One (33g + aaa battery) spoke light - balance?

[=BicycleRider=]

I was just wondering if for a casual electric bicycle rider a single spoke mounted wheel light at 33g with 1 x aaa battery placed will unbalance the wheel (700c size) to cause any noticeable negative effect for casual general riding.

Just comparing some basic spoke lights, there are smaller ones you can balance by putting two on but they use button cell batteries that won't last long, then there is a larger pattern type one that uses a aaa which would be more convenient.

 

[docw009]

Do the science. Tape a pair of AA's to the spokes carefully with duct tape so they don't come off and cause a crash. See if you feel the weight.

 

[The fingers]

Would have less effect closer to the hub. :wink:

 

[Rassy]

Seems to me the easy solution if you don't want to install two of the lights just make an equal weight to counterbalance it. Two short pieces of aluminum strap with a center nut and bolt would be the easiest.

 

[amberwolf]

If you're just casually riding, slow speeds like walking or maybe jogging speeds, then it's not going to be a significant issue; you probably wouldn't really feel it much, but you might notice the difference.

If you're speeding along at 20-30mph +, you're probably going to feel the imbalance, though it's unlikely to cause you any control issues.

Get fast enough and the lights might come off, depending on how well their mounts are designed for their weight. (same thing can happen if you hit a lot of big bumps even at slow speeds, if they're badly designed or made).



Personally I prefer downlighting strips on the downtube, forks, seat, seatstays, chainstays, etc., that light up the ground around the bike as well as the bike itself. Red in the back, white or amber in the front, so it's like car lighting, so that all the other vehicles on the road will know what it means without thinking.

12V strips are cheap, available in waterproof lengths, and DC-DC converters are easy to find for most ebike battery voltages (or you can often use regular AC adapters for 48v and higher packs; that's what I do).


I use old aquarium LED lights for the purpose, when I can find them cheap at goodwill/etc. Sorry about the blurriness:

Without the downlighting on, and just the bike headlight and MC taillights, it's practically invisible :

 

[MadRhino]

Reflector tape on the spokes will do it, if it is to be seen at night. Lights themselves, don't need to be in the wheel.

 

[=BicycleRider=]

Thanks, Maybe I'll look into strip lighting, I was thinking of getting reflector tape for the wheel rims, would that be good?

 

[amberwolf]

I was thinking of getting reflector tape for the wheel rims, would that be good?

Assuming you don't use rim brakes, then it will reflect straight to the sides well enough, on the side surfaces.

If you are only putting it on the inner circumference where the spoke holes are, it'll work for reflecting any light from any direction except directly to the sides.

If you put it on the spokes themselves, it will reflect every direction, front, rear, sides, top, bottom, although they will be very thin, long reflectors, there are enough of them to make them fairly visible. The only issue with them I can think of is that if the adhesive isn't extremely good, they might unwrap from the spokes over time. There are various solutions for that, most of which should be fairly obvious. (and others I probably haven't thought of).

 

[MadRhino]

Reflector paint might be better than tape on the spokes then. Putting the paint spots at different distances from the center on the spokes, can be arranged to create an animated pattern with the spin. :wink:

 

[=BicycleRider=]

Has anyone tried these ones on ebay?

Would they add a lot of wind resistance?


http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/12Pcs-Bicycle-Bike-Mount-Wheel-Rim-Spoke-Tube-Strip-Reflector-Yellow-75mm-New-/292044043053?hash=item43ff2e732d:g:xBkAAOSw32lYuViO

Is there any risk of anything like this coming off of the front wheel and causing a jam?