Off the Bike, Double Duty

Ok, time for a show of hands. How many of you have strapped on your helmet to do something non-bike related simply because that was where your best headlamp was? Be honest. I know that I've mowed my lawn in the dark--and I'm not alone in this, eh?--worked on my car and my motorcycle while wearing a helmet. Just for the light.

Well, no more. Driven by the Nordic Skiing crowd and other non-bike adventure sports, many companies now offer headbands for their lights. Here's a list of those we have in house to try out:

DiNotte 400L
Ay-Up
Hope Vision 4
Exposure Joystick*

Also available, but we don't have them:

Lupine Wilma
Light and Motion Stella

All in all, it makes the investment a little more palatable knowing that the light can be used around the house, while camping, skiing, hiking... you name it. These aren't all just good bike lights, but are good lights in general.

I am thrilled with this development.

*the Joystick could be the most versatile bicycle light on the market. It's tiny, packs a decent amount of light, can be bar, helmet or head mounted and it's flashlight shape lends itself to easy off the bike use. It's small so it can be stowed in a pocket easily and it can be used with an external battery pack for additional light.

That's it for this week. For those of you in the U.S. of A., have a great Thanksgiving.

Catching Up

Man, am I behind. Rather than have a lengthy preamble, I'll just jump right in. First up, the Tesla.


The Tesla is Lupines first LED light with a reflector. The light is relatively compact and the beam is decidedly a spot.

Lupine claims 700 lumen output and I can tell you it is bright! The beam pattern reminds me of a cross between the Arc and NR HIDs.

Speaking of NiteRider, yesterday I received their newest tail light, the Cherry Bomb.

Like the Princeton Tec's Swerve and Planet Bike's Super Flash, the punch in the Cherry Bomb comes from a 1/2 watt red LED. Also like its competitors, this is an AAA battery powered light. What NiteRider has done differently, though, is how they use the 1/2 watt LED. The Swerve has two of them, one spot, one wide beam. The Super Flash has one, and it's a spot--more or less--that alternates with two 5mm LEDs. NiteRider has two 5mm LEDs as well, and uses an oval lens on the 1/2 watt. Its pattern looks like this:

This should help with visibility off axis--where most cars will be.

Exposure introduced their MaXx-D light this year. From the side it looks like the Enduro MaXx we've seen before.

The front, however, shows that the MaXx-D means buisiness.

The quad array of LEDs has a claimed output of 960 lumens. As before, the battery is entirely contained within the light head.

Whew, lots-o-stuff. Now I'm just about caught up, but I'll be back later this week--most likely tomorrow--to discuss headbands.


No, not sweatbands! Headbands for lights.

Now would be a good time to ride

Ok, this one might be gloomy. Consider yourself forewarned.

Let me paint you a picture. I'm sitting in my basement (working my "day job" from home today). I'm on the phone with support for a product I'm working with. I've been with support since about noon. There's no end in sight. My basement is kind of dark--as basements should be--and kind of chilly. About the only light is what is streaming through the undersized basement window near the short ceiling. I'm at a desk and there's a bike on a trainer behind me.

I think it's mocking me.

Earlier today, the wind was howling outside and it was overcast. Nasty weather, to be sure. It was enough to make me glad to be inside--which is strange for this week. This week, the weather has been warm. The trails have been dry. A number of so called "buddies" of mine have been out on rides--they've been out riding without me.

But now, as I look up and out, I see blue sky. It looks all the more blue because of the contrast from the leaves still clinging to the trees outside. There's still a bit of wind, but nothing so blustery as before. Let me emphasize that again, that the sun is out.

Oh, and it's a balmy 54 degrees.

I was going to ride today. In fact, nothing was going to stand between me and a ride.

Evidently, all it takes is a really long support call to stop my from riding.

So, here I sit, staring out the window while a support guy drones on about what he's doing to fix my server--which doesn't even seem to be working, by the way. I'm hoping against hope that the weather will hold a few more days. Heck, I wouldn't mind a nice, warm Thanksgiving next week, either.

Battery Recall -- DiNotte

You may have heard that there is a recall issued on certain DiNotte Li-Ion batteries. If you haven't heard, the recall can be seen HERE.

What it boils down to is this, if you have a hard shell on your battery, you are fine. If your Li-Ion battery is housed in a bag, this recall could affect you. The batteries in question look like this (image courtesy of DiNotte Lighting):

The good news? If you have one of these batteries, it's a bit old and likely wearing out. This will get you a new battery for free. So, hit up the link above, and get that old battery exchanged!

All In

First off, let me apologize for the inconsistent posts. We were getting pretty darn regular there and then... well, we got busy.

