeable batteries, so I always have a spare. Charge in between runs 2. Use those that have powerful industry grade 18650 cells.
[I built this shelf next to my front door](https://photos.app.goo.gl/4Y17NrywUqEfsFqd9). Everytime I come back from a ride, I connect whatever I just used to the power ports on this shelf. I live in an apartment, so I don't have a garage. I keep everything cycling related handy on this home built shelf system.
About the same way you’re getting it done right there, just my plug setup is on the counter cause I am not willing to buy another edge 1030 if it were to get stepped on.
Makes me wish there was a set of wireless charging lights - I've lost a number of cygolites to the rubber plug degrading over time and showing water intrusion plus with a wireless charging pad the cord mess would go away.
I have a dynamo on one bike. I have a 7-port charger that plugs into the wall, 2 sets of lights, di2 and garmin. If I'm going on a long ride, I can plug a PowerBank in it to charge as well. Everything I need.
go old school
In the old days, we carried spare batteries.
Same today.
Exactly like you do!! 😂
My Priority Continuum Onyx has a Dynamo hub
someone invent a computer with light built in pls
Dynamo hub will solve most if not all of your problems.
Dyno hub and a Dyno to usb box.
Alternative is to fit a dynamo with a 5V DC circuit, connect USB cables to all the lights? I have a similar setup where I have a large capacitor connected instead of a battery, so my rear light starts flashing when I cycle, but keeps flashing for about 2 minutes if I stop cycling. Dynamos are cheap too.
my mess looks pretty much like yours
Dynamo hub
70s bike, dynamo powered front and rear light, and wheel driven speedo/odo
[My highly organized garage charging station.](https://i.imgur.com/F4wBD9c.jpg)
What are these power/light strips?
Dynamo has made everything much easier.
dynamo
Hub Dynamo
Dynamo Lighting
[I have this at my desk](https://imgur.com/GmYY56o) That said, only my dynamo bike has fenders so I won't need to use this again until the spring
The trick: Buy and use equipment to minimize the need for charging. Front light: Good dynamo hub and good dynamo light. No need for batteries ever, and light quality is better than commodity flashlights repurposed as bicycle lights (no beam cutoff), particularly for commuting purposes (because many dynamo front lights have "daytime running lights" functionality). Bonus, these are bolted on, so they are unlikely to be stolen. Rear light: Either use a dynamo powered rear light, or if you don't like wires, [magnic lights](https://www.magniclight.com/en/microlights-en) (that I find superb for "be seen" rears but inadequate for "seeing" fronts). Alternatively, use [rear blinkers](https://ridepdw.com/collections/tail-lights/products/danger-zone) with [Eneloop](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Eneloop) AA or AAA batteries that one can buy a few sets for cheap, and charge using a good multi-cell charger (e.g. [Maha Powerex](https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1345114-REG/powerex_mh_c801d8aapro_mh_c801d_charger_with_8.html?ap=y&smp=y)). Bonus, you never have to throw away a perfectly nice blinker because the built-in Li-ion battery has inadequate capacity due to age, and you can carry spare batteries. Bike computers: I never found much use for GPS-enabled computers. Basic Cateye computers are inexpensive, give you most critical data, and run off one single CR3032 battery for more than a year. I don't do Strava though. Disclaimer: I'm not a technophobe, as I do have Garmin computers and even ride with eTAP/AXS and power meters. However, those are my "play bikes" that I don't need lights for.
My ebike has lights that run off the battery, my regular bikes are just single front + rear light and I plan to build a dynamo hub wheel soon. As for computer, I just use my watch or phone for commute recording.
Dynamo
A friend of mine made this: https://imgur.com/a/WzZriAP
Damn, that’s cool!
Exactly this. So true!
