Can anyone report on how durable the philips lights built into the frame of a Vanmoof city bike are? I can't tell if being (partially) inside the top tube will protect them, or make them more vulnerable since they'll have to stop the entire bike if you bash them into a bike rack or something.
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Don't bash your bike into a bike rack. Really what is the chance you are going to strike an object light high? Bike racks are not that tall.– paparazzoFeb 25, 2015 at 18:29
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1I'm living in europe; the racks here are often way higher than the crumby low ones that were still common in the USA, where I lived before. I think ~everything on a commuter bike here gets bashed while stored in a bike rack, and fairly routinely. Pedals in spokes and frames, handlebars constantly getting tangled in the cables of adjacent bicycles... If your bike is in the "high" part of some racks, the handlebars of the two "low" adjacent bikes are at about light height.– Andrew WagnerFeb 26, 2015 at 7:03
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For even more context, I'm deciding between a Batavus Blockbuster, Gazelle Arroyo C7, and a similarly equipped vanmoof, if I can find one. On the two more traitional dutch bikes, the light is the cheeziest part on the bike and looks like it will break the first time it gets knocked.– Andrew WagnerFeb 26, 2015 at 7:06
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2 Answers
I am a happy Vanmoof owner for about two years here in Amsterdam. It's never occurred to me at all to be worried about the lights hitting a bike rack, or anything else. Even if they did, they're pretty solid and I would imagine you'd need to bang at them pretty hard to damage them.
answered Apr 19, 2015 at 12:14
The LED itself is pretty deep so I wouldn't worry about the functionality of the light of you banged the lens. The lens could break if you hit it. I haven't hit mine so I can't comment on the durability - in general my S3 is a tank. Having the light in the tube certainly protects it from all angles other than head on though. I do have one complaint about the light - when I am rolling faster than 15ish mph on a dark bike path at 5am on my way to work I wish the light were focused a little higher as my eyes want to look about 10 feet beyond the usable arc of light - I'm hoping to be able to just swap out the LED in the future for a brighter version that still works with the dynamo as it is.
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Just add a second separate light - that gives you multiple redundant light sources.– Criggie ♦Dec 8, 2016 at 10:29