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How was your cycle commute?

gentlegreen said:
That's what I'm showing you. £50 or so all-in.
99 percent of bike lights I see on a daily basis are total crap - and I'm staggered at how much people pay for them.
Vanishingly few are even capable of properly illuminating an unlit road.

The only decent commercial bike lights suitable for road use are very expensive - as I said, Philips, B&M - you won't even find those in your average bike shop.

I've been using these domestic spot lights for three winters now - they've been permanently attached to my bike for 3 years / 6,000 miles, all weathers.
I have no intention of replacing them - except if they come up with more powerful £10 MR16 lamps.
Click to expand...

No you aren't. You're suggesting I buy various components and build a light. I've not really got the time for that, tbh.
 
Onket said:
No you aren't. You're suggesting I buy various components and build a light. I've not really got the time for that, tbh.
Click to expand...
The only assembly is wiring the lamp to the battery.
Why not buy a Magicshine-type thing ?
You'll still need to fit a yoghurt carton to make it road-friendly though.
 
a_chap said:
Why mounted low?
Click to expand...

The theory goes that a low mounted light better shows irregularities in the road surface by casting shadows into holes, etc.

I haven't quite worked out how to mount my Reflex low on my Thorn as it has a Ti fork so brazing/welding is out. Obviously I reject cable ties and worm drive hose clips on aesthetic grounds.
 
DownwardDog said:
Obviously I reject cable ties and worm drive hose clips on aesthetic grounds.
Click to expand...
:D

How about a bar extender ?
I'm kicking myself for persisting with the hose clips, cable ties (and gaffer tape :oops: ) for so long.

I plan to try fitting my dipped beam right at the front of my shortie MTB mudguard on a cantilever.


newlamppositioncroppedlowres.jpg

At the moment, the lamp assembly is stabilised with a length of inner tube.
 
gentlegreen said:
How about a bar extender ?
Click to expand...

That wouldn't let me mount it low. I've got as far as designing a 6061 Al bracket in CAD that uses the disk brake mount but my milling machine is relatively crude so I'd have transcribe all the cutting instructions by hand. I could just send it out to get milled but that feels like ego shattering defeat.
 
ddraig said:
not having a pop!
i mean you didn't go and get one yourself from a shop but asked for one on here iirc
nothing wrong with that of course
Click to expand...


That was to be my 2nd bike, to cycle from the London station to work, and back. It will be locked overnight at a station so would prefer it to be something someone was chucking out or just had sitting round, rather than spunking loads of cash on something that could get nicked the first night I leave it!

I'm still looking. The 'road ready' one I bought turns out to need a bit of work that I can't affort to pay for at the moment.

I still cycle from home to the local train station each day on a bike that I bought a few years back. :) Need the light for that one as it's bloody dark at that time!
 
gentlegreen said:
So they have a chance of keeping the up-spill out of my eyes on shared paths.
Lamps always used to be mounted low - my never-readies were right down by my axles if I recall correctly.
My dipped beam is mounted low AND corrected for excessive up-spill.
It's my intention that very few people ever get to see one of the three 2 watt 30 degree LEDs directly.
Click to expand...

So what you really mean is that lights should be pointed downwards. The actual height of the lights isn't important.
 
gentlegreen said:
That's what I'm showing you. £50 or so all-in.
99 percent of bike lights I see on a daily basis are total crap - and I'm staggered at how much people pay for them.
Vanishingly few are even capable of properly illuminating an unlit road.

The only decent commercial bike lights suitable for road use are very expensive - as I said, Philips, B&M - you won't even find those in your average bike shop.

I've been using these domestic spot lights for three winters now - they've been permanently attached to my bike for 3 years / 6,000 miles, all weathers.
I have no intention of replacing them - except if they come up with more powerful £10 MR16 lamps.
Click to expand...

With respect GG you have rather er... unusual opinions about bike lights. One could even say yours are somewhat eccentric opinions.

There are plenty of commercial lights which provide adequate (and even exceptional) illumination. That market does not belong solely to B&M and Philips.

