Commuting - Dumb light question

I just got a Cygolite night rover.

I have only one bottle cage on one of my bikes.

Does anyone put the battery in a bag of some sort, and then attach it to their bike frame?

Or carry the battery in their messenger bag instead of a bottle cage?

Would anything bad happen as a result of either setup?

Why don't you get a cage that will attach to a frame without braze-ons? Several bike component companies sell them, including Zefal.

Buy a camelback.

Why don't you get a cage that will attach to a frame without braze-ons? Several bike component companies sell them, including Zefal.

The "Twofish" cage (http://www.twofish.biz/bike.html) also comes to mind.

The "Twofish" cage (http://www.twofish.biz/bike.html) also comes to mind.
I have that one. It works reasonably well. No matter how tight you make it a bottle and the cage still tend to rotate around the tube. For $8 though, it's hard to beat.

My water bottle holds a airzound on one bike. In the past I've used a camelback hydration pack to hold the cygolite battery. The light is mounted to my helmet. I now use a 8.4v RC pack to overvolt the cygolite, and have converted it's water bottle battery to run a rear dionette. It goes into a second water bottle holder on the seatpost.

I just got a Cygolite night rover.

I have only one bottle cage on one of my bikes.

Does anyone put the battery in a bag of some sort, and then attach it to their bike frame?

Or carry the battery in their messenger bag instead of a bottle cage?

Would anything bad happen as a result of either setup?

The old Cygolite setup I have came supplied with a nylon/velcro bag to hold the battery. The problem is that, over time, the contact points can develop wear through the paint on the top/down tubes due to the constant sway. But, the same happened with the contact points from my Zefal pump that I use along my seat tube.

I just got a Cygolite night rover.

I have only one bottle cage on one of my bikes.

Does anyone put the battery in a bag of some sort, and then attach it to their bike frame?

Or carry the battery in their messenger bag instead of a bottle cage?

Would anything bad happen as a result of either setup?

A bag on the bike would be a better solution. Putting the battery in a bag that you carry will require a longer lead. That lead could flap around and get caught in stuff or just be annoying since you'll have to move on the bike...like standing to stop or standing to pedal. You could put the battery in a bag on the rack...if you have one or use sticky back velcro to make a strap system to hold the battery to the seat stays. Or get a waterbottle cage for the seat or handlebars.

Alternatively, carry a Camelbak in winter for water (get an insulated tube for it which keeps the water liquid down to around 20F for an hour or so) and use your cage for the battery.

I attached a 2nd bottle cage to my bike for this very reason.

I used 3M double sticky tape (has some foam thickness to it) and two tie wraps. Held on solidly for over 2yrs - thru the heat of summer and freezing temps and rain. When I finally wanted to remove it I took the tie wraps off and had to pry it off.

You can see it here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=34647&d=1168978453

Al

The Zefal cage clamp is called the Gizmo. It only costs about $5. I used one for a while on my old Bianchi that only had bosses for one water bottle. It works fine and mine never slipped. Also, because it's made of nylon, you don't have to worry about rust.

http://www.xxcycle.com/php/_all/shop/gizmo_108.php

I picked up an old Necchi 523 workhorse sewing machine for this very purpose. My first project will be making a bag to hold a generic 5A-hr battery pack for an old Schwinn Mod headlight that originally came with a holder for 4 Alkaline D-cells.

After looking into it, sewing something like this up isn't all that hard.

I'll then be making a bag better suited to attaching a Marwi Elite battery pack to the frame. A few cable swaps and some battery pack shrink tube later, the Marwi will be equipped with the 5A-hr pack for its 12W spot beam and the Schwinn will have a tiny 4A-hr pack for its 10W intermediate beam.

I might even move on to making a custom trunk bag for the Blackburn Crossrack.

A bag on the bike would be a better solution. Putting the battery in a bag that you carry will require a longer lead. That lead could flap around and get caught in stuff or just be annoying since you'll have to move on the bike...like standing to stop or standing to pedal.
.

Or worse. I tried it in my messenger bag last night. Bad idea. Had the cord been about 1cm shorter, and had I tried to sit up, it would have pulled my bars to the right and put me on the ground.

I rigged a setup using a couple of straps and an old water bottle cage. Works real good, goes right behind my head tube.

Or worse. I tried it in my messenger bag last night. Bad idea. Had the cord been about 1cm shorter, and had I tried to sit up, it would have pulled my bars to the right and put me on the ground.

I rigged a setup using a couple of straps and an old water bottle cage. Works real good, goes right behind my head tube.

If you are carrying the bottle horizontally, you might want a safety strap to keep it from falling out. Bad thing to have a battery bouncing around your front wheel:eek:

My Cygolite battery lead was long enough to run it down the top tube and put the battery in my trunk bag or pannier. A couple of zip ties and I'm golden... (Because I couldn't POSSIBLY do without that third water bottle holder on my bike that won't fit a normal sized water bottle!)

I have a 6 volt 4.5 a/hr battery in a frame bag. The bag came with the NiteHawk Nomad Light. The bag was made to carrie 4 D cell batteries. But it's just the right size for the lead battery I got from Home Depot.

The twofish holder works a little better if you hang it from the top tube. It moves a little but it's not a problem up there. You do definetly need to use a safety strap. Make it a good strong strap and make it tight.

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/9397/hpim3445gk2.jpg

I've been thinking lately and I think I'm going to try to figure out a way to hang a bottle cage just in front of the handlebars, under the light. I have a smallish triangle and the bottle battery only fits in the bigger cage, and the smaller cage is only good for a very small water bottle.

I've been thinking lately and I think I'm going to try to figure out a way to hang a bottle cage just in front of the handlebars, under the light. I have a smallish triangle and the bottle battery only fits in the bigger cage, and the smaller cage is only good for a very small water bottle.

Here (http://www.minoura.jp/index-et.html) are some bottle brackets to give you some ideas. Cambria carries a lot of them.