The Cycling Chat Thread

[maomao]

Did you try emailing Philips and asking if they have any brackets for it? They don't make that light anymore but they still have a page with manuals and an email contact for asking questions. I personally would have started there.

 

[gentlegreen]

Or maybe they could just come up with lightweight, compact and bright lights

how about bright lights that precisely illuminate the road ahead ?

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

how about bright lights that precisely illuminate the road ahead ?

Yep, I’ve got one of those. Weighs bugger all and came with a little mount. 1000 lumens max output.

 

[DownwardDog]

Or maybe they could just come up with lightweight, compact and bright lights

The Moon combo mounts are very neat and do computer plus light or GoPro. The downside is they don't look somebody's bukkake'd over the leftovers from a vide grenier.

 

[gentlegreen]

Yep, I’ve got one of those. Weighs bugger all and came with a little mount. 1000 lumens max output.

In my case the £5 price tag was also appealing ... OK £5 plus a set of Varta NiMhs in Screwfix.
In the unlikely event I find myself out in the woods in the dark post-retirement I would want something to light up the trees, but I suspect this will do fine for me now.
For serious commuting in the dark on shared paths, the first lamp I would refit would be a version of my diffused "be seen" lantern ...

 

[gentlegreen]

Did you try emailing Philips and asking if they have any brackets for it? They don't make that light anymore but they still have a page with manuals and an email contact for asking questions. I personally would have started there.

Given the weight of it, the stock brackets were almost certainly under-engineered and not suitable for mounting it low on a mountain bike.
If there was a suitable mounting point on the suspension fork yoke, I might consider something different - perhaps involving a "false handlebar" like I had for a while ...

 

[a_chap]

Little known fact.

Our very own gentlegreen was the inspiration behind the poster for 1970s movie "Close encounters of the third kind".

Spoiler

 

[Cid]

I've had a dilemma this year as I'm retiring from work on the Friday before the clocks change and I didn't want to fit the front basket bracket I used to use on my old bike to house my substantial lighting assembly - even thinned-down - though it may yet come to that as it was handy for other things like mounting a video camera...

... so I had to come up with something else for the Philips Saferide 80 I paid £5 for and which came with no bracket of any description that I remember ...
So after failing to locate anything more suitable, I cobbled something together using a D-lock bracket and an AV speaker bracket with an adjustable ball-mount which has a convenient slide-out for the odd occasion when I have to lock my bike up outside a shop - or actually want to leave the lamp at home.
The remote handlebar switch (and 5 volt charging input) is connected using a PC power connector.

Annoyingly I have so far not managed to acquire a spare lamp of this ilk at any price ... long term plans were to upgrade the LEDs and power supply - as well as replacing the plastic "lens" while also taking a casting of the reflector with a view to making my own.

View attachment 232916

I...

Wait...

How do you even have that much steerer exposed?

 

[gentlegreen]

I...

Wait...

How do you even have that much steerer exposed?

there are spacers - plus a riser to bring the handlebar to the height I need it to be ...

 

[Cid]

there are spacers - plus a riser to bring the handlebar to the height I need it to be ...

Does it have an extension on it then? I mean I suppose whatever it takes to be comfortable.

But still...

 

[maomao]

Only time I ever put a riser stem on a bike the steering went very very weird and I took it straight off (pretty sure I still have it somewhere). I had an adjustable stem at one point too but any big difference just made the steering too weird.

 

[Cid]

6" of steerer, plus a riser. Doesn't bear thinking about.

 

[gentlegreen]

the bike is probably too small for me, but I had the riser on my old bike ...
I find the steering very precise - super stable at low speed anyway.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Little known fact.

Our very own gentlegreen was the inspiration behind the poster for 1970s movie "Close encounters of the third kind".

Spoiler

View attachment 232947

Maybe aliens have visited after all, travelled across the universe only to rock up at GG’s gaff, take one look at the place and fucked off back where they come from sharpish.

 

[Cid]

I've taken my amazon £20 light out at night a bit now... Seems really good. Certainly bright enough for any road illumination. Off road I'll have a go some time, but the requirements for that are - I suppose - a little different. I did once have a decent halogen off-road light, but suspect it's long gone now, and the tech has moved on so much in the last 15 years it probably wouldn't come close anyway.

It's bright enough that I go out of my way to cover it if there's an approaching runner/cyclist and no traffic.

 

[gentlegreen]

Little known fact.

Our very own gentlegreen was the inspiration behind the poster for 1970s movie "Close encounters of the third kind".

Except that my lights are precisely the opposite - intended to be entirely inoffensive.

 

[Cid]

Except that my lights are precisely the opposite - intended to be entirely inoffensive.

Sadly I fear their offences may be strict liability.

 

[gentlegreen]

Sadly I fear their offences may be strict liability.

Sorry, but I have no idea what that means.

 

[Cid]

Sorry, but I have no idea what that means.

Bad legal joke. Strict liability offences ignore intention.

What size is the frame? You're 6ft+ aren't you? Which would be L/XL on a road bike. But I think MTBs usually use inside leg for sizing these days. Though I suppose if it works for you and you don't get back/knee pain it doesn't really matter.

 

[gentlegreen]

I'm 6 foot 2 with a 33 inch inside leg.
My old "MTB" had an XL frame and I could stand astride it with an inch or two to spare. This one has a much lower top tube. I can't see the size on it anywhere.
But after 650-odd miles of getting used to it, it doesn't feel much worse than the old one.
I'll see what it's like after I get back into regular 20 and occasional 40 mile rides... but I need to get something more suitable for that sort of thing soonish as I only have 3 weeks' more commuting.

 

[DownwardDog]

I did a 27.5" wheel/160mm brake conversion on my Trance and rode it up Mt. Helena. I posted some pics on FB and one my mates commented, "I am in Tier 3 lockdown in Knowsley and it's pissing down so you can fuck right off."

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Your mate may have a point to be fair

 

[Winot]

That’s me set up for the winter then.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I’ll be back on Zwift soon too. Riding in the cold and rain just isn’t fun.

 

[Cid]

I'm back on already... Can't be arsed with outdoors. Though I've bought a few bits of cold weather gear for days with consistent sunshine, should they arrive.

 

[Cid]

Bah, upload rotation. Can’t be arsed to correct.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

View attachment 234596

Bah, upload rotation. Can’t be arsed to correct.

Have you done Ventoux on there yet?

 

[weepiper]

Bunch of pansies. It's not even November yet.

 

[Cid]

Have you done Ventoux on there yet?

Nope... How do you access it?

 

[Cid]

Bunch of pansies. It's not even November yet.

Yep.

Warm, dry pansies...