However I will agree that too many cyclists buy / use poor lights.

I speak as someone who almost certainly does a heck of a lot more riding in darkness than you do :)
 
a_chap said:
So what you really mean is that lights should be pointed downwards. The actual height of the lights isn't important.
Click to expand...
For showing road features, lower and more horizontal beams is going to be better.
The light also won't fire straight back into your own eyes - even my dipped beam is slightly guilty of that.
For not shining in other cyclists' eyes, ditto.
As you know, I hate 90 percent of the lamps I encounter on the local railway path.
Must be worse for recumbent riders. I try to get to the switch in time, but it's my 6 watt dipped beam that's in question - one that I've tweaked for just enough up-spill to pick out other path users.

The big dilemma is when you switch from road to path - hence my alternative lamps and dip-switch.
 
a_chap said:
I speak as someone who almost certainly does a heck of a lot more riding in darkness than you do :)
Click to expand...
Probably not where you will encounter other cyclists.
And being low to the ground, your lights will start off with an advantage.
Try doing my commute.
All my nemeses are city-workers, so I get a fair few criminally-bright and expensive lamps, some which clearly TRY to be all things - throwing most light downwards, but still far too much forwards for shared paths.
I mostly only swear at the c%nts with 3 watt lamps mounted horizontally.
 
... and in terms of bang for buck, I reckon I do very well indeed. I've seen those 6 watt triple LED lamps going for £5 .. I sometimes think about trying a Magicshine and wiring in a relay and a regulator or dual-voltage charging (they run on about 8 volts).

Cycle lighting is more complex than car lighting. There's at least one situation I'm not geared-up for .. I may yet make my indicator supply available to strobe at least part of my lighting front and back - I'm shortly going to separate my rear light into three concentric circles instead of the current two - may well experiment with a brake light.
 
gentlegreen said:
Probably not where you will encounter other cyclists.
And being low to the ground, your lights will start off with an advantage.
Try doing my commute.
All my nemeses are city-workers, so I get a fair few criminally-bright and expensive lamps, some which clearly TRY to be all things - throwing most light downwards, but still far too much forwards for shared paths.
I mostly only swear at the c%nts with 3 watt lamps mounted horizontally.
Click to expand...
Stop viewing other road users as nemeses!
 
Finally started my commute by bike to my new job.
8.5 miles, 37 minutes on the way in, but that's on empty streets.
Too many huge roundabout for comfort, but a good morning workout, esp if I strive to get it down to 30 minutes.
I need more lights and a luminous rucksack cover.
Don't have enough room in my bag for all my stuff though and can't really get a bigger one. Panniers are out of the question too. :hmm:
Because of this I forgot my shoes and am walking about a high school in pinstripes and clippy cloppy cycling shoes. :oops:
I also have nowhere to hang my wet gear, besides behind my desk and I have to get the caretaker every time I want a shower. Which is shit - changesble from hot to cold and the presssure varies enormously. and there is no hook to hang my suit on and no curtain to prevent my clothes being sprayed.
Still, feels good to begin a proper daily workout again.
 
Fastest average speed this morning, combination of tail wind and getting lucky with the lights... Fearful for journey home though, headwind awaits me :( Last Tuesday was harsh, today is meant to be worse.

Some stupid woman pulled up, without indicating or looking, just to move her car to the other side of the road (forcing me to stop), she was so oblivious to reality that when I rode past her and shouted she still took no notice (or pretended not to).
 
Orang Utan said:
Finally started my commute by bike to my new job.
8.5 miles, 37 minutes on the way in, but that's on empty streets.
Too many huge roundabout for comfort, but a good morning workout, esp if I strive to get it down to 30 minutes.
I need more lights and a luminous rucksack cover.
Don't have enough room in my bag for all my stuff though and can't really get a bigger one. Panniers are out of the question too. :hmm:
Because of this I forgot my shoes and am walking about a high school in pinstripes and clippy cloppy cycling shoes. :oops:
I also have nowhere to hang my wet gear, besides behind my desk and I have to get the caretaker every time I want a shower. Which is shit - changesble from hot to cold and the presssure varies enormously. and there is no hook to hang my suit on and no curtain to prevent my clothes being sprayed.
Still, feels good to begin a proper daily workout again.
Click to expand...

