Bromptoneers to the workstand, please

Just zis Guy said:

I want to fit a dynamo front light to the handlebars of my Brom,
rather than the default location cunningly concealed under the pannier
where it will be seen only by low-flying worms.

It is not immediately obvious how to achieve this...

Has anyone mounted a dynamo lamp above bag level on a Brom?

I think the problem you imply concerning the siting of the luminaire is
more psychological than real. Compared to other bikes it is
disconcerting that the light is so completely concealed from the rider
when a bag is put on the front, but I don't believe there is any problem
with its visibility so far it concerns anyone ahead of the bike. (Have
you tested this by having someone ride the bike towards you?) My guess
is that Brompton put it where it is because (a) there is no easy way to
site it significantly higher and (b) there's no particular reason to try.

--
Joe * If I cannot be free I'll be cheap

JLB said:

Just zis Guy said:

I want to fit a dynamo front light to the handlebars of my Brom,
rather than the default location cunningly concealed under the pannier
where it will be seen only by low-flying worms.

It is not immediately obvious how to achieve this...

Has anyone mounted a dynamo lamp above bag level on a Brom?

I think the problem you imply concerning the siting of the luminaire is
more psychological than real. Compared to other bikes it is
disconcerting that the light is so completely concealed from the rider
when a bag is put on the front, but I don't believe there is any problem
with its visibility so far it concerns anyone ahead of the bike. (Have
you tested this by having someone ride the bike towards you?) My guess
is that Brompton put it where it is because (a) there is no easy way to
site it significantly higher and (b) there's no particular reason to try.

I don't have a dynamo lamp but my front light is mounted on the middle
section of the bars. Some of the light clips the pannier but its easily
visible and illuminates the road. There is also a little stub bar that
you can mount on the vertical section of the handlebars to get it a bit
higher if you want. I think I got mine from AVC - its not in use so if
I can find it....

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

JLB said:

Just zis Guy said:

I want to fit a dynamo front light to the handlebars of my Brom,
rather than the default location cunningly concealed under the pannier
where it will be seen only by low-flying worms.

It is not immediately obvious how to achieve this...

Has anyone mounted a dynamo lamp above bag level on a Brom?

I think the problem you imply concerning the siting of the luminaire is
more psychological than real. Compared to other bikes it is
disconcerting that the light is so completely concealed from the rider
when a bag is put on the front, but I don't believe there is any problem
with its visibility so far it concerns anyone ahead of the bike. (Have
you tested this by having someone ride the bike towards you?) My guess
is that Brompton put it where it is because (a) there is no easy way to
site it significantly higher and (b) there's no particular reason to try.

SJS sell a suitable mounting bracket for handlebars. Made by
B&M iirc. The only problem then is cable routing (which I
don't know about in the case of a brommie). This solution
works well on my Birdy + SON.

Just zis Guy said:

I want to fit a dynamo front light to the handlebars of my Brom,
rather than the default location cunningly concealed under the pannier
where it will be seen only by low-flying worms.

Mine in in the default position, and appears to be clearly visible.
I can see its reflection quite clearly from ahead of me and it
seems to light up the road, signposts etc. quite well. I had
worried about it, but it appears that They've Thought Of That and
done adequate testing.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

At Sun, 26 Jun 2005 15:47:29 GMT, message
<[email hidden]> was posted by Simon Proven
<[email hidden]>, including some, all or none
of the following:

Quoted message said:

SJS sell a suitable mounting bracket for handlebars. Made by
B&M iirc. The only problem then is cable routing

No, the problem then is the light hitting the wheel when you fold the
bike. I have at least got that far...

I think what I will do is mount a seeing light on the subterranean
bracket and a being-seen light on the bars. I have a Cateye
blue-white LED jobby which should fit the bill there.

It's all a bit of a bore though. Plus my trusty B&M Toplight won't
fit on the rear reflector bracket as it is too fat.

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

Just zis Guy said:

No, the problem then is the light hitting the wheel when you fold the
bike. I have at least got that far...