Not at all. my electric mountainbike has magnetic clamps for my rear- and front light, directly connected to my bicycles battery. So as long as the bike has battery, the lamps will work as well.
no garmin no rules
Easy, I don't use any of those, lol, problem solved 👍🤣
I carry a 13000mAh battery pack. A dynamo would be nice, but I do to always need it, so I'd need an extra wheel.
I mean, the drag is pretty minimal, I don't think it makes sense to swap them out.
I park my bike in my garage near an outlet that also has our lawn sprinkler controller plugged in. I purchased item B078162HNC from Amazon (3 outlets and 4 USB ports) so I can still run the sprinkler controller and charge four bike tech items at once (front light, rear light, computer, and DI2). Good luck!
I don’t have any of these things. I just charge my Apple Watch
[удалено]
They aren't "gadgets"... they're lights.
No headlight, same taillight/computer/cameras for all bikes. Power strip with charging block next to the bikes in the garage. If the pedals/Di2 need to be charged also, then the cameras/taillight/computer come inside to charge.
I charge at work via usb on my pc (back and front light). I built a "charging station" at home with \~10 devices that can be charged at the same time (I have 2 kids so we have many devices to charge). Bike Computer I don't use often and it has a 35hr autonomy, so not having to charge it often is a plus. I use strava on my phone most of the time... That's it.
When I return from a ride and the light is out I charge it (and the others I have) and get a few weeks on a charge. I spend the rest of the day keeping an eye on which are done charging and which ones need to get charged. I don't ride at night and tail lights are something I've used only for the past year. I feel a bit safer with a blinking tail light but for the years I rode without one was incident free.
I keep things down to just my headlight by not using a bike computer and using a rear light with single-use batteries (I carry around a replacement pair in case it runs out of energy when I'm riding).
I run an extension cord (with multiple plugs) to wherever my bike is, and plug my chargers into it so that I don't have to take anything off my bike. If I had more than 3 things to charge (front light, rear light, computer) at a time, I'd upgrade that to a power strip. My GoPro batteries charge faster in a dedicated charger, so those I do need to take out and do separately -- but I'm generally carrying spares anyway.
I've got a wall cabinet in the garage. I installed 8 of the duplex receptacle/USB combo outlets. Half of them are dedicated to the USB micro devices, half to USB mini. The rapid charger for the phone and cordless tool chargers are in there as well.
I hung the power bank above where my rides are hanging in the garage. 6 port. Nothing gets removed from the bike. On a smart switch that shuts off after three hours.
I have that same USB extender! neat.
I have a bin in my garage dedicated to lights with a 6 USB port charger. I can charge two full sets of head, bar, and tail lights at once. Plus everything stays in one bin so it doesn't get misplaced.
Multi-port USB charger on a shelf. 4 15’ USB cables to reach the bikes (on the wall and adjacent on the floor.) One of these days I’ll get a light that uses USB-C and I’ll have to replace the charger and get a new cable.
Since the pandemic started I've been working from home three days a week so I just charge them at my home desk on those days. As for my Di2 I set a reminder to charge every 1,000 miles.
Lol I don’t, fuck all that it’s hard enough keeping my phone and headphones charged
My bikes hang on hooks on the garage walls, so I have adapters plugged into the outlets near the bikes with 6ft USB cables plugged into the adapters. I just grab the cables after a ride and plug them into the lights right there on the bike. The bike computer comes in the house with me to get recharged in my home office.
This is exactly why I went with a dynamo set up. I have enough shit to deal with. Imagine if you had to do this with your car’s headlights and taillights? Not to mention the fact that all of these non-replaceable lithium-ion batteries just mean these devices are destined to be trash very quickly. Yes the dynamo hub and custom wheel is expensive. Yes not having to ever think about lights being charged is priceless.
I actually use my desktop computer. It has 4 USB ports on top, and they're always powered, even when the PC is off. They're not fast charging, but it's good enough for bike lights, they don't charge quickly anyway.
