It finally happened to me. It took a lot longer than I expected, but my lights finally ran out of juice halfway through my ride home, as I pedicted. Admittedly the battery lasted for a long time, a testament to the power of my Cateyes, and I think it had lulled me into a false sense of security, and a vague belief that they would magically last all winter on one charging.
At the same time I came across a couple of interesting lighting systems which could actually mean lights never having to be plugged in to the mains, and an end to being stranded halfway anywhere in the dark.
Firstly these lights work as pedals as well. They charge on the rotation of the pedals and so should never run out – unless you hit a really long downhill and don’t have to pedal for a while. It seems brilliant and simple, and the only problem I can see is that I’m not convinced by the use of having lights on your pedals. A bike is hardly a wide vehicle and I think that lights on the front and back are probably more use. However, they’re good as additional lights and any extra reflective area and shiny bits are a great to help you be seen at night (although I’m all for subtly styled reflective patches, rather than the traditional badly-sized hi-viz tabard). I'd also like to see them in a clipless pedal variety.
The second, rather more useful, light system I came across is built into a pump. The light is charged as you pump and therefore encourages you both to keep your tyres fully inflated, and have a light always on hand, with the option of charging it up simply if they run out. It’s a beautiful linking of ideas and the only shame is that it’s not being produced for sale just yet.
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