Trike weather

[Just Zis Guy]

Wet, pitch black, lights shining off the road, rain on the glasses, and wet leaves everywhere. Note
to self: buy a velomobile.

--
Guy
===
WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk

 

[Richard Corfiel]

In article <[email protected]>, Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> Wet, pitch black, lights shining off the road, rain on the glasses, and wet leaves everywhere.
> Note to self: buy a velomobile.

Dunno, how do lighting angles compare between the front boom of a trike and an upright's handlebar?
Trike's boom is quite low, so the lighting would have to be quite shallow angle. Now if I were to
think of the trike as a stage lighting rig ...

Should be trying my Lumicycles on a longer darker lane ride tomorrow night - have 5W covering near,
more theatrical down angle somewhere around 45 degrees, and 20W spot covering far from the same
height. (This is the upright bike's handlebar).

On full battery, it gives continous illumination for about 6m and plenty of spillage. Just need to
get home within 2 hours (have longer if I switch the 20W off in town)

- Richard

--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.

 

[M Series]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> Wet, pitch black, lights shining off the road, rain on the glasses, and wet leaves everywhere.
> Note to self: buy a velomobile.

I misread your posting, I thought you said 'buy a velodrome !! '

 

[Just Zis Guy]

Richard Corfield wrote:

>> Wet, pitch black, lights shining off the road, rain on the glasses, and wet leaves everywhere.
>> Note to self: buy a velomobile.

> Dunno, how do lighting angles compare between the front boom of a trike and an upright's
> handlebar?

Not a lot lower than the lights on the boom of my existing bike, I reckon - and you can mount them
on the mudguards which are higher. Plus I generally use a headtorch.

I like hub dynamos: always there. It's not unknnown for me to unexpectedly be stuck in the office
until midnight at any time of year, so if I use rechargeables I have to carry a fully charged
battery pack at all times. I stopped using rechargeables when it became obvious that I was not
sufficiently disciplined to maintain a battery fully charged on the off chance.

--
Guy
===
WARNING: may contain traces of irony. Contents may settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk

 

[Richard Corfiel]

In article <[email protected]>, Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>
> I like hub dynamos: always there. It's not unknnown for me to unexpectedly be stuck in the office
> until midnight at any time of year, so if I use rechargeables I have to carry a fully charged
> battery pack at all times. I stopped using rechargeables when it became obvious that I was not
> sufficiently disciplined to maintain a battery fully charged on the off chance.
>

Hub dynamo won't work on the trike I'm getting, but it would take a bottle dynamo if needed. The
Lumicycle pack is quite convenient to either hide on board somewhere and put on charge once every
couple of weeks or every month, or to carry. I'll have to see how that goes.

- Richard

--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.

 

[Ian]

Richard Corfield must be edykated coz e writed:

> In article <[email protected]>, Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>>
>> I like hub dynamos: always there. It's not unknnown for me to unexpectedly be stuck in the office
>> until midnight at any time of year, so if I use rechargeables I have to carry a fully charged
>> battery pack at all times. I stopped using rechargeables when it became obvious that I was not
>> sufficiently disciplined to maintain a battery fully charged on the off chance.
>>
>
> Hub dynamo won't work on the trike I'm getting, but it would take a bottle dynamo if needed. The
> Lumicycle pack is quite convenient to either hide on board somewhere and put on charge once every
> couple of weeks or every month, or to carry. I'll have to see how that goes.
>
> - Richard
B&M Dymotec 6 cannot be over spun so is very suitable for fast recumbent use, bottle dynamo of
course, their S6 electronic version is OK to 70 kmh, they have a 12v system too, problem with
hub dynamo's on swb tadpole trikes is you have to use it on the rear wheel or it causes drag on
the steering.

--
Ian

http://www.catrike.co.uk

 

[Simon Brooke]

Richard Corfield <[email protected]> writes:

> In article <[email protected]>, Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> >
> > I like hub dynamos: always there. It's not unknnown for me to unexpectedly be stuck in the
> > office until midnight at any time of year, so if I use rechargeables I have to carry a fully
> > charged battery pack at all times. I stopped using rechargeables when it became obvious that I
> > was not sufficiently disciplined to maintain a battery fully charged on the off chance.
> >
>
> Hub dynamo won't work on the trike I'm getting

Why not, if you don't mind my asking?

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; all in all you're just another click in the call ;; -- Minke Bouyed

 

[Richard Corfiel]

In article <BBC7BB97.159BF%[email protected]>, Ian wrote:
> B&M Dymotec 6 cannot be over spun so is very suitable for fast recumbent use, bottle dynamo of
> course, their S6 electronic version is OK to 70 kmh, they have a 12v system too, problem with hub
> dynamo's on swb tadpole trikes is you have to use it on the rear wheel or it causes drag on the
> steering.

I've ordered the hub gears, giving quite a good range for getting up hills, or down them
suitably fast.

Can the 12V provide enough current to run a lumicycle lamp? As a backup could it provide 5W minumum.
The next thing you're going to say of course is that it costs a lot (maybe a future Christmas)

- Richard

--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.

