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by Raph
7 Sep 2017, 1:55pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front light using AAs or similar...
Replies: 28
Views: 1857

Re: Front light using AAs or similar...

I've just ordered a USB Werk - thanks for happening to mention it! Regardless of bike lighting, I know direct sunlight isn't reliable in the Pyrenees at this time of year, it's a bit like Wales! ...and there's a phone to keep charged up, plus I think I'll be using an Exposure Blaze rear light, which seems so far to be incredibly efficient and has survived a few soakings despite a flimsy rubber cover. Under normal conditions the phone won't get any use and the dynamo will be ample, but it's when things go wrong that all this is critical, and up mountains thing always go wrong.

Thanks for the Hope LED 1 suggestion, I'm waiting for one in the post and I reckon that'll sort me out. If not then I'll make up a 10xAA pack for the Lumicycle but leave it empty to fill with AAs from a corner shop if all else fails, it weighs almost nothing so no hassle to carry it... and take a 4x18650 pack which I've already made up so I can charge individual 18650s, unlike the Lumi battery pack which can't be taken apart and needs 17+V to charge. Only disadvantage with home-made battery pack is no overcharge/overdischarge protection. Unless I buy those USB batteries you've recommended, but I'm starting to get a bit skint now! I'll see if I can do an extra bit of busking...

PHEW!!

Thanks for all the help!
by Raph
7 Sep 2017, 12:21pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front light using AAs or similar...
Replies: 28
Views: 1857

Re: Front light using AAs or similar...

Hey that looks great. My only worry is that as the weather is very variable at that time of year, I can't rely on lots of direct sunshine so I reckon charging will be slowest when good lighting is most needed,

...with that in mind I'm interested in your mention of the eWerk - how do you switch to alternate between lights and charging? Or it all connected at once but you just don't use both at once?
by Raph
6 Sep 2017, 1:21am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front light using AAs or similar...
Replies: 28
Views: 1857

Re: Front light using AAs or similar...

Thinking aloud, it's just occurred to me that it might be possible to charge a single 18650 at a time from a 16W solar panel I keep spread out over the panniers. If I can get a 18650 charger to run off USB that might be the answer, though it only puts out the whole 16W in direct sunlight and I've got other stuff to charge already. Might take all day to charge half of one 18650.
by Raph
5 Sep 2017, 9:59pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front light using AAs or similar...
Replies: 28
Views: 1857

Re: Front light using AAs or similar...

[XAP]Bob wrote:Are 18650s the ones that can be approximated by a holder for three AAAs?

Yes, however lights intended for using both options are of a larger diameter, and have a plastic sleeve to keep the 18650 central, and an extra long spring to exert enough tension to keep the 3xAAA pack in place as it's shorter than a 18650. A light intended for only a 18650 won't have enough width for a 3xAAA pack, and light intended for only a 3xAAA pack isn't long enough for a 18650! I know cos I've got versions of all the above, but sadly none of them are any good as bike front lights.
by Raph
5 Sep 2017, 4:39pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front light using AAs or similar...
Replies: 28
Views: 1857

Re: Front light using AAs or similar...

JamesE wrote:I have a Busch+Muller Ixon IQ and it's superb. Runs off 4xAAs, lasts 2-4 hours on full beam and a lot longer on low power. Powerful and sturdy enough to not only get me through the Exmouth Exodus in hammering rain but to also have half a dozen other riders sitting on my wheel while descending Cheddar Gorge.

The only problem was that after a couple of years of heavy use the switch became unreliable and occasionally turned itself off when jolted hard. But Rose Bikes replaced the light immediately and without quibbling so I'd definitely recommend buying from them. The replacement has been fine so far.

I have one of those too, I agree it's excellent, I use it occasionally on other non-dynamo'd bikes - but it's about the same brightness as the Edelux and pretty much identical beam so not so great for pointing higher and getting the beam further.

I've bought a Hope LED 1 as recommended by iandriver above, I'll see what that's like when it arrives, hopefully it'll sort me out. If not I might end up making up a 10xAA battery pack to use with the Lumicycle, the runtime at equivalent brightness to the Hope would be 10-15 hours (in theory at least... which is almost worthless I admit!), and give the option for short stints of 1000+ lumens where needed. And the extra faffitude of the Lumicycle's external battery pack might not be any worse than the Hope's more frequent battery changes, and the runtime per AA cell is about the same.

