Road Cycling Essentials

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Jonny69 said:
You get a lot more space on the road when you've got powerful lights. The types of driver who look you right in the eye and then pull out anyway just sit there and wait. The pool of light on the road gives the illusion of you being much larger than you are, so vehicles give you a wider berth when overtaking and don't cut in as early. Pedestrians don't walk out in front of you and dive out the way if they do. You can see potholes and other obstacles better. When you're about to smash someone's side window and give them a shoeing for deliberately being a **** you can shine the light in their face and they can't see to hit you back. Plenty of great reasons :D
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tempting! :o but im not sure if i can be bothered with 3hr battery life time?! i mean really that is one days ride for me - well not but i ride ~2hrs a day so in reality it would need to be recharged every day! :)

is there a BRIGHT front light without a battery pack? i wouldn't mind investing into one.
 
Ok I can't put any pictures up - im working for a few days.

mount here

http://dx.com/p/universal-bicycle-mount-22mm-32-8mm-15342

The top torch part screws off to leave the lower cam a m4 bolt can be screwed through and attached to the CREE-T6 light body. For £3 they are really good and come with a selection of none slip rubber to fit the bars. They fit my averaged sized road bars easily.

Wide angle lens

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Wide-Angl...isure_Cycling_Bike_Lights&hash=item3ccbf6c6cc

Really surprised at the good quality.

and my lights from here take about 3 weeks to come but for £20 whos complaining

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1200-Lume...isure_Cycling_Bike_Lights&hash=item4601c5b6ce

I'll see if I can get some pictures up end of the week.

I have to add I have been researching decent cycle lights since the spring and didnt really want to pay a lot was also dabling with the idea of building my own, if these hadn't been so cheap I probably would have gone down the DIY build as many seemed to be doing about 2-3 years ago.

The deal extreme magicshine rear light also looks like a cracking light that I might get. Then again I wonder if you could use a standard CREE T6 with a red lens?
 
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£17.40 for one!? I thought I got a good deal at £27! I'm tempted to get another...

Cheers for the link to the mount, I will go for one of those if the one I bought from CRC isn't suitable.
 
On none light issue.

I seem to have been hit by several gremlins. Gone pretty much 12 months without any major bike issues.

In the last 2 weeks I have had 5 flats and one spoke snapped. Thankfully the spoke went when I started the ride. Yesterday I got home and pretty much threw the bike in the shed and told it what I thought of it. :(
 
grudas said:
so what exactly is the point of lights like that if you're commuting on well lit road? :) i personally laugh at people who have really bright lights and commute in central london! i would only use one to light up my path if i was riding through parks/etc but in my commute all i would want is something that is easy to see from a distance :o

not having a go at any of you just kinda stating that its pointless in my eyes when you commute in well lit roads :) i know a lot of you commute in country lanes and so on and that is exactly where a light like this should be used.
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My main concern when cycling is drivers. Whether or not I need the light to light up the road (as it happens I do - part of my commute was/will be unlit) or not is irrelevant. I need to ensure that cars have seen me. I have an outrageously bright front headlight (Hope), and a bright helmet torch (Lenser P7) to point where I'm looking.

The pathetic flashing leds that 90% of cyclists use just don't cut it.
 
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Edinho said:
On none light issue.

I seem to have been hit by several gremlins. Gone pretty much 12 months without any major bike issues.

In the last 2 weeks I have had 5 flats and one spoke snapped. Thankfully the spoke went when I started the ride. Yesterday I got home and pretty much threw the bike in the shed and told it what I thought of it. :(
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Thanks for the DX link with the handlebar mount, I've ordered a couple as I know they seem to use the slow boat from China.

Flats are a pain, I just carry a spare tube an swap it at the roadside, then patch the puncture when I'm at my destination.

As for the spoke snapping, were your wheels pinging a little before this happened or did it happen out of the blue? I try to check my spoke tension once a month if I'm going a lot of miles. Regardless this can help in a pinch:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/fiber-fix-emergency-replacement-spoke-prod20155/

Thanks for the info re: the magicshine. A rear red lens would be inefficient as a red filter only lets around 25% of the light thru, so a rear light with a red LED would work far better and use a lot less battery power.

I've not seen the DX magicshine rear light tho, you don't really need that much power for your rear light as you only need to be be seen by it.

In fact I have a couple of these which work pretty well and I can charge them off laptops at work, and are also light and waterproof. :)

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=73913
 
platypus said:
My main concern when cycling is drivers. Whether or not I need the light to light up the road (as it happens I do - part of my commute was/will be unlit) or not is irrelevant. I need to ensure that cars have seen me. I have an outrageously bright front headlight (Hope), and a bright helmet torch (Lenser P7) to point where I'm looking.

The pathetic flashing leds that 90% of cyclists use just don't cut it.
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i understand, after thinking for a bit yes a lot of drivers ignore you even if they see you coming! which is just stupid :) a van driver cut me off on purpose today and i was so close to smashing my head into the back of it!

anyways, how much do your wheels flex? for e.g. my speedo magnet is ~1-2mm from the receiver and it touches the spoke when i put a lot of weight on and pedal(this is when im in a standing position) is this normal?
 
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Wil post a review of my Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 8 soon with pictures as it has been nearly 4 months so have enough ride time to finally ie a decent review.

early signs are...tyres r ****e,, conti gators are the balls.....ow yer and it fast!
 
On the subject of lights, my Ultrafire torch really didn't cut it last night on the unlit roads around our hotel in Watford. Somewhat scary experience but luckily the road surface was decent. :p
 
grudas said:
is there a BRIGHT front light without a battery pack? i wouldn't mind investing into one.
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I use a Fenix torch which takes 2 AAs. Runtime is a shade over two hours so I charge the batteries every other day. Mine is 180 lumens which is plenty when it's good quality light, but the LED stuff is just getting better and better :)
 
shadowcreaper said:
Wil post a review of my Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 8 soon with pictures as it has been nearly 4 months so have enough ride time to finally ie a decent review.

early signs are...tyres r ****e,, conti gators are the balls.....ow yer and it fast!
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Doesn't the Canyon come with GP4000s tyres? First time I've read them being called ****! They usually get glowing reviews.
 
900 lumen torch from deal extreme, takes a single 18650 battery, lasts me 1.5+ hours using a mix of high and low power modes. Go down unlit cycle paths with overhanging trees either side and its perfect for this on full power. I knock the power down on lit roads.
 
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