Road bikes

Doki said:

Richard Bates said:

Doki said:

Any ideas on what lamps to get? I don't want one of those naff flashing LED things on the back
or something that gives out as much light as one of those photon lights strapped to the front.
Proper lights please, preferably as bright as a car tail light at the back (15W Halogen IIRC)
and at least 30W facing forwards...

30W up front will require a battery almost as heavy as the bike itself!

I'm only guessing... 2.5 amps at 14V just needs a lot of NiMH cells and won't last very long 🙂.
I've just remembered that car brake lights aren't halogens, so you'd probably get by with 5W of
halogen at the back...

Quoted message said:

I would seriously consider LEDs for the rear, and I would also recommend investigating Cateye
front LEDs - These are white rather than the naff green ones that you may be thinking of.

Hope this helps.

I drive a car and know how difficult it is to see idiot cyclists who think that 5 candle power is
going to show up against street lamps, headlamps and car brake lamps 🙂. I don't want to end up
under a car, and unless you have a mass of superbright LEDs you're not very easy to see.

Then get a mass of superbright LEDs. I think you're right to be concerned about the cheaper LED
lamps that can be pathetic and often break down (hard to tell, when you can't see them). Cateye do
some good ones. Lots of new car lamps come with LED rear lights nowadays so there's nothing
fundementally wrong with LEDs as a light source.

I can't remember the exact efficiency comparison, but 1W of rear LEDs is probably going to be
brighter than any reasonable wattage of filament lights seen through a red filter. Old bike lights
legally only had to be 0.6W IIRC.

Front lights are for two purposes - one is to light your way in the dark. The other is so that other
people can see you.

To light your way, you don't need such powerful lights as a car has, because your top speed will be
slower. 3W is quite enough. To be seen by others I'd suggest a head-torch set on a narrow beam. When
you see a car waiting to come out of a junction (this is where most accidents happen), point your
head-torch beam directly at the driver. A small head-torch won't blind anyone, but it will allow you
to be seen without carrying a ridiculous amount of batteries.

I've seen some good safety jackets made out of yellow mesh with reflective strips built in. You can
wear them over anything, and they won't make you sweaty in the summer.

In article said:

Doki said:

Any ideas on what lamps to get? I don't want one of those naff flashing LED things on the back or
something that gives out as much light as one of those photon lights strapped to the front. Proper
lights please, preferably as bright as a car tail light at the back (15W Halogen IIRC) and at
least 30W facing forwards...

30W up front will require a battery almost as heavy as the bike itself!

A 35W Lumicycle will last over an hour for a 790g system weight. "Only" costs 150 pounds.
lumicycle.co.ukNIMH2000 SYSTEMS.htmlOpen ↗

If he wants 30W lasting for hours off cheap lead-acid it could easily be as heavy as the
bike though.

Quoted message said:

It's a sensible style of bike - the website doesn't seem to say anything more about it.

It's a good shop, but bad website :-( Incredibly helpful when you go in though.

Doki said:

BTW, I've always wondered what Medical Physics
is. X-rays, MRI and so-on?

Amongst other things, yes. We handle repair and maintenance from infusion pumps to linear
accelerators, QA in radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and radiology, fabrication of various research
gizmos (hardware and software) and the like.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Doki said:

To be seen against a car you need pretty bright lights though. 110W of forward facing light VS
your 3W and you'll become invisible to anyone coming in the other direction. Not a good situation
if you're waiting to turn right

In practice not a problem: Anyone coming in the opposite direction should be on the other side of
the road, and if you've got a car behind you then whoever's coming in will want to miss that in any
case. I'd have thought it more likely you'd be tail ended, with your back light lost from the glare
of the badly adjusted oncoming headlamps, but being tail ended on a bike is a rare accident and in
practice you're quite visible. You should have reflectors on the bike by law, if you're smart you'll
have extra ones on the bike and on your clothing too. These are, in practice, far more visible than
your actual back light when someone is coming up behind you as you wait to turn right.

I say this from my joint perspective as both a driver and cyclist. BS compliant lamps and good
reflectives really are quite good enough. The reason you need more power than 3W is if you're going
very fast and/or through tricky terrain as you need to throw a longer, wider beam to see what's
coming up on the ground.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email hidden]
dundee.ac.uk~pjclinchOpen ↗

Marc Jennings <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

MartinM said:

I agree. The bottom end Carrera Valour from Halfords is a case in point; sounds good value at
250 but when you look at all the cheap nasty components which will probably need replacing
within a short while you can add at least another 100, so why not spend the extra on a better
bike in the first place?. As has been mentioned be wary of bike which have a few big name
components and a lot of low quality ones. it seems to be a common ploy. Good luck ;-)

What are the most important components other than the frame you should check?

probably in order of highest cost to replace/ease of replacement; forks gear shifters drive
train wheels

Doki said:

I agree entirely that there's nothing up with LEDs. The LED traffic lights and brake lights are
very bright, almost painful in fact, I think due to the fact that LEDs produce light on a very
narrow frequency. It's just the majority of things I see cyclists using (if they're using lights)
are horribly inadequate.

Most of them would be adequate if fresh batteries were used.

~PB

anonymous coward said:

Quoted message said:

What are clipless pedals? I've only used the normal variety you get on a boggo bike. I'd prefer
not to wear stupid shoes to ride a bike or any variety of lycra or nylon if at all possible 🙂.

The next step up from ordinary pedals is to use toeclips - this is a pocket on the end of the pedal
that you insert your toe into. It means you are pedalling with the right part of your foot (your
toe rather than your heel - heels feel more 'natural' to me at least, but is less efficient) and it
means you can pull up on the pedals as well as pushing down.

'Clipless pedals' sound like they should be a step back from these because they don't have
toeclips. Instead, you wear special shoes that mechanically clip on to the pedals.

Hi AC

My first set of clipless pedals and shoes cost around 70 quid in total. In the previous few years,
wearing trainers and using toe-clips, I demolished several pairs of trainers - a cost of more than
double the amount.

Like most, I had a few interesting moments at first but got used to them within a very short time.
I'd say forget the toe-clips and go straight to clipless.

James