 

[Peter Clinch]

Simon Brooke wrote: [no hub dyno]
> Why not, if you don't mind my asking?

Usual reason is that you need two sided support, so the pair of wheels are generally out leaving the
single. On a Windcheetah it's still single sided (why I'll be using a bottle dyno on the 8 Freight
when it arrives soon, Mr. Burrows likes monoblades!), and on another design you might well have a
hub gear there instead, so just no room for it :-(

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 protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Ian]

Richard Corfield must be edykated coz e writed:

> In article <BBC7BB97.159BF%[email protected]>, Ian wrote:
>> B&M Dymotec 6 cannot be over spun so is very suitable for fast recumbent use, bottle dynamo of
>> course, their S6 electronic version is OK to 70 kmh, they have a 12v system too, problem with hub
>> dynamo's on swb tadpole trikes is you have to use it on the rear wheel or it causes drag on the
>> steering.
>
> I've ordered the hub gears, giving quite a good range for getting up hills, or down them
> suitably fast.
>
> Can the 12V provide enough current to run a lumicycle lamp? As a backup could it provide 5W
> minumum. The next thing you're going to say of course is that it costs a lot (maybe a future
> Christmas)
>
> - Richard
The 12v system is 6 watts, but should be used with the B&M lights, left or right hand with Lumotec
Oval 12 Plus & Dtoplight 12 Plus - 12V, 6.2W comes out at a discounted £275.00, front and rear both
have l.e.d. standlights so they stay on for a while after you have stopped, for junctions and such.
Light output is fantastic, which trike have you gone for?

--
Ian

http://www.catrike.co.uk

 

[Richard Corfiel]

In article <BBC7C224.159EE%[email protected]>, Ian wrote:
> The 12v system is 6 watts, but should be used with the B&M lights, left or right hand with Lumotec
> Oval 12 Plus & Dtoplight 12 Plus - 12V, 6.2W comes out at a discounted £275.00, front and rear
> both have l.e.d. standlights so they stay on for a while after you have stopped, for junctions and
> such. Light output is fantastic, which trike have you gone for?

The XL/NT - suitably fun whilst still giving some touring comfort and reasonable carrying capacity.
There's a lot out there to choose from though!

6.2W is quite reasonable. The Lumicycle 5W, which runs overvolted at about that power, gives a good
pool of light in front of the bike. I noticed the difference cycling home from work last night.
Where before I was cursing the rigid alumium framed upright for effectively transmitting the bumps
from the potholes to the rider - I was able to see the potholes well before reaching them (5W near
+ 20W far on dark lanes). Drivers noticed me well too with that combination.

- Richard

--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.

 

[Ian]

Richard Corfield must be edykated coz e writed:

> In article <BBC7C224.159EE%[email protected]>, Ian wrote:
>> The 12v system is 6 watts, but should be used with the B&M lights, left or right hand with
>> Lumotec Oval 12 Plus & Dtoplight 12 Plus - 12V, 6.2W comes out at a discounted £275.00, front and
>> rear both have l.e.d. standlights so they stay on for a while after you have stopped, for
>> junctions and such. Light output is fantastic, which trike have you gone for?
>
> The XL/NT - suitably fun whilst still giving some touring comfort and reasonable carrying
> capacity. There's a lot out there to choose from though!
>
> 6.2W is quite reasonable. The Lumicycle 5W, which runs overvolted at about that power, gives a
> good pool of light in front of the bike. I noticed the difference cycling home from work last
> night. Where before I was cursing the rigid alumium framed upright for effectively transmitting
> the bumps from the potholes to the rider - I was able to see the potholes well before reaching
> them (5W near + 20W far on dark lanes). Drivers noticed me well too with that combination.
>
> - Richard
Nice trike, did you go for any of the upgrades other than the narrow track?

The twelve volt B&M system provides a huge viewable range advantage over the 6 volt system, the
efficiency is about 70% which is a first for a bottle dynamo system, almost silent too. I don't
think it would be a good idea running a bottle dynamo on the Scwalbe Stelvios I'm running at the
moment though, maybe with Marathons.

--
Ian

http://www.catrike.co.uk

 

[Richard Corfiel]

In article <BBC96250.15BB2%[email protected]>, Ian wrote:
>> The XL/NT - suitably fun whilst still giving some touring comfort and reasonable carrying
>> capacity. There's a lot out there to choose from though!

> Nice trike, did you go for any of the upgrades other than the narrow track?

Pretty standard. Fairing mount point, but no fairing as yet. Reasonable spec on parts that you don't
want to replace such as transmission and brakes, knowing that extras may be added later.

Given current weather, will need to find something to cover the seat with though. Soggy seat would
not be good, and I'm not sure I could park it indoors at work. The carrier bag, which fits well over
the saddle on the upright, will not work on a recumbent.

Still getting some negative response to the idea from friends and family though. Family are worried
about me using the upright after dark, even with the good lights and my very reflective St John
Ambulance top (badges reversed when not on duty). Work mates just say things like "You're not riding
the clown bike are you?"

- Richard

--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.