Cycling UK Forum

Isn't it dangerous to muck about with the magnets? If something comes loose that could suddenly lock up the wheel.

I wonder if risk could be reduced if the makers anchored a wire from each dropout to some way up the steerer. Might also be something when constructing carbon forks too. Or handlebars. Might save that "<crack> oh shi...." moment.

drossall wrote: ↑30 May 2024, 10:51pm

scottg wrote: ↑30 May 2024, 9:40pmMicroshift goes analog.

Looks good, but when you said analogue, I thought you meant friction. Do you mean mechanical, or have I missed something?

Even more analogue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NuVinci_c ... ansmission

Good job getting it off. It's really easy to marr the flats and warp the metal, as you've found. Did it happen after removing the cone and bearings? It may have been better to have them in place.

All looks very uncorroded as well.

So what happens to the old crankset?

This probably isn't the OP's reference (as it isn't bi-directional), but it is related to the OP's name:


If an ambulance were to use the cycle lane, a cyclist would either have to move into motor traffic, or stop and mount the kerb (if there wasn't a junction nearby).

Open circuit would suggest a break in a wire somewhere. But I did notice someone once had a wiring problem - viewtopic.php?t=95655 - that was resolved by swapping the wires. Might not work here (as it wouldn't measure open circuit) but is worth a try. There was also something about tightness of nuts, which suggests that the body is being used as part of the circuit for that model, which introduces another place where the circuit can break.

Note that to open the shell entirely you probably need the Shimano TL-DH-10 octagonal spanner, which is quite expensive. I once tried using a large adjustable spanner and it only succeeded in marring the flats. You'll need to open the shell to replace the internal assembly, but if you're inspecting the wire (and cleaning cups/replacing bearings on the right hand side) you might not need to open the shell - although it'll certainly be a fiddly operation compared to changing the internal assembly.

Jdsk wrote: ↑11 May 2024, 4:04pm "CROSS XTR 1400 27.5 inch Wheel Size Unisex Road Bike - Red":
https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9433788

Do you want to be able to ride unmetalled tracks?

Do you want to be able to fit mudguards or a rack? If so have you checked the fittings?

Jonathan

Someone had fun with that description: 'The rigid suspension lets you feel the road so much better' 'Road and trail specific Branded tyre tyres'

The Giant rack looks like it doesn't triangulate horizontally. I.e. unlike racks with a hoop (Tubus Tara) or racks that use holes on both sides of the fork (Tubus Duo). So there might be some risk that wants to swing around and eventually fatigues the fittings.

Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑26 Mar 2024, 10:01am
I think this is as much or more to do with social perceptions than any particular industry or retail. It took Western markets several decades to accept that Japanese cars and electronics were as well made and designed as their European or American counterparts. We then repeated the process, slightly faster maybe, with Korean goods. China has been the workshop of the world for the whole of this century, so far, yet we still disparage these items with terms like "Chinesium" – sometimes justified* but often ignoring the high quality products from China, under Chinese and Western names.

*And that low quality seems to be often driven by marketing rather than manufacture; Western and Chinese marketing, from Amazon to Temu.

I very much agree. Social perceptions play the largest part here, and the challenge of accepting change is universal.

With the cycle industry though, this acceptance is further hindered by the byzantine measures previously outlined. It would be like Nissan buying Chrysler in the 1970s, but nobody knowing for over a decade, while the actual production of cars under both brands is taking place 99% in a Nissan factory in Japan. And all the while with the public happy to justify paying more for the American brand (or not even being aware of the Japanese brand). The cycle industry is largely set up this way. Ironically, the likes of Amazon and Temu are ways out of this, precisely because they are outside of industries which tend toward oligopolies.

The cycling industry is very successful in protectionism, both through state action, but also in weaponising the perception of consumers. The endless anti-dumping duties on Chinese bikes and parts have succeeded in reducing market access for all but the cheapest built goods, which affects market perception as a result. But this endless whack-a-mole within a relatively small industry only serves to corrode the industry itself, as it hurts its own suppliers, and prices are shifted upwards. This ultimately affects retail, especially for such highly discretionary products.

USB charging protocols before USB C seem to have had a few quirks, in terms of signalling whether a charger could supply a certain current.

According to the Dedicated Charging Port specification, tying the two data lines together in the socket, signals up to 1.5A is available. But Samsung and Apple had rather different ideas: https://obddiag.net/usb-power.html

Bmblbzzz wrote: ↑17 Mar 2024, 1:09pm So that would make Marin an Indonesian owned company, with HQ in Switzerland and design based in California, operating in over 40 countries worldwide. Like a great many companies, it's impossible to ascribe it one single nationality. How does that related to the state of retail in UK?

While my answer was primarily to supply the citation, it did interest me that without it, Bonzo Banana's claim would disappear into the ether (of course, I'm sure BB could provide more solid evidence too). It wasn't extensive research on my part, but I did go down a rabbit hole of seeing just how difficult it was to reach something resembling (what I believe is) the truth, at least on the English-language internet.

