Bicycle light

[indalo]

Recently, there was much discussion about bike lights and there's no doubt lights have improved immensely over recent years. Retro styling has become popular in areas such as kitchen appliances, some car bodywork and motorcycles by way of example.

If you'd like to set a trend amongst the ebike community, perhaps the attached link might interest you........having said that, it wouldn't surprise me if some members already possess such a lamp!

WW2 MILITARY BLACK OUT BICYCLE LAMP LAMP ELECTRIC No 1 E R Co Ltd | eBay

Indalo

 

[flecc]

Somebody could market a modern imitation of the old Ever-Ready bicycle lamp with a modern LED and reflector, but I don't think anyone would buy them.

Trouble is, those old icons, the VW Beetle, the Mini and the Fiat 500 were much loved and that affection makes for new sales, but those Ever-Ready lamps were hated for their many faults and unreliability.

 

[mike killay]

I don't think that it is a bike lamp. It is constructed on the same body as a bike lamp but has a belt hook on the back.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Come on Mike, haven't you lived? When I was a kid, every bike had a little bracket attached to the top head bearing adjuster clamp nut onto which you slid your light that had a clip like that. I can't remember how we fixed the back light - if we did. FLECC???

 

[mike killay]

The clip was a slot that ran across the body. This vertical belt clip looks more suitable for a soldier or policeman. Nor do I recall a blackout that could be slid up out of the way. Some bike light black outs were inside the glass against the reflector.

 

[mike killay]

By the way, I had a lamp the same as the photo that Flecc shows except mine was black. (1950's). Those lamps bolted onto the front fork. Much better in the rain as your cape did not cover it.

 

[jhruk]

Come on Mike, haven't you lived? When I was a kid, every bike had a little bracket attached to the top head bearing adjuster clamp nut onto which you slid your light that had a clip like that. I can't remember how we fixed the back light - if we did. FLECC???

They used to do a similar light for the rear which attached to a bracket on the offside seat stay - like this one. Mine always used to bounce off when I went over a bump.

 

[flecc]

As jhruk says, the rear lights used to have clips often built in which screw clamped them onto the o/s rear frame stay. The earliest Ever-Ready one was a pressed steel tube with a D cell battery (called U2 in those days). The lens surround was screwed in against a coil spring to bring the 1.2 volt scc bulb into contact with the battery to switch it on. The next one was similar but in plastic with a top mounted rotary on/off switch. Then came a flat one which I never used. This had a slide switch and may have used either two C or D cells or one of the flat 4.5 volt batteries with two strip top contacts. There were also some the same as the front lamp I showed before but with a red lens, and those often mounted on the same sort of bracket as the headstock one via a screwed on clip on the o/s frame stay. Photo of a range of these types mentioned below, click to enlarge:

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I seem to remember back lights more like that blue one in the middle, but I reckon the brackets like Jhruk shows must have been on the deluxe bikes because I can't remember them, but I do remember the bracket on those blue type coming loose so that the light pointed at the ground. I was priveliged because my bike had a dyno-hub, which worked pretty well.

 

[mike killay]

Flecc, just where did you get all those lights?
I remember the blue cylindrical bottom ones. There was a variation painted black and it had what looked like a clothes peg welded on the side. It was issued to sailors to wear if they were torpedoed. I had a few of these after the war, my Dad brought them back!

 

[flecc]

I forget now, I've got a load of bike files and photos stored, so delve in when I need an image to upload from my computer. Some more regularly used ones I load onto my websites for easy access.

There's one I remember that's missing from that photo, this ghastly light brown plastic Ever-Ready one shown below. I'm sure Ever-Ready never had a styling department, what bike could that colour possibly match?!

 

[Deleted member 4366]

At our school, the IT teacher used to work in the Ever-Ready design department. Do you want me to ask him about it? He seems to know everything that went on there.

 

[flecc]

Yes, that would be interesting Dave. I've always suspected that their designs were mainly functional.

 

[mike killay]

Remember the Blumells reflectors. They were never red, always orange in colour. If I remember right they eventually got done for it after about 20 years.

 

[flecc]

Yes indeed. All early vehicle lighting was pathetic compared with the incredible stuff we have now. The first cars I drove had a single centre rear light with a lens about 1" in diameter and the output was so poor that no modern cyclist would think them adequate on a bike. Parliament's first step in improving that was adding two compulsory reflectors which we added to all existing cars. They were rubber and about 2" diameter, with the red lens popped out we mounted them with a centre bolt onto rear wings. At all sorts of angles in both planes they had little hope of reflecting well.

With bikes and motorbikes no better, the only thing that saved the day was the lack of motor traffic, only bikes around in large numbers and very few of those on longer distance journeys.