Any other ideas still welcome though...
by Raph
5 Sep 2017, 4:08pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front light using AAs or similar...
Replies: 28
Views: 1857

Re: Front light using AAs or similar...

MikeF wrote:
iandriver wrote: Ones like the Hope Vision come up, http://www.hopetech.com/product/1-led-light/

Could be suitable. I like this "1 x Cree XTE LED lamp giving 300 (215 measured) lumens" :roll:

Yes, I found that amusing! With similar honesty (if that's what it is) in some of those chinese lights it would be more like "18,000,000 lumens, (12 measured)"
by Raph
5 Sep 2017, 3:16pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front light using AAs or similar...
Replies: 28
Views: 1857

Re: Front light using AAs or similar...

iandriver wrote:If a dyno hub and a hefty front light is not enough, I can only assume you plan to descend those mountains full tilt. In that case, I'm guessing you are looking for off-road type power. A google for off road lights might be your answer. Ones like the Hope Vision come up, http://www.hopetech.com/product/1-led-light/

To be honest, if my hunches are right about what you want to do, I might advise good travel insurance.


Thanks for the link, that looks quite promising. And thanks for your concern! But I'm not intending any adrenaline-powered downhill swoops in the dark. Some of the roads up there are a bit challenging, I know too well from previous trips. Ideally there'll be hardly any night riding, but these things aren't always a matter of choice, like when the road on the map turns out to be a dirt track or a chunk of tarmac got swept away so you have to scramble round it, or the hostel on the map closed down last year, or you had to wait out a fierce hail storm and you get to your fave camping spot which is now flooded, etc..... so you end up riding on way past your bedtime!

Also, the dynamo seems perfectly adequate on good roads when it's clear and dry, but give it some driving rain and maybe some mist, and maybe a road that turns out to be cracked up by subsidence and slows you down to 5mph, and suddenly you need something pokier and not dependent on speed. I realize some of that might sound a bit OTT, after all it's Pyrenees and not Himalayas, but weather up mountains is really random and I've had some hair-raising scrapes in the past so a bit of overkill in the gear is a good thing.
by Raph
5 Sep 2017, 1:54pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Front light using AAs or similar...
Replies: 28
Views: 1857

Front light using AAs or similar...

Are there any really good front lights that use AA batteries? Or any format that's easily available in corner shops/supermarkets?

I'm off up the Pyrenees end of next week, gonna be camping, possibly some of it wild. I have a Schmidt dynamo and Edelux front light, great as backup and nice cut-off dipped beam, but not a big enough beam to point horizontal and ride at decent speeds. I'm looking at using a battery light in addition, to use just when needed, the problem being that all my battery lights are rechargeables using 18650 batteries, not something I can buy in shops when they run out, and not easily recharged from solar chargers.

Possibilities I have here are a Lumicycle front light or a cheap chinese XML either of which I could run off AAs but I'd have to put together a battery pack for either. For reliability in downpours the Lumicycle is the preferred choice but I'd need a pack of 10 AAs to make up the voltage. The XML works on as little as 6V but I don't rate its reliability if battered by driving rain.

Much easier would be to leave all that at home and buy a self-contained front light that uses easily available disposable batteries hence the original question. I could still use it with rechargeables afterwards, as I normally hate using disposables for obvious reasons.
by Raph
10 Jul 2017, 7:06pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: bottom bracket cups compressing?
Replies: 3
Views: 243

Re: bottom bracket cups compressing?

Unlikely though not impossible that the threads are damaged, they look ok, the cup screws in quite smoothly, and other BB cups can be screwed in by hand quite easily.

I could check again but I don't think anything such as a cable guide bolt is sticking through into the shell, I cleaned it through and didn't notice anything, and previous BBs have been fine.

This is my fit-and-forget utility pack-horse bike, so I think I'll probably use a different BB rather than risk half-tightened cups and loctite.

What I haven't tried is the same BB in another frame... I'll give that a go and see if it sheds any light on anything!

Thanks guys!
by Raph
10 Jul 2017, 4:03pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: bottom bracket cups compressing?
Replies: 3
Views: 243

bottom bracket cups compressing?

I'm fitting a new Truvativ BB, tightening the gear side results in really stiff bearings. It turns but feels like the bearings are binding and I reckon it'll only last a couple of weeks like that. The LH cup isn't even in yet. It's an ISIS with double bearings on the drive side. I can't work out why just tightening one cup stiffens the bearings, unless the cup is compressing in its threads and squashing the outer races.

Any ideas??
by Raph
18 Jun 2017, 7:20pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: ISIS bottom bracket bearings
Replies: 24
Views: 2404

Re: ISIS bottom bracket bearings

Gattonero wrote:FSA bb's are never great whatever is their type :?

Haha - maybe they're manufactured from the same marzipan they make their chainrings out of. I "sharktoothed" a pair of FSA rings in a year once.
by Raph
17 Jun 2017, 11:47am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: ISIS bottom bracket bearings
Replies: 24
Views: 2404

Re: ISIS bottom bracket bearings

This isn't with new bearings, I'm re-fitting it with the same bearings as they have lots of life left in them. There was no question of riding it in its over-tight state, but I've got it pretty free and smooth using a lockring, I just want to check it in a week to see if it's loosened up at all and I might be able to tighten the cup without a lockring. It's probably running reasonably true as the threads are a tight fit, and they've been fine for the 25 or so years I've had this frame. I was thinking along the lines of your second option - the spacer sleeve has been compressed, as there's been quite a few tightenings since the last fit and nothing else has changed.

PS I've just taken an FSA platinum out of another bike that I've ridden a lot for a couple of years... it's already running quite rough. On that one the axle tapers down just behind the ISIS fitting, so the bearings aren't particularly shallow, but they're still semi-knackered after an unimpressive lifespan. It cost about the same as a pair of bearings for the Stronglight (I said £20-25, actually more like £30-40 now I've had a better look!), but I'd say has lasted less well.
by Raph
17 Jun 2017, 1:31am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: ISIS bottom bracket bearings
Replies: 24
Views: 2404

Re: ISIS bottom bracket bearings

Gattonero, yes I tried an FSA cup and it fits... only I don't have one in Italian thread, which is why I ordered a JIS version of the Stronglight JP400, and indeed it uses same cups, so I've nicked the new LH cup and I'm sorted.

Strange thing though - cranking down the cup, the bearings went a bit stiff, nothing terrible but definitely too much preload. Backing it off a quarter turn freed them up, but I can't work out why, unless the sleeve has got a bit compressed. Basically the outer races sit against the sleeve, so the relation between the outer and inner tracks should be pre-set, and just cranking down the cups till they're tight should result in the right preload. The only thing I can think of is that I might have let a bit of crud in between a bearing and the locating flange on the axle so the inner races are sitting slightly too far apart, but the bearings have been there for a few years now and I didn't have this problem before. I've adjusted it like an old type BB using a lockring, but it's kinda baffling as to how it's happened. I might take it out and re-fit the bearings to the axle. Or just ride it and re-check in a week or two.
by Raph
15 Jun 2017, 2:53pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: ISIS bottom bracket bearings
Replies: 24
Views: 2404

Re: ISIS bottom bracket bearings

Trouble is I'm struggling to find any Italian thread ISIS BBs in the UK at all! (for less than willy-wilting prices that is) The current arrangement seems to work rather well, and luckily it's on the side that doesn't tend to come loose, so hopefully it'll work like this for a while and give me a bit of time to find an alternative. If the LH cup from the JP400 (that I've got on order) is 31mm diameter then I'm pretty much sorted. The English thread cup from a JP400 I've already got here definitely fits perfectly, so I really hope I'm not totally in fantasy land in thinking the Italian thread version might use the same bearings.

I reckon the remains of that LH cup pictured above are going on a silk cushion in a glass case, for posterity. It's a sort of piece of modern art! Should get the critics going - definitely "gritty realism"!
by Raph
15 Jun 2017, 2:04am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: ISIS bottom bracket bearings
Replies: 24
Views: 2404

Re: ISIS bottom bracket bearings

Hey thanks for that - that's effectively what I'm hoping the JP400 will do that's coming in the post. I've desperately got my fingers crossed that the Italian thread version uses the same 31mmOD bearings!

Annoyingly I have old Campag, Royce and Hope BBs here in Italian thread, but they're all 30mm.