CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
Well done to ALL posters
It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
RULES No personal insults. No swearing.
I headed home about 19h15 last night in the pre-rain gloom. First time I've put the lamps on the bike. Can winter be far away? Can the Reaper be far away? Always makes me sad that one, just like the first home commute without them makes me an inch taller.
In other news I sorted my creaking left hand pedal, which has cheered me up a bit.
Used mine for first time on Monday morning. Not a regular occurrence yet, but will be soon enough. Can time each day so I'll get 1 way in post dawn/twilight over winter, but the lack of vitamin D may lead to more lunch time rides.
I know it is not politically correct to be saying this on a website for which encouraging cycling is it's raison d'etre, but I do quite like it when the fair weather cyclists/walkers/dog-walkers shut up shop for winter- more room on paths and in changing rooms. And there is a recognition and unspoken bond between year-round commuters on the paths to/from Fife.
I do quite like it when the fair weather cyclists/walkers/dog-walkers shut up shop for winter
Yes and no. You know you're dealing with fellow nuts when you chat at lights/in changing rooms, but I'm still glowing from the memory of the lady in a long summer dress taking her toddler for a ride in Dalkeith on a Dutch bike.
there is a recognition and unspoken bond between year-round commuters on the paths to/from Fife
true that - yet its more of a snarl and grimace, for the lumen-abusers in our midst
Winter is coming.
Robert
"Winter is coming."
So is spring :)
@IWRATS
Yes and no... etc.
Agreed, part of the variety that makes year round cycling so appealing.
I've needed my lights for later returns along the canal for a couple of weeks now. I was particularly annoyed by the Very Bright Brigade the week the light was just good enough to cycle the canal path by - a lovely twilight. However now it is darker I'm finding that my "be-seen" lights don't illuminate pedestrians well enough and so I'll revert to the road.
Yeah, you really need a good light for the canal in these post-landing strip times. Back in the day I sometimes used to switch off my front light and enjoy moonlight, but now I'm always trying to see if any of the lights up ahead are being eclipsed by man or dog, and a 'be seen' light would definitely make me nervous!
Do people not just find that wearing a cap (or peaked helmet?) solves all oncoming light problems?
I just tilt my head forward slightly so that the cap covers up oncoming lights, but I can still see all the area of ground that my own lights are shining on, so it's fine.
It was more that on that particular evening the light was just enough that you could ride the towpath without artificial light, so I thought the very bright lights were pointless. When I got back on the road I turned my lights on!
If I were still using the canal to commute, I'd use one of these;
http://problemsolversbike.com/products/quick_release_nut_light_mount
to get the photon cannon lowered a bit. Nobody ever squawked at me, but it's a tricky balance between spotting ninjas and popping eyeballs.
I have swung toTally in favour of caps, no helmet hair, absorb sweat. I do like to wear them like a peaky blinder but the latest one I have you could but the brim back down to stop being blinded.
Do people not just find that wearing a cap solves all oncoming light problems?
A cap helps but its not a cure-all
Say you're coming down a rural hill path with the abuser heading up the way
You don't want to be looking down to avoid their evil death ray
Nah you want to be keeping an eye on the offender as they'll probably have poor bike handling skills over and above their obscene lumenophile tendencies
Hanging's too good for them
@IWRATS neat. I never did take you up on your offer to build me a spare front wheel with dynamo hub for winter.
I can anecdotally but heartily recommend everyone fitting and leaving a dynamo set on year round. I feel like I'm noticed in wing and rear view mirrors rather more than I would expect to be.
@jdanielp
A man's word is his bond. Transmit to me a rim, a hub, some tape and spoke money and it shall be so.
I can anecdotally but heartily recommend everyone fitting and leaving a dynamo set on year round. I feel like I'm noticed in wing and rear view mirrors rather more than I would expect to be.
+1 this is what I've been doing the last two or three years. Makes a big difference when it gets busy and you're doing a lot of passing IMO.
However, you will find that people shout at you for your light being too bright. (Even in midsummer sunshine). I guess unlike in winter you don't get to confirm the horizontal cutoff is right every day when riding through unlit areas, but that's not the problem in my experience. I use it as a baseline for winter - if more than the odd crank shouts at me then there's probably an actual issue!
Have been getting up at 5 and doing an hour before breakfast. I'm in the country and it's pitch black with no lights when I leave, so I upgraded my old Cateye 'just about bright enough for the canal in winter' light to a Trelock LS950 this week. So far has proved to be a brilliant light. Has a very defined light box and is bright enough to see every bump and crack up the road in front. Cars coming the other way dip their headlights immediately so I'm guessing they see it as a 'bright' light and not just some numpty on a bike. With the Cateye most drivers didn't bother dipping their headlights which I have discovered is most uncomfortable on a recumbent.
The Trelock adheres to German law so the cutoff means drivers are not dazzled despite being a very bright light. Canal riders with your light cannons burning out everybody else's retinas, pay heed!
I was precontemplative about a dynamo recently. Looked at a couple of options. Was told the Dynamo is tough on the rims? Is that right?
So what's the best dyno (for disc):?
Schmidt/SON or the SP (at roughly half the price of the SON) ???
Was told the Dynamo is tough on the rims? Is that right?
I don't see why.
So what's the best dyno (for disc):?
Personally for the weight to cash I'd get shimano.
Got a Shimano alfine (disc) dyno for my new bike. Such joy.
We've got a shimano, sturmey and two SP dyno hubs in the fleet. The SP ones are nice but bog standard shimano is totally fine, and has held up over a few winters. (I think the bearings are hard for the LBS to service without snapping some wires or something, with Shimano ones).
Used a dynamo on Brompton I cycled home tonight. Bottle type that runs on the tyre. Noisy but good light. Brompton up ravelrig hill was not funny. Thinking if having a Brompton folding competition at Balerno farmer's market on Saturday, involving prizes sponsored by EBC. Along with smoothie machine cycle and nifty electric bike.
Do people not just find that wearing a cap (or peaked helmet?) solves all oncoming light problems?
On the roads, in the wintertime drizzle, in a torpedo, no. :-(
a Brompton folding competition
My record at Biketrax last year was 7.49 seconds I think. It's hard to imagine how to shave off another two seconds, but apparently it can be done.
Brompton folding - my record so far is did not finish
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