I found that to be a combination of the right choice of light and the
right position on the handlebars. Also rotating the handlebars in the
stem can make it more or less of a problem.

--
Tony

"I did make a mistake once - I thought I'd made a mistake but I hadn't"
Anon

On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 18:17:08 +0100 someone who may be "Just zis Guy,
you know?" <[email hidden]> wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

No, the problem then is the light hitting the wheel when you fold the
bike. I have at least got that far...

It can be done in this position, with suitable fiddling.

However, prop the bike up with a bag on it and walk towards the
bike. Note when the light disappears from view and ponder. This may
reassure you that the light is in a suitable position. It is the
same height above the road as those on many sports cars.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh | PGP email preferred-key number F566DA0E
I will always explain revoked keys, unless the UK government
prevents me by using the RIP Act 2000.

David Hansen said:

However, prop the bike up with a bag on it and walk towards the
bike. Note when the light disappears from view and ponder. This may
reassure you that the light is in a suitable position. It is the
same height above the road as those on many sports cars.

Granted. Nevertheless, I prefer a high mounting on my bikes as
it means my light may be visible through the window of a car I
am passing.

David Hansen said:

However, prop the bike up with a bag on it and walk towards the
bike. Note when the light disappears from view and ponder. This may
reassure you that the light is in a suitable position. It is the
same height above the road as those on many sports cars.

I was thinking along these lines riding back past parked cars from the
cinema last night, checking my front lamp's height against theirs.
There was quite a sense of deja-vu from the "that's *far* too low to be
safe!" flak I get as the rider of one of those dangerous recumbent
contraptions!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Just zis Guy said:

It's all a bit of a bore though. Plus my trusty B&M Toplight won't
fit on the rear reflector bracket as it is too fat.

In my experience only slight bending of the brackets is required (and
you need a 50mm d-toplight (or convert it to 50 mm))

--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

I found that the mounting point above the wheel isn't that bad to be
honest. One has to be careful when viewing road signs, so another LED
lamp on the bars can be helpful.

As a POI, I rode the Dunwich dynamo with this set up and there was
plenty of illumination.

Now that there is a SON for the Brompton, this looks the way forward. I
have mounted a Nordlicht to the front fork mudguard stay using a
bracket. This feeds a Lumicycle front lamp. the biggest problem was
grinding off the top of the lamp reflector because it kept rubbing on
the bottom of the bag.

regards,
daren
--
remove outer garment for reply

As a followup, what brand of light do people use, and fitted on what
bracket? I've had two B&M front light brackets fail due to metal
fatigue (on other bikes). I am minded to go for the SON E6.

Guy
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

"To every complex problem there is a solution which is
simple, neat and wrong" - HL Mencken

Just zis Guy said:

As a followup, what brand of light do people use, and fitted on what
bracket? I've had two B&M front light brackets fail due to metal
fatigue (on other bikes). I am minded to go for the SON E6.

I have a B&M round standlight, but I know you're not keen so it wouldn't
make much sense. In order to fit the standlight gubbins under the
pannier some bending of the standard brackets was necessary, and I've
had two fail where they were bent. Not good... The current system is
actually a canti bracket that goes under the brakes and filed down so
as not to push the front 'guard into the wheel. Been fine for a couple
of years, including 100m of bumpy off-road downhill every time I return
home.

Do you know what Brom are using themselves on new models with a dynohub
as standard option?

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Just zis Guy said:

As a followup, what brand of light do people use, and fitted on what
bracket? I've had two B&M front light brackets fail due to metal
fatigue (on other bikes). I am minded to go for the SON E6.

The bracket on my Brompton is the standard one that comes with an T3. It
hasn't shown any sign of fatigue.

Colin

Just zis Guy said:

As a followup, what brand of light do people use, and fitted on what
bracket? I've had two B&M front light brackets fail due to metal
fatigue (on other bikes). I am minded to go for the SON E6.

Schmidt do a bracket for this: www.m-gineering.nl/sonliteg.htm (scroll
down)

--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl