mounting a cateye AU100 on a mudguard

workhard · Post by **workhard** » 24 Jul 2008, 6:36pm

Any clues on how best to mount a Cateye TL-AU100 BS rear LED lamp on a rear mudguard that does not not have any mountings on it (it isn't an SKS btw) for a reflector or anything else.

I read this thread but that seems to imply a pre existing mounting bracket.

It can't be a smple as a single self taper as that would result in the lamp spinning round and around surely?

john4703 · Post by **john4703** » 24 Jul 2008, 9:13pm

workhard wrote:It can't be a smple as a single self taper as that would result in the lamp spinning round and around surely?

I think a single self tapper and some silicone mastic would work.

andrew_s · Post by **andrew_s** » 24 Jul 2008, 9:38pm

It is just the self-tapper. There's a peg just above that would go in the second hole of a standard mount to prevent spinning.

However, they don't fit well on mudguards, as they end up pointing up in the air rather than at following traffic. The rear of the lamp is parallel to the reflector face, which should be vertical. You'd need to arrange some sort of wedge between the mudguard and the light to get it at the correct angle. The angled join between the two halves is misleading.
Also, it's on the heavy side, so you may just provoke broken mudguard fittings.

The Spanninga light linked in the same thread by bikepacker is a much better solution to a mudguard light.
I've put a warning on the other thread.

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 24 Jul 2008, 10:45pm

I think this is the only case where I have ever disagreed with Paul Smith. LED lights are very directional and to have one pointing anywhere but directly backwards is to reduce its effctiveness considerably.

Also, that particular lamp is pretty heavy for an LED light and if it were to be mounted lower, where it would point horizontally backwards, it would get less support from the mudguard stays and I fancy there would be a lot of waggling.

PW · Post by PW » 25 Jul 2008, 12:39am

If I were you I'd look at the Smart 1/2 watt rear lamp and fit it on the seat stays. It's a lot brighter than anything I've come across before, my new machine now has 2, one on each side. Mudguards I'd reserve for the largest reflector available.

Paul Smith SRCC · Post by **Paul Smith SRCC** » 25 Jul 2008, 8:08am

thirdcrank wrote:I think this is the only case where I have ever disagreed with Paul Smith. LED lights are very directional and to have one pointing anywhere but directly backwards is to reduce its effctiveness considerably.

Also, that particular lamp is pretty heavy for an LED light and if it were to be mounted lower, where it would point horizontally backwards, it would get less support from the mudguard stays and I fancy there would be a lot of waggling.

I use SKS guards with strong stays, no wobble or brakages; cringing now as if that's not tempting fate...!

When mounted there it is always one of three, I have another on rear rack and by rear mech, the latter two I have pointing directly backwards.

I am less sensitive to the fact that the LEDs are indeed directional in this lamp than I am with others, this is because some of the leds in that lamp are large and long so even though they point in the wrong direction you can see a bright red glow from directly behind, the first picture below was taken this morning in my darkened hallway, I took it from an even lower angle than any motorist would ever be, not a great picture for sure but the lamp is bright, the one next to it taken from a higher angle, no higher than an one in a car or lorry would be though.

Low angle view

View from a higher angle

I did the same experiment when I fitted the lamp initially with it up set up like this and the other way up, I stood at various distances to see what differences I could see, with three lamps as they are I get a good coverage on my commute, part of which is on a busy road with HGV vechicles.

In conclusion I would add that I use it as I consider it better than having no lamp at all, totally agree it could be better, it is just in the old days I had nothing on the guard, when this came out I realised it could be fitted to the guard and was better than nothing, I would only use it as an additional lamp, never as my only rear light. in my defence the link in the OP was to a topic about 'SKS Chromoplastic Mudguards' and referred to the rear reflector, I had stated that I had replaced mine with the AU100.

workhard · Post by **workhard** » 25 Jul 2008, 8:49am

Seat stays are out as the bike will carry panniers a lot of the time. The idea of a lamp down by the mech is intriguing though. Is that mounted on the rear skewer?

OK so I need to plan to back it my AU100 with another lamp. My rack has a rectangular reflector on it (sorry can't show a picture; my phone's decided not to talk to my PC today) so I guess a B&M battery toplight should fit straight on in place of the reflector.

Does anyone know of any small cheap clip on LED lamps that would clip onto the lamp loops in my panniers ideally I'd like to put a red one on the rear and a white one on the front of each pannier. Don't care if I look like a Christmas Tree!

