Empowering The Bicycle Traveler

Busch+Müller Luxos U Head Light Mounting

Almost everybody- or more precisely; everybody- I have spoken to about it thinks the Busch+Müller Luxos U head light is klunky and ugly. I’m not the one to give an opinion on headlight aesthetics though since I still use the Schmidt E6 light on my commuter bike. But I can say that the Luxos U is heavy, and mounting it anyplace but on the fork crown using the provided fork crown mounting bracket is a bit of a challenge. If it’s not tightened securely it has a tendency to slowly droop so that the lighted patch on the road ahead becomes shorter and shorter. I recently upgraded to this light on my touring machine and went through a couple of iterations before I came up with what I think will be a permanent mounting solution.

I have caliper side pull brakes on my bike and I also use a front bag mounted on top of a Nitto M-18 rack, and either one of those conditions, by itself, would preclude mounting the light on the fork crown. (Note: we do have mounts that will attach behind a caliper brake, but they are not recommended for this light) What to do? Nitto makes a light mount which consists of an eyebolt which slips over the end of one of the M-18 rack stays and a clever little scalloped washer which clamps down on the stay for a really solid attachment. There were two problems with using the actual light mounting bracket that the Nitto lamp holder uses though: 1)  The Luxos U is too big to be mounted on the bracket without either being too far outboard or being pushed out of whack by the rack stay. 2) Where the light is meant to mount, the bracket is a single thickness of metal, rather that a U or a fork shape. Simply bolting the light to a flat peice of metal doesn’t seem to be a strong enough connection to keep the light from slipping.

light bracket

The Nitto Lamp Holder for Nitto M-18

I had the idea to thread the 6mm end of a Sheldon Fender Nut onto the bolt of the Nitto Lamp Mount in place of the stock bracket and then bolt the light onto the 5mm end of the nut. While this was a clean and sort of elegant solution, I couldn’t clamp the bolt tight enough to keep the light from drooping, and when the light rotated down it also tended to loosen the clamping bolt, so eventually the whole thing was just sort of dangling there, with the light pointing straight down at the ground.

light mount

This is actually the Gilles Berthoud version of the Sheldon Fender Nut screwed onto the base of the Nitto Lamp Holder.

light mount

Mounted on the Fender Nut.

I wish I could take credit for the next idea, but it actually was presented by a friend of mine. The Gino Light Mount is designed to be bolted onto a threaded hole somewhere on the bike’s fork or onto a threaded mount brazed onto a rack. It is a short (22mm) cylinder with a diameter of 26mm, which is the diameter of a standard road handlebar. Any light with a handlebar mount can then be mounted on the Gino mount. Drilling the mounting hole of the Gino Light Mount out a little bit and then using a tap to create some threads, I was able to screw it onto the bolt of the Nitto Lamp Holder in place of the stock bracket. Now I had a place to mount the light which I could position anywhere along the length of the rack stay. I just needed a mount designed for a  handlebar which would work with the Luxos U. As it turns out, the German company Schmidt makes just the thing. The way the metal band of the Schmidt mount is cinched onto the handlebar, or Gino Light Mount in this case, makes it virtually impossible for it to slip. And the fork in the bracket sandwiches the mounting tab on the light and a through bolt clamps the whole thing together.

picture of threaded mount

Threaded Gino Light Mount

bicycle handlebar mount for light

The Schmidt handlebar light mount.

bike light mount

The Gino Light Mount threaded onto the base of the Nitto Lamp Holder.

light mount

This shows the metal band clamp used by the Schmidt light mount.

Handlebar light mount

For this application, putting the Schmidt light mount on the bottom of the Gino mount places the light where I want it.

So far this has been a rock solid mounting solution and the light is in a good position to light the road with only minimal shadow from the front tire. The downside is that it took parts of three different mounts to cobble it together. Getting the light in the right position and aligned the way I wanted it was pretty fiddly too. You might be wondering if it all was worth the effort. The Luxos U light basically incorporates every technology known to one of the best dynamo light manufacturers in the world. It is not simple and it is not inexpensive. Another post could and should be devoted to the features, advantages and benefits of this light. I just haven’t spent enough time with this light to even do it justice in a review. Giving it a thorough testing, which will require planning some more rides in darkness, is something I look forward to.

4 comments… add one
  • Reid March 3, 2016, 11:52 am

    Thanks for posting this. I’ve been hunting for strategies to mount the Luxos U to a front rack. I originally mounted mine to a cheap aluminum front rack’s front mounting tab, and it stressed the welds off on a bumpy ride :(.

    I wonder how this solution has held up over time? Have you done any bumpy long rides with it, and does it still work? If so, I think I’ll have to cobble together something similar, to hold it onto my rack.

    Reply
    • Bike Hermit® March 4, 2016, 9:57 am

      Reid,
      I have not had the chance to test this extensively on bumpy roads, but I’m hopeful this will be a final solution.

      Reply
  • Zuber May 6, 2016, 10:46 am

    I believe this is the light I’ve been thinking about (able to charge an I-phone and has a handle bar USB/switch to turn the light off/on). Do you have this switch – does it reach your front rack mount to the Luxos U?
    Currently I’m running an Exposure Revo at 800lumens – nice, but doesn’t charge anything well, and has to be on when doing so (most of the power goes to the light – so, it won’t charge an I-phone.

    The Luxos U is heavy because of it’s cache battery, yes?
    Thanks for the mounting info. I came across both the Gino and the Nitto mount and figured I’d use one of them when the time came to upgrade my dyno light. Looks like I may have had to go your route…

    Reply
    • Bike Hermit® May 6, 2016, 1:18 pm

      Zuber,
      The cable from the light to the handlebar switch is long enough at 60cm to reach my handlebar from the mount on the rack.

      Reply

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