Good options in standard battery bike lights and dynamo bike lights have been available for a while but only recently have high quality and affordable USB rechargeable lights hit the market.

We’re now stocking and strongly recommending the Serfas USB front and rear lights. They’ve hit the balance of: very bright light output, long burn time, sturdy and universal mount, and well priced.

5 LED/ wide visibility
(Up to) 6.5/10 hours burn time for the front/rear lights
High beam/Low beam/Flashing modes
The front light rated at 70 lumens, the rear at ‘up to 1 mile …

Welcome to our winter update! Read through the latest from the workshop and also some cycling news from around Melbourne.
Bill’s back from 4 weeks cycling in Europe. The first two weeks of this was with a big group checking out the Netherlands (check the Cycling Dutch Style blog). then 2 weeks for a quick trip through Copenhagen, Berlin and Paris. Keep tuned to humanpowered.com.au for a trip report with photos soon.
In this edition:

News from the workshop
End of financial year
Great bikes, bikes for transport
Maintenance Training
Kids on bikes: child seats
Cycling news around Melbourne

NEWS FROM …

Daylight savings ended. Then the Ride On lights test in the latest edition of the Bicycle Victoria magazine was published. Then I spent a few days perusing the bike lights on offer at a few popular shops around Melbourne… now I’m motivated to make some comments on the lighting options we’ve got on offer and why.
This article is divided into five sections. These are:

Mini lights: legal (… on a full battery), discussing mini battery lights
Better choices of battery lights, including At a pinch – cheaper battery lights and also Quality …

We’ve spent a lot of time hunting around for Australian made bike parts and accessories. And it’s been successful. This post covers some of the gear available from the local market.
Ok so we know the benefits of local stuff… mimising transport requirements reduces emissions. And warranties are much easier. The products are better supported and with lots of these businesses we can give feedback on what we like and what doesn’t work. They will sometimes be able to incorporate this feedback into future designs and manufacturing runs. Anyway, local gear …

Daylight savings ends soooon. We’ve been thinking long and hard about the best gear to stock to keep us safe and dry through the darker and wetter months. So welcome to Planet Bike. The gear these guys make is definitely part of the picture: awesome front and rear lights and great full mudguard sets.
We’ve got a good range already in store and will continue to expand this over the coming month.
Here’s some shots of various Planet Bike gear in the shop…
Check the post on Lew’s Brompton fixie… there’s a shot …

Lights that look cool and brighten up your night! Two Ultra bight LEDs angled for wide, long range visibility (approx 600 metres but don’t let ya batteries go flat!)

These critters have steady and flash modes and the batteries give around 100 hours of burn time.
Batteries are included and they’ll fit on tubing from 10-35mm diameter.
Available in red light (rear) and white light (front)… in a whole range of colours!

Priced at $30 each or $55 per pair.