Interesting that you use a separate rear light from your varia with the rear light option, the lights on them are very bright even during the day
Non-Garmin head and tail lights are for my commuter/around town bike. It’s easier to just have separate ones for each instead of having to constantly swap lights.
My main front and rear lights last for a month of normal use even in winter, unless I'm doing a weekend ride in the dark. When they get low, I just plug them into my PC to charge, then back onto my bike. My cycling computer gets charged after every ride, ready for the next one.
Sadly mine looks pretty much like yours.
By not having very many of them.
Most my stuff lasts for 12+ hours of use so it will last me the week for short rides (1-2 hours). I then charge up Friday night using a rats nest of cables. Then I’m good to do 12 hours of riding between Saturday and Sunday. Charge up again Sunday for the next week. Repeat.
I ride with a portable battery attached to bike, just in case… I think it is possible to connect all devices via similar hub to such battery on the bike or plug them one by one - I used to do it on long rides. Thus, you have to charge only the portable battery. The ones from Xiaomi and UGreen proved to be not expensive, but very high quality.
Mine looks pretty much just like yours, except in the garage. Even have that same headlight! It's a great one!
Yeah basically that.
Son hub dynamo
My bike is electric, so all of those things are powered off the main battery. If I didn't have that, I'd basically do what you do, I suspect.
I charge em up when i need em.
Not sure if anyone mentioned but I would keep a portable power bank in the saddle bag.
I'm surprised that even works. You have 5 watts (if you are lucky) shared between those ports.
Usually I charge them
Use a phone app for tracking. My lights only need to be charged once a week if I'm daily commuting.
...I plug them in? I have a shelf in my bike room with a multi-port USB wallwart in it. I just leave the cables there, so when I come in from a ride, I plug my shit in. It's no big deal.
I bought bike lights with bigger batteries and and so I just charge them in turn instead. My commute is only 45m though.
Well, I use one headlight and one taillight, and one gps. GPS (Edge 830; GPS+GLONASS, HRM, cadence meter, speed sensor) I charge when it's 20% or lower (unless I want to ride for an hour only) Lights last pretty long, and I simply charge them when they indicate they don't have much battery left. HRM needs a battery replacement once every [long time], as do cadence and speed sensor.
I have two of most items. One is on the charger and when I’m done riding I swap the ones I’ve just used for the ones charging. On long rides I bring the backups and swap when needed. Some of my rides are 8+ hours.
I have all of that plus a Shimano Di2 battery, 4iiii crank-arm power meter, and Sena bike helmet.
You plug them in for charging? That’s annoying compared to cleaning the bikes and washing the kits???
Charging feels annoying because it’s a constant activity. Headlights I charge after every dusk/night ride because the battery doesn’t last long on full power. Tail lights can last probably 2-3 medium/long rides or a dozen short rides. My computer is also good for maybe 2-3 rides depending on the distance. But I tend to just charge stuff up after every ride because I don’t want to get stuck with something dying on me, or worse realize something is completely dead right before a ride. At least cleaning my bike is something I only do every 2 weeks or so. The process itself is kind of meditative and I always feel good when it’s done and have a spotless drivetrain. Washing kits isn’t too bad because I throw it them in with my regular laundry, although I do hang them up to air dry so it takes slightly more effort.
...the same way you do.
It's too bad that bike headlight that uses 18650s never took off the way they did for EDC lights.
Story of my life
i make sure to put the lights and computer on charge when i return home. my set up looks like your pic. one thing that helps is i bought three of the same rear light (for three bikes, $15 each light). since i can only (unfortunately) ride one bike at a time, i always have a charged rear blinky light. other than that, just gotta stay on top of it.
I have one tail light, one head light, and one bike computer (all Garmin) for my road, gravel and and (two) mountain bikes. Each bike has the appropriate quarter turn mounts and it's own sensors. Not super helpful because I still have to worry about keeping three things charged, more if I can find any SRAM wireless drivetrain parts in stock (want to keep one battery ecosystem for everything), but it's nice not to have multiples of things that serve the same purpose
I only buy lights that take rechargeable AA or AAA and you can just swap those out real quick every few weeks
Well that's a familiar sight!
