Smart Lights

[Chris Land]

Anyone got experience with the Smart rechargable lights? I noticed that SJSC are selling them for £25 at the moment and as this is much cheaper than Cat Eye's cheapest, and they have a longer run-time, I am thinking of getting a pair.

Ideally I would buy another Schmidt hub, but these are for a fairly cheap winter fixed bike and the hub alone would cost more than the whole bike!  I am using it mostly for commuting, but want to be able to take the long route home down country lanes and think these should do the job.  Cheaper than a good led front anyway.

Thoughts?

[Sprocket]

Hello Chris. I have used Smart lights for a couple of years now and have been quite happy with them. The mounting bracket is a bit flexible and the beam dithers as it vibrates, but it isn't too much of a problem. The fabric battery pack is a bit rough and will soon rub through the paint on the frame, I protect mine with a strip of inner tube rubber wrapped round the frame tube like a bandage and held in place with a cable tie.
The original battery saw me through a couple of winters before it gave up. Replacements are easily available from Maplin or similar. The instructions omit to mention that the sealed lead acid battery should be stood upright for recharging, so don't recharge with it still in its case attached to the bike. I also use the battery for running my 6v GPS on my touring bike.
I don't have any experience with the more modern battery packs of nicads or Ni-Mhs, but the lead acids are robust and take a lot of abuse before they give up, and they are easy and cheap to replace.