Second, I have more lights to preview and a post about headbands for these lights. But before I go there, I thought I'd give you an update on this year's big review.

All of the lights are in, so, here they are (mostly):

Right to Left: updated Princeton Tec Switchback 1, Exposure Joystick, Light and Motion Stella 120, NiteRider Minewt Mini-USB, Ay-Up (spot beam), DiNotte 400L (standard lenses), Princeton Tec Switchback 3, Lupine Tesla, Light and Motion Seca 700, Hope Vision 4, Exposure Maxx D, Lupine Wilma 5, and Light On! 900.

Not shown are the DiNotte 800L and the Ay-Up intermediate beam. They were out with other testers when I took this image. For those of you keeping count, that's 15 lights. Last year we looked at about 20, but this year we are only looking at those lights that are new, or have been significantly updated--meaning the emitters are new, Bold New Graphics don't count. There are some missing that I expected to have in hand--NiteFlux and CygoLite, I'm looking squarely at you!--but I've not had any responses from them since InterBike.

In the past, I've broken down the review by number of emitters, but this time I will likely separate them by price.

And there you have it! We are slaving away collecting data, abusing lights, and trying not to blind ourselves while we compare them.

After all of these lights, I still, at least once, turn them on and look at them. It hurts, it's always hurt, but I still do it. I'm a slow learner.

Ay-Up , Updated

Last year, we were introduced to the Australian brand Ay-Up. These were simple, attractive lights with decent, but not noteworthy output. They also lacked a switch of any kind--if you wanted the light on, you plugged in the battery, if you wanted them off, you unplugged the battery. Like I said, simple. What you got in trade, though, was a light set that came with both helmet and bar lights, three batteries and very little weight.

A year later, much is the same, but much is different, too.

The kit is still complete (no, it doesn't come with the helmet, just the helmet mounted light):

You still get three batteries, but this year there is a power switch--simply on/off--on the batteries. The charger will charge two batteries simultaneously.

The LEDs themselves have been brought up to date as well, so I expect the out put to be similar to other dual emitter lights. The lenses on our test lights are, again, intermediate and spot.

Also new this year is a headband--more on headbands another time, they are becoming the next accessory to have with bike lights, it seems--and a helmet mount for the batteries, thereby eliminating the need to drape a cord down to a jersey pocket or hydration pack.

All in all a refreshing update that I am glad to see, and very happy to pit against the other dual emitters out there.

Light On! 900 and Princeton Tec Swerve

You know it's going to be a rough ride when all of the flags are sticking straight out and are pointing right at you. Add in some rain and... well... I'm still glad I rode in to work!

We're getting back logged with lights, so let me get on with previewing what's in house before we get any more!

First up, the new Light On! light, the 900. Continuing with the "4 is the new 3" theme (though admittedly, Light On! had 4 LEDs last time around) the 900 uses a quad array of LEDs. The look is the same as before, but the LEDs are updated. The last version had 500 lumens (claimed) per light head, this time around its got 900 (again, claimed).

The battery looks the same:

But the batteries are now Li-Ion and are user replaceable:

We'll see how well it holds up to the elements and how well it compares to the other quad array lights.

We also received updated versions of Princeton Tec's Switchback 1 and 3. Outside, these look identical to the older versions, but the LEDs are updated so they should be making considerably more light.

However, they--Princeton Tec--have also introduced a new tail light, the Swerve.


The Swerve uses two 1/2 watt red LEDs and a cool switch--in white above. Throw the lever down--as it's oriented in the picture--and it flashes, throw the lever up and it's on solid. One lens is a spot beam, the other is a wide beam. The Swerve is direct competition to the Planet Bike Superflash (also a good budget tail light). More competition is good, and these two lights rock on a budget.

The mount uses a large O-ring and can mount on the seatpost or seatstay out of the box.

Small Batteries

Before I jump into today's post I need to do some house cleaning. First, we are getting slammed (in a good way) by lights. I've got lights from Exposure, Ay-Up, Princeton Tec and Lights On!. I'm expecting more this week from Lupine. As you can see, things are getting busy, with night riding the only riding I do at the moment. Now, before you ask, it's going to be a little while before I can get any beam shots posted, though. Here's why:

As you can see, the weather isn't cooperating, currently. As soon as it does, though, I'll be out there with my camera. On the upside, we're dutifully checking the weather proof-ness of the lights!