I would really struggle if I had to carry all my clothes every time I cycled to work! Luckily we have lockers, so I keep my shoes and clothes at work. I guess once you have been there for a bit you can start figuring out if there's a way of getting some lockers in...
 
Orang Utan said:
Finally started my commute by bike to my new job.
8.5 miles, 37 minutes on the way in, but that's on empty streets.
Too many huge roundabout for comfort, but a good morning workout, esp if I strive to get it down to 30 minutes.
I need more lights and a luminous rucksack cover.
Don't have enough room in my bag for all my stuff though and can't really get a bigger one. Panniers are out of the question too. :hmm:
Because of this I forgot my shoes and am walking about a high school in pinstripes and clippy cloppy cycling shoes. :oops:
I also have nowhere to hang my wet gear, besides behind my desk and I have to get the caretaker every time I want a shower. Which is shit - changesble from hot to cold and the presssure varies enormously. and there is no hook to hang my suit on and no curtain to prevent my clothes being sprayed.
Still, feels good to begin a proper daily workout again.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on the job. My tip for the bag cover is to use a high viz vest. Mine was about £2 from Lidl.
 
Orang Utan said:
Finally started my commute by bike to my new job.
8.5 miles, 37 minutes on the way in, but that's on empty streets.
Too many huge roundabout for comfort, but a good morning workout, esp if I strive to get it down to 30 minutes.
I need more lights and a luminous rucksack cover.
Don't have enough room in my bag for all my stuff though and can't really get a bigger one. Panniers are out of the question too. :hmm:
Because of this I forgot my shoes and am walking about a high school in pinstripes and clippy cloppy cycling shoes. :oops:
I also have nowhere to hang my wet gear, besides behind my desk and I have to get the caretaker every time I want a shower. Which is shit - changesble from hot to cold and the presssure varies enormously. and there is no hook to hang my suit on and no curtain to prevent my clothes being sprayed.
Still, feels good to begin a proper daily workout again.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on the job. My tip for the bag cover is to use a high viz vest. Mine was about £2 from Lidl.
 
girasol said:
I would really struggle if I had to carry all my clothes every time I cycled to work! Luckily we have lockers, so I keep my shoes and clothes at work. I guess once you have been there for a bit you can start figuring out if there's a way of getting some lockers in...
Click to expand...
There are small lockers but no upright ones, or no spare ones. I am going to campaign for one!
 
Are you a well dressed flouro-nodder on a cycle to work scheme hybrid-u-like who was riding up railton road last night in the direction of herne hill with an infant child on the back? My invitation to you to perhaps get some lights because you were kinda hard to see there was asked in as polite and friendly manner as i can muster. Why the fuck did you then proceed to tell me to fuck off and that i should buy a hi-viz coat, in front of said child no less. You sorry excuse for a father, you would sooner put your child's, (and i suppose your, not that i care that much to be honest), life at risk for want of a few quid whilst you labor under the misapprehension that wearing a shit and mud caked altura flouro coat is somehow imbued with magical car repelling magic. Working lights... Hi-Viz coat. Guess which one is required by law... And riding on the pavement is against the law too. Sort your fucking life out you fool. Seriously, fuck you.
 
One of those police minibus' full of police nearly hit me, when it changed lanes, this morning.

I cycled after it. Got along side it. And started shouting very strong swear words at the driver.
He stopped, and then I spent a minute being quite rude to him and his driving skills, and parentage.
He just kept shrugging and saying "right".

swines
 
You did amazingly well to do 8.5 miles in 37 minutes carrying a rucksack.
You can get racks to fit on bikes with no mounts you know (I have one on my bike), but if you want to be a style martyr ...
I bet you don't have mudguards either - but those, I'll concede can be a bit hairy on a skinny bike .. but the rack would sort that problem too.
 
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