Paul Smith SRCC · Post by **Paul Smith SRCC** » 25 Jul 2008, 9:24am

workhard wrote:Seat stays are out as the bike will carry panniers a lot of the time. The idea of a lamp down by the mech is intriguing though. Is that mounted on the rear skewer?

OK so I need to plan to back it my AU100 with another lamp. My rack has a rectangular reflector on it (sorry can't show a picture; my phone's decided not to talk to my PC today) so I guess a B&M battery toplight should fit straight on in place of the reflector.

Does anyone know of any small cheap clip on LED lamps that would clip onto the lamp loops in my panniers ideally I'd like to put a red one on the rear and a white one on the front of each pannier. Don't care if I look like a Christmas Tree!

Both Smart and Cateye have rack mounts for their leds

Smart bracket,

Hole centres of bracket are 50mm apart fits:

Smart 7 Rear LED

Smart 1/2 Watt rear LED

Cateye

Fits nearly all there current leds

The smaller leds normally have a belt type clip that will fit the tab on a pannier or rack bag. Regarding the rear mech led I simply used a section of the bracket the lamp came with, then used a longer allen bolt and attached it to the pannier/mudguard eye ( I have double eyelets on that bike)

Paul_Smith
www.bikeplus.co.uk

workhard · Post by **workhard** » 25 Jul 2008, 10:14am

time for a trip to croydon I think!

CJ · Post by CJ » 25 Jul 2008, 1:51pm

Why bother? Why not simply fit one of these:

Unlike the Cat-Eye bodge, this is designed from the outset to fit a rear mudguard, so apart from being easier to fit, the light and reflector point in the right direction for maximum performance. The only difficulty is how to buy. Due to the unaccountable preference of the British cycle trade for products of Asian manufacture over European, the only way to get these lamps in Britain is direct from Jos-International in France.

Paul Smith SRCC · Post by **Paul Smith SRCC** » 25 Jul 2008, 2:43pm

CJ wrote:Why bother? Why not simply fit one of these:

Unlike the Cat-Eye bodge, this is designed from the outset to fit a rear mudguard, so apart from being easier to fit, the light and reflector point in the right direction for maximum performance. The only difficulty is how to buy. Due to the unaccountable preference of the British cycle trade for products of Asian manufacture over European, the only way to get these lamps in Britain is direct from Jos-International in France.

There are a few high quality European manufacturers that are imported, Busch and Muller and Schmidt to name two (even though the latter are not distributed by a normail UK Whole saler), sadly they don't have a battery LED like that to fit the guard though as that model above looks very good.

I would have thought Cateye also would have thought this market large enough to have a specific model as well.

Paul_Smith
www.bikeplus.co.uk

workhard · Post by **workhard** » 25 Jul 2008, 4:04pm

CJ wrote:Why bother? Why not simply fit one of these

because of the 15.55 euro postage charge perhaps!

andrew_s · Post by **andrew_s** » 25 Jul 2008, 10:15pm

Paul Smith SRCC wrote:I stood at various distances to see what differences I could see

To get a good idea of what a car driver sees, you really want to look from 50m back.

The other lamp that's a prime culprit for being mounted pointing up in the air is the Cateye LD600. Lots of people mount them vertically on the seatstay, where the bottom end of the light hitting the stay stops it from reaching a vertical position.

fixer · Post by **fixer** » 26 Jul 2008, 2:59pm

workhard wrote:
CJ wrote:Why bother? Why not simply fit one of these

because of the 15.55 euro postage charge perhaps!

Have to agree!

This light would be perfect for fitting to a bike that does not use a dynomo.

I looked on their website, but when it said the P&P would be well over £10 and about the same as the light itself, I thought I'd just carry on using a Cateye AU100 clipped onto my saddlebag and the reflector already on the mudguard.

MartinC · Post by **MartinC** » 28 Jul 2008, 3:13pm

I emailed cateye several years ago about fitting a AU100 to the mudguard. They said they didn't recommend because of the weight. Not sure I'd pay much attention to this though - perhaps it's just safer for them to say no.

Lots of quality B&M, Schmidt stuff is available quickly and cheaply from Germany (e.g. Bike24 and Roseversand). I guess retailers here are shafted by the import agents. I went to my LBS to get a 3N80 dynamo hub recently. They couldn't get one 'cos Madison won't import any 'til they've got rid of all their 3N71 hubs first. So I got one from Roseversand - the price was less than the 3N71 in the UK. Took several days and the postage for the whole order was about £5.

I've got one of the JOS mudguard lights - does exactly what it says on the packet.

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