I've just got around to attaching a bottom bracket dynamo to my Galaxy and have attached a 6V 3W lamp top the canti brake mounting point on the nearside of the bike. Now that I've done it I'm not sure that I've put it on the right side. I do, however, like to see the road edge rather than the white lines when I've been riding at night. Have I done the right thing?
This is my first foray into dynamo lighting though I do have another bike with a bottom bracket dynamo that I've barely ridden - it's a Trevor Jarvis Flying Gate replica set up as a fixie and I haven't got to grips with riding a fixie yet. I might reverse engineer it back to a geared bike as a spring project. Is there an easy way to get started with a fixie?
I've just got around to attaching a bottom bracket dynamo to my Galaxy and have attached a 6V 3W lamp top the canti brake mounting point on the nearside of the bike. Now that I've done it I'm not sure that I've put it on the right side. I do, however, like to see the road edge rather than the white lines when I've been riding at night. Have I done the right thing?
Legally the lamp has to be in the centre or on the offside. However, I remember Tony Oliver (sometime framebuilder and author of "Touring Bikes"😉 used to mount his on the left, because otherwise he found the tyre shadow obscured his view of the kerb.
That supports my sentiment. I wonder if having a centrally mounted white LED flashy thingy will will legitimise the nearside mounting of the main lamp?
It is probably best to clip in so your feet stay with the pedals and just do not forget to keep turning. It soon becomes second nature. Sheldon has some good articles on the subject. My biggest warning would be around the chain maintenance. I was giving my chain a clean and a lube on the bike when I lost concentration for a moment and just managed to get my fingers out before they got trapped between the chain and sprocket. My finger was only pinched, unlike the pictures at the bottom of the following:
"The war isn't the war between the blacks and the whites, the liberals and the conservatives, or the Federation and the Romulans. It's between the clueful and the clueless." (an anonymous poster on cypherpunks list)
"Don Whybrow" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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My biggest warning would be around the chain maintenance. I was giving my chain a clean and a lube on the bike when I lost concentration for a moment and just managed to get my fingers out before they got trapped between the chain and sprocket. My finger was only pinched, unlike the pictures at the bottom of the following:
"Don Whybrow" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... <snip>
Quoted message said:
lube on the bike when I lost concentration for a moment and just managed to get my fingers out before they got trapped between the chain and sprocket. My finger was only pinched, unlike the pictures at the bottom of the following:
<snip>
Quoted message said:
Don Whybrow
Hmmm.. Whilst posted to Christmas Island I had a dropped handle bar fixed wheel. Hit a pothole, feet came off the pedals, couldn't reach the brakes. Result, two weeks in hospital. It was my job to keep the roads graded :0( Rog
In article <[email hidden]>, Don Whybrow [email hidden] says...
Quoted message said:
lube on the bike when I lost concentration for a moment and just managed to get my fingers out before they got trapped between the chain and sprocket. My finger was only pinched, unlike the pictures at the bottom of the following:
I did that once, wiping the chain on a 3-speed, and got a sprocket tooth through the nail root/bed - I think it's the closest I've ever been to fainting.
"Don Whybrow" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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vernon said:
Is there an easy way to get started with a fixie?
It is probably best to clip in so your feet stay with the pedals and just do not forget to keep turning. It soon becomes second nature. Sheldon has some good articles on the subject. My biggest warning would be around the chain maintenance. I was giving my chain a clean and a lube on the bike when I lost concentration for a moment and just managed to get my fingers out before they got trapped between the chain and sprocket. My finger was only pinched, unlike the pictures at the bottom of the following:
I did that whilst setting up my track bike. I had not fitted the pedals and was turning the crank by putting my index finger in the pedal threaded hole and turning in when the middle finger went around under the chain OUCH!
Looking at the pictures I was lucky I just got a cut and black oil right through under the finger nail. It healed ok except that I still have a mark on the finger nail some 40 years later!
"John Grove" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
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"Don Whybrow" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
vernon said:
Is there an easy way to get started with a fixie?
It is probably best to clip in so your feet stay with the pedals and just do not forget to keep turning. It soon becomes second nature. Sheldon has some good articles on the subject. My biggest warning would be around the chain maintenance. I was giving my chain a clean and a lube on the bike when I lost concentration for a moment and just managed to get my fingers out before they got trapped between the chain and sprocket. My finger was only pinched, unlike the pictures at the bottom of the following:
I did that whilst setting up my track bike. I had not fitted the pedals and was turning the crank by putting my index finger in the pedal threaded hole and turning in when the middle finger went around under the chain OUCH!
Looking at the pictures I was lucky I just got a cut and black oil right through under the finger nail. It healed ok except that I still have a mark on the finger nail some 40 years later!
Not exactly a good advert for fixed wheel bikes then ;-)
"Zog The Undeniable" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
vernon said:
I've just got around to attaching a bottom bracket dynamo to my Galaxy and have attached a 6V 3W lamp top the canti brake mounting point on the nearside of the bike. Now that I've done it I'm not sure that I've put it on the right side. I do, however, like to see the road edge rather than the white lines when I've been riding at night. Have I done the right thing?
Legally the lamp has to be in the centre or on the offside. However, I remember Tony Oliver (sometime framebuilder and author of "Touring Bikes"😉 used to mount his on the left, because otherwise he found the tyre shadow obscured his view of the kerb.
Personally I have it dead centre on the fork crown: this is a Supernova E3 on my old Cannondale MTB (now a commuting fixie), and the old Force 40 brake pivot boss actually came in useful for something.
I've had second thoughts and remounted it on the fork crown. There's a tin bit of interference with the cable splitter but I'll see how it goes. I'll be field testing it tonight.
