lightSpin Bicycle Light
by TreeHugger on 12. 7.04
If you’ve “been around the block a few times” you’re probably old enough to remember dynamo lights for bicycles. A superb concept, years ahead of environmental concerns — human powered illumination. No toxic filled batteries to throw away. But it did made cycling harder ... and dangerous. No pedalling - no lights. But now a Swiss inventor/manufacturer has put the thinking cap on and gone a few better. The lightSpin uses only minimal power to rotate; is claimed to offer an efficiency of 80%, compared to 30% of standard models (although some users figure reality is probably about 67%). And it has a metal-hydride backup battery, which offers 45 mins of light, if stopping at lots of traffic lights on the way home. The lightSpin charges this storage battery as well. Available in the UK for £70 from ::Orbit Cycles [by WM]
Can you do battery switching with the lightSpin battery? Is it a standard size like an AA so that I can start using my daily cycling to power my small electronics?
Now that would be a seriously cool idea; this just needs a pin out connector i guess to allow this to become the 'alternator' of the bicycle world.
This is a great device though when all said and done.
What do you mean with "'round the block"? Most of the nordic countries still uses dynamos on their bikes. It's way cheaper than batteries.
1. To the best of my knowledge, the storage battery is a proprietary one just for the dynamo light. Nothing I read suggested it was set up to charge other cells.
2. But I agree - an excellent idea.
3. 'round the block' is an english idiom, meaning to have lived a bit, done stuff, had experience, being older than some. I thought the term also worked nicely for a piece on urban cycling. And yes, If only we could get the rest of the western world to embrace cycling with the gusto of Northern Europe.