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Magnic Light – A Dynamo That Functions Free Of Components

Written by Colin McCaleb
Magnic Light Dynamo Cableless Daytime
17 Comments
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Magnic Light Dynamo Cableless Daytime

Magnic Light provides a new approach to Dynamo lighting. I haven’t seen any like this on the market so far. Dirk Strothmann, the maker, claims that this is the first. The special feature on this light is that there is no friction, and no components (meaning no magnets strapped to the wheel to generate power). We have a review on a Dynamo that is generated with a magnetic component, pretty nifty in itself. The Magnic Light avoids these components by harnessing energy created by the rims as they spin, Eddy currents. Eddy currents are generated by aluminum, steel, and magnesium wheels. Full-carbon wheels won’t work with this unfortunately.

The light being displayed mounts on cantilever brakes. Mounted in this way, when the brakes are engaged, the lights get a bit brighter being closer to the rim. This lets others know that you are stopping, whether they be cars or fellow cyclists. They also offer a light that will mount on the fork if you don’t have cantilevers.

The shell for this is carbon fiber, and the system will include a rear/headlight combo. The Kickstarter page states that a set will run less than $200. Magnic Light is halfway to its goal and has less than a month remaining for pledges.

Click more for pictures of the rear light and a video…

Magnic Light Dynamo Cableless Rear
Colin McCaleb
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fg4
fg4
12 years ago

Awesome. I would like to see them be visible on both sides of the bike, but genius nonetheless.

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MTB
MTB
12 years ago

So, what happens if you pledge $200 and they can’t raise the 50K?
Do you get your money back?

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Jordan
Jordan
12 years ago

@MTB, trees, that’s how it works

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Aaron
Aaron
12 years ago

what happens when you pull up to a stop light at night? will anyone be able to see you? that seems like a small problem for the commuting cyclist.

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butch
butch
12 years ago

A W E S O M E -> This is not a new idea but bringing it to the bicycle lighting is ingenious indeed, I wish I’d had it. the best I’ve come across in a long time and better by far than bringing an electrical motor to murks a chain across some cogs.

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carl
carl
12 years ago

A VERY clever idea, and it appears quite bright. The brake light function is brilliant (pun intended). However, I do wonder why it is shown mounted on the right side of the bike when in studio or on the child’s bike, but on the left side of the bike when shown on the road bike. I would hope that it will mount on the left where it can be seen by oncoming traffic…. OR have the option of mounting on either side. Aaron makes a good point concerning what happens when at a stop.

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Goosh
Goosh
12 years ago

@Aaron. When you pull the brake it actually gets brighter similar to a car. So I’m sure that when your close to a stop light you might worry a bit, but I’d handle it like I do at any stoplight. Just be careful. I’m sure this light will do an excellent job of grabbing the attention of motorists. I love how it’s virtually maintenance free!

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breadandbits
breadandbits
12 years ago

nice idea for a sealed modular dynamo light, but with all due respect, a bit lacking in the explanation… gonna hafta dork out on this one. doesn’t seem fair to say that eddy currents are generated by metallic rims just by spinning them (“energy created by the rims as they spin”? …i think not). just like mechanical friction, eddy currents are a dissipative phenomenon that is often applied as braking technology. they’re generated in/on conductors in the presence of a changing magnetic field.

fundamentally, this is going to dissipate more energy (as heat) than a hub dynamo, which rectifies currents generated by a changing magnetic field to generate electricity, and is mechanically coupled to the wheel by virtue of being a part of it. this eddy current device uses eddy current drag to provide some form of coupling to the wheel, which then still needs to be converted to electricity (presumably with a sealed little spinning/oscillating generator). for the same amount of electricity->light, this will dissipate considerably more energy, but they have plenty of other selling points…

ohyes, and don’t forget that carbon fiber composites are conductive – therefore, eddy currents (as well as inductive heating) still work, in principle…

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h2ofuel
h2ofuel
12 years ago

I think it’s really cool. I’d also like address a few of the concerns I saw in the comments here:

RE: side visibility
There is currently pretty decent side visibility, to one side that is. Even without modifying the current design, if they could just put the lights on opposite sides of the bike, this would probably be adequate.

RE: visibility while stopped
Of course that’s what would happen, that’s how any non-battery assisted dynamo system would work though. So in that regard, this would at least be a step forward from the traditional dynamo setup.

That said, I would like to see some changes to it before production. Even currently though, it appears to be leaps and bounds ahead of the traditional dynamo. With no battery, of course it just can’t be compared to today’s standard LED lights.

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StandLights
StandLights
12 years ago

A lot of the comments seem to come from people that don’t or haven’t used a decent dynamo system. Stand lights are a common feature, indeed mandatory in Germany. My friend has a Phillips front, B&M rear with a hub dynamo. It takes over 10 minutes for the rear light to completely dim and about 4 for the front once stationary. It just uses a small capacitor circuit in the light unit to hold a standing charge. If you’ve ridden a a hundred meters you’ve got at least a couple of mins of rear light, just a bit more and your lumen laden.

As for which side of the bike to mount the thing it rather depends where you live, some of us drive on the correct side of the road rather than the right.

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Paul
Paul
12 years ago

h20fuel, Most dynamo lights do have a stand light, which is just a small capacitor in the circuit. There are even replacement LED bulbs for older non-LED lights that have this built in. If you read the questions in the Kickstarter site, they mention it may be incorporated in future models if enough money is pledged. They also mention separating the dynamo from the light so the light could be placed above the wheel, but this would mean wires would be needed. It’s a great idea that I’m sure will develop into other forms.

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Matt Holland
Matt Holland
12 years ago

Has bike rumour recently got shares in kickstarter or something? Been quite a few articles promoting products lately….

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Robin
Robin
12 years ago

Kickstarter is a great place to look for potentially innovative new products that haven’t been soiled yet by a marketing department.

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when
when
12 years ago

Rim-driven eddy current lights have been tried before.

They only work for very very very true wheels, like +/- thousandths of an inch as the field diminishes as e^x from the surface.

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Julia L
Julia L
12 years ago

Looks like an absolutely awesome product. Would love to add this dynamo to one of our SpinPOWER Bicycle USB Charger kits! Concerned with output though. Are they efficient enough to power a smart phone usb charger?

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The_D
The_D
10 years ago

Interesting. Am curious about whether the underlying theory could be applied to r. der. jockey wheels, perhaps powering the motor required for electrical shifting?

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