Instead, what you get is years of industry journalists repeating press releases, and not really doing any actual digging. Forums often aligned with these interpretations (Marin only use Insera Sena as a manufacturer, etc), because they had limited information. But also, it seems it wasn't really in anyone's interests to present a direct set of facts. Marin, the bike industry, industry journalists, Insera Sena themselves - why would they? After all, people will pay more for a Marin than a Polygon.

What was rather amusing was this quote: "Vanek couldn't say much about the new owners except that Minestone is a private group that does not own any other businesses that would align with Marin. 'It's not like some other acquisitions recently where we would become part of another group. We will still manage ourselves.'" (https://www.bicycleretailer.com/north-a ... acquistion) - the first half is, strictly speaking, true I guess.

While none of this has anything directly to do with cycle retail in the UK, it does demonstrate to some degree the abstraction from the physical product and its production which the (Western) cycling industry has reached. While this is certainly not the only industry where a large markup can be extracted based solely on brand perception, cycling is marketed as a lifestyle activity, hence is discretionary. It's not a part of a wider, unified industry, like power tools might be to DIY. Hence cycle retail rises and falls based on one activity and its popularity. But the industry has wedded its pricing structure to the segmentation demonstrated above. I think this backs the industry into a corner, where they can't upset the pricing hierarchy.

Since my last post, I have been able to ride with this DIY dynamo light for a few weeks (selecting dry days, as this version isn't yet sealed). I'm happy to report that it has held up - nothing has broken or overheated, and the behaviour is all pretty much as designed.

The beam is fairly good. A lot better than the Pico 30 I resurrected up thread. It doesn't really have a sharp cut-off to compete with the B&M Cyo Premium I also have though, or even the original Crivit light, but it has a general fade to a dark upper half:


(Yes, I see a face in it too...)

Note that this was a beamshot of the standlight against a wall. Also, the hotspot is slightly exaggerated by the camera. In motion, the two additional LEDs add some illumination to the sides too. In fact, the beam is very wide - the above photo is about 90 degrees across.

The lack of a tight cut-off is slightly disappointing, but I can point the brightest part of the beam in the mid-range, and illumination is good. Overall, it definitely makes better use of the available light than a round beam.

The standlight is good, certainly better than any of the passive versions I built before. With both this light and the B&M Cyo standlights on, I would say the peak brightness is similar, but the Cyo's is a pencil thin portion.

For a remote switch, I had printed a design built around a small tact switch:


The fiddliest part there was building around a switch cap (scavenged from an old TV remote). That worked fine, but the shape was a bit taller and angular than ideal (I also left space in the design for a second switch, which could be potentially of use in future). Basically, totally fine for the flat part of a handlebar.

I had actually decided on a 2.5mm remote jack because it is used by wired camera remote controls (largely Canon), so was going to buy a Canon-compatible remote rather than building my own, although the camera remote form factor isn't great. But I recently stumbled across a switch built for a bike horn, retailing for just £6, which also uses a 2.5mm jack:


So I'll now try this one out instead. It can fit more comfortably close to typical drop bar hand positions. Interestingly, it's a two-stage switch, even though my light makes no use of the extra switch. That could be really useful in future. Why? Because I may consider a next light build In short, while I started off wanting manual control over switching between voltage doubler and full wave rectifier... to be honest, it's not super useful. It's just something I got used to on my last light. In practice, I mostly want brightest, unless climbing slowly.

What a bar-mounted two-stage switch could be useful for is dipped beam/high beam. The full press would switch between modes, while the half press would flash a high beam (if not already in that mode).

Alas, at this stage I have no real plans. I think to make this worthwhile the cut-off would have to be tighter. Anyway, I'm glad I got a working light out of this current project before the clocks go forward, lol.

Revisiting this topic as it seems like commercial options (for Stvzo lights with switchable high beams) are still problematic. E.g. I note Busch & Muller have rather poor reviews for the IQ-XM Speed: https://www.bikeradar.com/reviews/acces ... ght-review - and some users mention a recall: https://www.rosebikes.com/b-m-iq-xm-spe ... on-2705644 (interestingly the e-bike version without multiple power levels seems far less expensive: https://www.rosebikes.com/b-m-lumotec-i ... e=Standard).

How hard can it be for them to make this well?

AndyK wrote: ↑15 Mar 2024, 6:37pm

Bonzo Banana wrote: ↑15 Mar 2024, 6:11pm Marin has been for quite a few years a Indonesian brand as it was bought by Insera Sena who also have their own inhouse brand Polygon.

Citation needed, as they say on Wikipedia. The only reference I can find for that statement is another thread on this very forum 5 years ago. According to press reports Marin were bought by European-based investment company Minestone in 2012 and I can't see anything since to say that's changed.

Isn't it rather odd that Minestone doesn't appear to have any web presence, for something described as a European investment firm? All searches lead back to this one acquisition.

Also of interest is the fact that Marin and Polygon are imported and distributed into Germany and Europe respectively by Zentro Poridis, which is an Insera Sena subsidiary: https://radmarkt.de/neues-vertriebsdach ... d-polygon/

More directly at: https://radmarkt.de/nach-dem-aus-bei-ma ... h-neu-auf/ - "has been part of the Polygon maker since it was sold to the European investor Minestone Limited in spring 2012. Minestone was used by Insera Sena for the Marin purchase."