The other day, I was going back through the boxes of the lights we currently have in house, collecting specs, and the like, and I saw something I hadn't seen before in the Wilma 5 case:

It's a tiny battery! How tiny? Well, as you can see, it's just 2 inches long, not including the connector, and has just 0.7Ah of juice, the Wilma 5's normal battery is 5Ah and runs for claimed 3hrs on high. This should yield about 25 minutes on high, more on low. For a size comparison, this is the normal Wilma 5 battery:

Now, why would you want such a tiny battery? Well, for one thing, you might be riding all night long. Maybe you are just cruising for a (very) short night ride, and want to attach the battery to you helmet, thereby eliminating the cord that normally dangles down your back. Or maybe, you are planning a very long ride, one that is going to push the limits of your standard battery, so you take this one along as a spare--you know, just in case you do run out of power. I don't know for sure, but I can tell you that this is the battery I'll be sporting on my next ride.

At least for 20 minutes of it.

Balance

I recently read an article in Bicycling (shhh, don't tell anyone) that talked about making Thanksgiving better by scheduling not one, but TWO rides that day. Of course, it's fairly obvious that adding a ride (or two) to any day would make it better. And the more rides, the better it gets! The surprising thing was their reasoning.

You see, when I think of Thanksgiving, the only downside I can think of is the combination of good, high-calorie food and my lack of will power. (Also, it's usually just the start of gorging that seems to continue until well after the New Year. (Don't even get me started about all the good food around at Christmas.)) Bicycling was talking about being around family and all the harassment that can come from it.

Personally, I don't have that on Thanksgiving (perhaps I just live too far away from my extended family), but I've never had a Thanksgiving like they describe. Either way, what they were suggesting was to use riding a bike as a way to clear your mind and allow the rhythm of pedaling to put perspective on things.

Forget Thanksgiving, this is applicable every day of your life. These days, it seems there's always something going on that has me troubled. I don't run away on my bike (especially not when I'm on the rollers), but I use it to think. Most of the time I can come up with answers to problems while riding, but sometimes it just gives me respite from troublesome issues.

Almost always, though, it's enough to give me the balance I need. I can live without cycling, but I live better with it.

Expected

After staying up late to watch the election hullabaloo, I didn't have much hope for waking up early to ride today. I was surprised, then, when my alarm went off at 5:30 and I felt strangely awake.

Because of that, I only had to hit the snooze button twice before I got up.

Nor was I surprised when, as I stood before the kitchen sink to fill up a couple water bottles and look out the window, I saw snow outside.

I stepped out into my uninsulated garage and found it to be cold. I don't know if my tires needed any air, but I put a little in anyway for good measure. I unfolded the rollers and put the bike in place.

As usual, I set up my Computer in front of me so I could either watch a movie or listen to music. Although I knew I would find a movie distracting, I went with music so I could focus more on the workout. I don't have tons of music, but I have enough to sometimes make my choice difficult. This morning, though, I had to listen to "The National Anthem" by Radiohead. I'm not too sure about the lyrics, but I needed a driving beat to get me warmed up.

All told, I only had about 30 minutes before I had to end my session and go inside to make lunches for the children.

Today, I'm invigorated and awake. Sure. there's still snow outside. Also, it's true I no longer have a very important poll to monitor, but at least I have the quiet solitude of my garage in the early morning hours and my legs spinning. Spinning, but taking me nowhere.

50,000 miles

Yep, 50,000 miles. That's how many miles I rode last month. That was 50 chains, 25 cassettes and and 5 der...

What, you don't believe me?!?!

You caught me, I didn't ride that far last month--or in the last 10 years, for that matter--but that is how many miles a new proposed U.S. bicycle route system will be, making it the longest in the world.

Seriously, how cool is that?

From the press release:

The United States is on a path to creating what could become the largest official bicycle route network in the world, thanks to the approval of a new plan by America's leading authority on national route designations. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has just approved a National Corridor Plan laying out the framework and guidelines for the development of this system.

The plan identifies corridors connecting America's urban, rural, and suburban areas. The corridors cover well over 50,000 miles, which, if transformed into routes along roads and trails, would create the largest official bicycle route network in any country or on any continent. By comparison, the planned Euro-Velo network in Europe is projected to be 60,000 kilometers or 36,000 miles.

The U.S. plan has been under development for nearly four years under the auspices of an AASHTO task force on national bicycle routes, with representatives from federal and state transportation agencies and nonprofit organizations. The plan has gone through more than a dozen revisions - with input from hundreds of federal and state officials, cycling advocacy groups, and individuals - as well as review and approval by AASHTO's committees on traffic engineering, design, and non-motorized transportation.

The full text of the press release can be seen HERE.

If they manage to pull this off, it should make commuting, touring and general recreation via bicycle easier and safer.

I, for one, am pulling for this to happen.