During the Oxford to Atlanta ride I ended up riding in the dark on the bike trail. I had a very bright spot right in front of my front light which wasn't great when going fast.
So tonight I was adjusting the light and went out for a four mile test ride. It was a beautiful night and the bike rode so nicely again that I didn't want to turn around. Adjusting the light so that the glass goes strait up and down (i.e 90 degree to the ground) is about correct. You get a well lit cone and it makes a world of difference compared with how it was before.
I compared the head light with my Planet Bike 2 Watt Blazer and found it outperformed it slightly. The cool part is that it keeps the beam low where you need the light and doesn't blind oncoming traffic. The Blazer has a round beam that shines quite high. You can tell the difference when both lights are pointed at a wall. All that light that's high up blinding oncoming traffic didn't help any on the dark and wooden bike trail.
The tail light is quite bright as well. I compared it to the Planet Bike Superflash (on steady light) and the Superflash is just barely brighter. When I looked the bike was standing and I'm not sure if the rear light is dimming any when the hub doesn't generate electricity. I'm impressed with the light output as well as the angle that the light can be seen. I certainly wouldn't be hesitant to ride with the SON Hub Dynamo lighting on my Brompton at night.
It's probably needless to say that with the dynamo hub one doesn't need to worry about batteries and that the lights have a stand light feature so you won't stand in the dark when you stop. It would be interesting to compare the lights with the much cheaper Shimano Hub Dynamo lighting options.
