Dual Headlights on Fork

With all the stuff people have on their handlebars, it can be nice to mount the headlights down on the fork blades, out of the way of cables, odometers, heart rate monitors, etc. By using the Cronometro Nob and my handlebar bracket, you can place one or two headlights on your forks. This page shows you how to do it. The bike is a Rambouillet.

The lights shown here are the Schmidt E6 Primary and E6 Secondary. But this installation will work with the Lumotec and Lumotec Oval Plus headlights also. And remember, both headlights can be the Schmidt E6 models, or both Lumotec models, or a mix. Mix an E6 Primary and Lumotec Secondary or have a Lumotec Primary with an E6 Secondary. It doesn't effect the wiring or mounting.

Start by mounting a Nob on the left fork blade. This will be for your Primary headlight, assuming you live where it's customary to ride on the right side of the road. If you use just one light, or if you have a Secondary but only use it for fast downhills, this keeps the light that's on all the time positioned on the left, where it will be more visible to oncoming traffic.

The Nob works just like a hose clamp. Wrap it around the fork blade, preferably where the blade is not tapered. If you put it on the tapered part of the blade, it can slide down. On steel forks this means placing the Nob up on the oval section of the blade near the top.

Next, trim the excess from the Nob's band with a sharp blade. Don't scratch the paint! ;-)

Now, mount a handlebar bracket onto the Nob. My handlebar bracket is made from a Shimano Flight Deck computer mount with some added hardware. Place the handlebar bracket with the nut for the light away from the wheel, giving maximum clearance between the light and the wheel.

Now, mount the light onto the handlebar bracket. The wire from the Primary light needs to wrap over the back of the fork and down the right fork blade, since the hub's connectors must be on the right side of the bike, unless you have an older SON hub with the black center section between the spoke flanges. With the older hub, the connectors can be on either side. And remember, always mount the headlight right side up. The hole for the mounting bolt is on the bottom. If you mount the headlight upside down, you ruin the superb beam that justifies the cost of these headlights. The light will be very bright close to you and extremely dim further away. Keeping the headlight mounted right side up gives you the most even illumination of the road in front of you.

Here's how it should look from the front. If the headlight is so close to the wheel that it touches the spokes, you've mounted the handlebar bracket backwards. Take the headlight off and reverse the handlebar bracket. If you'll just be using a single headlight, and lots of people do, you're almost done! But this is the Dual Headlight page, so we'll continue. ;-)

Now mount the second Nob on the left fork blade, opposite the Nob on the right. Trim the end and mount the other handlebar bracket. Then mount the headlight onto the handlebar bracket.

Use some cable ties or zip ties to hold the wiring in place. You can get zip ties at any hardware store. Loop any excess cable from the headlight around the Cronometro Nob.

You may still have some excess wire. Loop it together between the fender and the fork crown. Use zip ties to keep everything tidy. If you don't have fenders, try to wrap as much wire as you can around the Nobs.

Here are the wires as they attach at the hub. One wire from each headlight plugs into the hub. The two remaining connectors, one male, one female, connect to each other. (The black plastic block bolted to the dropout eyelet in the upper left corner of the photo is part of the front fender mount. It has nothing to do with the lights or wiring.)

Use zip ties to gather the loose ends together. Trim off the excess length from the zip ties.

Each light can be easily aimed right to left, and up or down.

Oh, ah, please excuse the mess.

And here's the finished product, all ready for Paris Brest Paris. You can also mount the headlight or headlights directly on the handlebar, if you have space, or off the handlebar with an accessory mount like the Minoura Space Grip. That would eliminate the need for the Cronometro Nobs. But with the lights on the fork, there's no interference with brake and derailleur cables, and your handlebar is free to mount whatever else you need.

For more on wiring, see the Wiring Instructions page.

Return to Schmidt Dynohub page.

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This page updated: Saturday, September 22, 2018

Peter White Cycles LLC
24 Hall Rd.
Hillsborough, NH 03244
USA
603 478 0900 Phone