Monthly Archives: November 2008

Another 20 mile ride along the canal and back tonight. I was somewhat overdressed for the weather but at least wasn’t as cold as last week. I’ve still got numb toes though, I probably need to invest in overshoes or something similar.

The rear of the 69er now has a 10mm RWS skewer instead of a normal sized one which should hopefully cure or reduce the creaking. The Bontrager branded DT Swiss hubs obviously aren’t exactly the same as the DT Swiss 240s as I had to grind one of the spacers down slightly for it to fit properly. Test ride later, maybe.

Tonight was the first ride with my new lights, and I’m very impressed. By turning them on in "race mode" a quick press of the button flicks the light between high (700 lumens) and low (175 lumens). Low is more than adequate when there are other sources of light such as street lights, and high is just superb when it gets darker. Hopefully they’ll prove to be more reliable than my previous lights.

One downside is that it interferes with my cordless computer and stops it working, hopefully it won’t affect the GPS when I get around to fitting that as a replacement.

After much deliberation, I’ve almost made a decision over which front light to buy.

A trip to the LBS yesterday meant I got to play with a Light and Motion Seca 700 Race which was very impressive, however I didn’t buy it as I don’t need it for a week or so and I still want to have a play with a Hope Vision 4. If the Hope arrives in the shop by next weekend I’ll have a look at that and buy the best, if not it’ll be the L&M.

The only downside is that the L&M kit all went up in price last week, which means another £25 on the Seca 700 units, and makes the Race £50 more expensive than the Hope.

I fitted the H-Bars to the Unit this morning and went for a test ride.

They are very nice indeed.

Despite castigating Raoul for a similar thing a few weeks ago, I’ve just purchased a pre-enjoyed set of Jones H-Bars which should be here in the next few days.

It’s also that time of year again, so for the fourth year running I’m off to help steward the Round Table fireworks in town in exchange for a plate of pie and chips afterwards, they’ll also pay the scouts some money for us.

I’ve still not managed to buy a new bike light.

My aging Lumicycle set are a bit feeble these days, and my Rush HID only lasts about 10 minutes despite buying a new charger and battery a year or two back which has hardly been used.

Originally I intended to get a Hope Vision 4, but that’s out of stock at the moment so I’ve been looking around to see what else is out there and have ended up confusing myself to the point that I don’t know what to buy any more.

Current options are the Hope Vision 4, Light and Motion Seca 700 Race or Ultra, and now the new Lumicycle LED lights which look to be very good value, but not actually available yet.

Decisions, decisions, decisions…