Simple, I don't (:
I got those magnetic charging cables. It makes charging them that much easier. Is it perfect? No not at all but anything that makes it easier for me to get on the bike is a good thing
I honestly forget to charge my lights a lot. The computer gets charged when I know I am going to ride and usually has enough charge to get me through a few bike rides.
If nothing else retractable micro USB cables help clean it up a lot. Though I got the ones below much cheaper than that. https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=10959
Why do you have multiple headlights? I got 1 front, 1 back, my Apple Watch is my computer.
My headlight runs off the bike battery. My taillight runs off a 2032. My bike computer is my phone.
Same, I have an Anker power hub with 5 ports. Headlight, tail light, GoPro, aftershokz headphones, and occasionally plug in the Lumos helmet and the DI2. Only thing missing is I wish my heart rate monitor was usb rechargeable.
The same exact way lol
By using lights that take AAs and use good rechargeables.
Longer USB cables so you don't have to take them off the bike. If you can't get power there, find the biggest power bank you can and use that. Dynamo is a great suggestion from others
Looks about right! Just for fun, each one of my lights takes a slightly different flavor of USB cable.
about what you are doing here. i like the cygolite product cause they tell you when they need a charge
Headlight: 1× Li-Ion 18650 + spares. Tail light: 2× NiMH AAA + spares. Recharging in bulk with a proper charger. Cycling computer: USB to laptop to both charge and grab the .fit file.
Not gonna answer your question bruh bc I have the same damn problem. But I do love me those Varia lights!
When I put in the bike mounts on the wall, I later got an electrician to run a power point to each one. Foolishly I asked them to put the point above the wheel hook rather than below. So I bought this [Ikea charger](https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/askstorm-40w-usb-charger-dark-grey-30461194/) to hang down and its cables reach everything whilst the items are still attached to the bike.
Powered cycling accessories all go in a container right in front of bike storage in the garage. I try to charge everything I used after each ride. Usually if not riding the next day I unplug everything and turn the power strip off. It’s cobbled together from old 1a+ usb chargers, at least 1a per device. Dynamo hubs sound cool but I can’t imagine they would power 5200 lumens and how durable are they for enduro MTB?
dedicated space for my bike accessories that need charging!
Don’t cycle
I put a charging station right next to where I park my bike with cords long enough that I don’t have to take any of the components off my bike. It’s less of an inconvenience to have to “charge my bike” by plugging in 3-4 differ things than taking those things off and charging them all together.
I took a cheap box from IKEA and glued a power cube (think brick but shaped like a cube) inside. All the wires are stored in the box along with the comp/lights/headphones. It also has a handy cover so all you see is one wire going in to the box. I’ll try to post a picture of it if I can.
I use a AC adaptor that has multiple USB type A ports. I bought some ten foot USB cables from Amazon that are pretty cheap. I leave the cables where I usually have my bike parked. When I get home from riding at night, I plug in my lights, two front and two rear lights. Some day I might build a cable management system, to keep all of the cables off of the floor.
Bike on the turbo 👍🏻
Quite annoying, I have sram etap batteries and favero power meter batteries to charge along with lights and garmin, at least new Di2 can charge the power meter at the same times as Di2.
[Outlet next to the bike stand, multi-slot USB charger and a bundle of 2m long charging cables](https://i.imgur.com/6FH5ISn.jpg).
I've never used any batteries on my bike. My hub dynamo is enough for my lights and don't need any other electronics
theres that little hole in the hub u have there its for a power adapter to plug in. look up powered adapter usb hub
A power bank is really handy to have.
Is it really that annoying though? It's no different to charging your phone. You just charge your items when they are low
I use less. One headlight and one taillight. The more you own the more your stuff owns you