If you've been reading this, you know that I love the looks--and sometimes function--of older bike accessories. Not for nothing do all of my bikes have brass Japanese replicas of the bells used on French constructeurs. And all of my bike bags are canvas.
Now, of course, there is absolutely no earthly reason to buy some of the other bike accessories from le temps perdu. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I see someone spending half a paycheck (for me, anyway) on a model of pump that folded when I used it in my youth, or for a model of fenders that cracked or broke the first time I rode them in cold weather.
Still, one retains a soft spot for some things from one's youth. And today I came across one of them on eBay:
For years, I kept one of these in whatever bag was attached to me or my bike while I was riding. It had a red lens on the rear and white on the front; both lenses were bounded by a translucent red band. This light was sold as an "armband light," and many runners and hikers, as well as cyclists, used them that way.
However, I found that they were more effective (if a bit less comfortable) when strapped onto my leg, just below my knee. Motorists and pedestrians who saw that light bobbing up and down gave me some strange looks from (though, truth be told, I can't blame them all on the light), and I'd bet some cyclist in New Mexico or some place like that was mistaken for a low-flying UFO.
So...The light definitely did its job, which was to make its user more visible. And it did so cheaply: The light didn't cost more than a couple of dollars and took two "C" batteries.
The only problem with it--or, at any rate, the version in the photo, which is the original and was made in France--was that it often broke off at the point where the head screws onto the body. A Japanese near-clone corrected this problem but wasn't quite as bright as the original; it was sold under Schwinn, Raleigh and other names and, if I remember correctly, made by Sanyo.
Of course it, like nearly all bike lights made more than a decade or so ago, is functionally obsolete. Remember, the light in the photo was made before halogen bulbs, let alone LEDs, were available in bike lights. But, given that comparatively primitive state of bike light technology, the Wonder and Sanyo arm/leg lights were actually very good options. In fact, it is the only light Tom Cuthbertson recommended in Anybody's Bike Book and Bike Tripping.
I'm tempted to buy that light. I mean, even though it's plastic (albeit with a canvas strap), it just reeks style. It almost makes me want to jump on the next Peugeot PX-10 or Gitane Tour de France I see and take a moonlight ride.
Now, of course, there is absolutely no earthly reason to buy some of the other bike accessories from le temps perdu. I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I see someone spending half a paycheck (for me, anyway) on a model of pump that folded when I used it in my youth, or for a model of fenders that cracked or broke the first time I rode them in cold weather.
Still, one retains a soft spot for some things from one's youth. And today I came across one of them on eBay:
For years, I kept one of these in whatever bag was attached to me or my bike while I was riding. It had a red lens on the rear and white on the front; both lenses were bounded by a translucent red band. This light was sold as an "armband light," and many runners and hikers, as well as cyclists, used them that way.
However, I found that they were more effective (if a bit less comfortable) when strapped onto my leg, just below my knee. Motorists and pedestrians who saw that light bobbing up and down gave me some strange looks from (though, truth be told, I can't blame them all on the light), and I'd bet some cyclist in New Mexico or some place like that was mistaken for a low-flying UFO.
So...The light definitely did its job, which was to make its user more visible. And it did so cheaply: The light didn't cost more than a couple of dollars and took two "C" batteries.
The only problem with it--or, at any rate, the version in the photo, which is the original and was made in France--was that it often broke off at the point where the head screws onto the body. A Japanese near-clone corrected this problem but wasn't quite as bright as the original; it was sold under Schwinn, Raleigh and other names and, if I remember correctly, made by Sanyo.
Of course it, like nearly all bike lights made more than a decade or so ago, is functionally obsolete. Remember, the light in the photo was made before halogen bulbs, let alone LEDs, were available in bike lights. But, given that comparatively primitive state of bike light technology, the Wonder and Sanyo arm/leg lights were actually very good options. In fact, it is the only light Tom Cuthbertson recommended in Anybody's Bike Book and Bike Tripping.
I'm tempted to buy that light. I mean, even though it's plastic (albeit with a canvas strap), it just reeks style. It almost makes me want to jump on the next Peugeot PX-10 or Gitane Tour de France I see and take a moonlight ride.
