I succumb to the dark side



A

Alan Braggins

Guest
No, not that dark side, the other one. I've bought an electric-assist
bike kit. Well, pre-ordered it for when it arrives in an indefinite time.
Sordid details at http://armb.livejournal.com/187242.html

On the light side, my new brackets arrived, and I now have a secondary
Lumotec in series with my DLumotec. I haven't tried it in the dark yet -
spinning the front wheel by hand gives only a feeble glow from the Lumotec,
but the DLumotec seems bright enough at low speed that I'll try it without
a series capacitor first.

The front hub dynamo won't be usable with a front hub electric motor,
but I do have another bike, so it won't be wasted.
 
Alan Braggins wrote:
> No, not that dark side, the other one. I've bought an electric-assist
> bike kit. Well, pre-ordered it for when it arrives in an indefinite time.
> Sordid details at http://armb.livejournal.com/187242.html
>
> On the light side, my new brackets arrived, and I now have a secondary
> Lumotec in series with my DLumotec. I haven't tried it in the dark yet -
> spinning the front wheel by hand gives only a feeble glow from the Lumotec,
> but the DLumotec seems bright enough at low speed that I'll try it without
> a series capacitor first.
>
> The front hub dynamo won't be usable with a front hub electric motor,
> but I do have another bike, so it won't be wasted.


I'm not sure why but somewhere, deep in my subconscious, shudders when I
see these kits. They're just wrong - I cant identify why though!
 
Alan Braggins wrote:
> No, not that dark side, the other one. I've bought an electric-assist
> bike kit. Well, pre-ordered it for when it arrives in an indefinite time.
> Sordid details at http://armb.livejournal.com/187242.html
>
> On the light side, my new brackets arrived, and I now have a secondary
> Lumotec in series with my DLumotec. I haven't tried it in the dark yet -
> spinning the front wheel by hand gives only a feeble glow from the Lumotec,
> but the DLumotec seems bright enough at low speed that I'll try it without
> a series capacitor first.



> The front hub dynamo won't be usable with a front hub electric motor,
> but I do have another bike, so it won't be wasted.


Well It would be a bit silly having an electric motor
driving a wheel that powers a dynamo, you would loose a
lot of energy in the process.

Why not wire up a suitable lamp via a switch and fuse to
the battery?

Martin.
 
In article <ccfJi.4953$X%[email protected]>, Martin Dann wrote:
>Alan Braggins wrote:
>> No, not that dark side, the other one. I've bought an electric-assist
>> bike kit. Well, pre-ordered it for when it arrives in an indefinite time.

[...]
>> The front hub dynamo won't be usable with a front hub electric motor,
>> but I do have another bike, so it won't be wasted.

>
>Well It would be a bit silly having an electric motor
>driving a wheel that powers a dynamo, you would loose a
>lot of energy in the process.
>
>Why not wire up a suitable lamp via a switch and fuse to
>the battery?


I almost certainly will. But I also plan not to be left without lights
if I'm pedalling without assistance because I forgot to recharge the
battery or it has failed, which we know from previous discussions of
why electric assist is the Devil's Work will inevitably happen, so I'll
have a bottle dynamo too.
 
Alan Braggins wrote:

>In article <ccfJi.4953$X%[email protected]>, Martin Dann wrote:
>>Alan Braggins wrote:
>>> No, not that dark side, the other one. I've bought an electric-assist
>>> bike kit. Well, pre-ordered it for when it arrives in an indefinite time.

>[...]
>>> The front hub dynamo won't be usable with a front hub electric motor,
>>> but I do have another bike, so it won't be wasted.


>>Why not wire up a suitable lamp via a switch and fuse to
>>the battery?

>
>I almost certainly will. But I also plan not to be left without lights
>if I'm pedalling without assistance because I forgot to recharge the
>battery or it has failed, which we know from previous discussions of
>why electric assist is the Devil's Work will inevitably happen, so I'll
>have a bottle dynamo too.


It ought to be possible to run the motor in reverse as a dynamo.
Somebody else can work out the elastictrickery. :-\
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"
 
In article <[email protected]>, Alan Braggins wrote:
>On the light side, my new brackets arrived, and I now have a secondary
>Lumotec in series with my DLumotec. I haven't tried it in the dark yet -
>spinning the front wheel by hand gives only a feeble glow from the Lumotec,
>but the DLumotec seems bright enough at low speed that I'll try it without
>a series capacitor first.


And now I have, the DLumotec is more or less at full brightness at 4mph,
but at 15mph the Lumotec isn't adding enough to be noticeable, and not
much more at 20mph. So it looks like the LED's regulation doesn't work
as well with a secondary light as I'd hoped. Oh well.
 
Hi,

On 22 Sep, 19:18, Coyoteboy <[email protected]> wrote:
> I'm not sure why but somewhere, deep in my subconscious, shudders when I
> see these kits. They're just wrong - I cant identify why though!


It's the missing minimalism, offending your aesthetic sensibilities.

Cheers,
W.
 
[email protected] wrote:
> Hi,
>
> On 22 Sep, 19:18, Coyoteboy <[email protected]> wrote:
>> I'm not sure why but somewhere, deep in my subconscious, shudders when I
>> see these kits. They're just wrong - I cant identify why though!

>
> It's the missing minimalism, offending your aesthetic sensibilities.
>
> Cheers,
> W.
>

I think you're right, it must be something linked to that. I'm a purist
it seems lol. (he said riding an mtb on road with slicks).
 
On 24 Sep, 14:53, Coyoteboy <[email protected]> wrote:
> I think you're right, it must be something linked to that. I'm a purist
> it seems lol. (he said riding an mtb on road with slicks).


Ah, perhaps you're fighting it.. Do fixies exert a pull on you?

Does this sort of thing:

http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2007/sept/2/DylanEdgar.htm
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/2007/sept/2/AndrewWhitehurst.htm

... give rise to strange urges?

Maybe it is the light side (pun intended; sorry) that _you_ crave...

Cheers,
W.
 

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