L&M NiMh battery in Bento Box?
 

Waiting for my L&M to come in the mail <pace><drool>.

Since I need to stop and chain the bike up on almost all the rides I take, I was wondering whether the NiMh battery fits in a bento box. It would be a big relief to just have the extra cable and battery snug to the frame, without interfering with the cable (underside of top tube has the cable on it), and with relative ease of removal.

Any experience trying this?

I've got an L&M Solo Li-Ion and it would fit fine in the boxes I've seen. But I use a bag that came with a $40 light from Princeton Tec for mine.

The frame mounted battery is about the size of a hot dog. No worries there.

I'm a little stunned that I ended up buying the light... this is the LAST dime getting spent this year :)

I got a cygolite dual cross, and then when the price dropped from 379 to 349 (add in the extra 20% off and 10% back) I just sort of impulse purchased the ARC. Yow.

Not sure whether I'll keep the cygolite to use on the commuter and the L&M for more pitch black rides on the road bike, but I feel like I've lost my mind a bit.

The cygolite is great, but with the streetlights and the contrast there are spots where things don't stand out as much as I'd like. Oddly, I think the dual cross would almost be better in full darkness where it isn't competing with all the other light sources.

We'll see...

If you're talking about a large sized bento box it won't fit exactly. The listed dimensions for the large sized bento box are 5x3.25x1.25. So your diagonal length is just under 6 inches. The NiMH battery is listed as 6x2x1.5 inches. I tried sticking it into the bento box and the velcro will not fasten entirely over the battery. I'd be a little concerned about the battery bouncing out of the bento box and falling as you ride over a large bump or pothole. You could of course add some velcro straps to alleviate this issue.

The L&M batttery is really easy enough to take off and put on. It's one velcro strap. It takes less than a minute.

I owuld hold off buying any accessories to mount it until you see how easy it is to mount. I have a feeling once you see it yourself, you will leave it as is and be happy with it.

There's a lid on the bento box that velcros over... I don't know if you meant adding additional velcro on top of that?

Yes. For a $100+ battery I'm not willing to trust the velcro on the bento box alone as you can NOT close it entirely with the battery in there diagonally. I can just see that thing flying out after I hit one of the famous Boston potholes at half speed even.

Also the OP has cables running on the under side of his top tube. I have my cables running on the top of the top tube so I can actually velcro the battery to the top tube and still have my rear derailleur and brake cables slide through the velcro. However the rubber contact surface for the battery will likely create an issue with the bottom sided cables.

Most often I mount my battery to the seat tube just above the second water bottle holder since I only use 1 bottle on my commute.

Mount the light to your helmet and put the battery in your camelback.

Oh come on, you know you cant make it the next 3 weeks without another bike related purchase :D

Just got the light delivered today. Got the battery charged up, and holy COW this thing is bright. There's the little bit of a center spot, but the evenness of the light is just awe-inspiring.

I think I'm going to keep the Cygolite for multiple errand runs, but the L&M battery does definitely work fine in the bento box. The bump of the single cell on the bottom of the battery pack seems to hold it firmly in the bento box enough that I'm not too worried if I do run it on the bars. The helmet mount is definitely very cool, might just keep it there so that I can use it seamlessly between the two different bikes (commuter+road).

I can't believe it, but this might have been a pile of money well-spent. The legends were all true!

I strap my L&M NiMH battery right on top of my stem, easy as anything.

I tell no lies, my friend... so far I think you're the 5th person in brooklyn to have the ARC from here.

I feel like Andy Rooney when he says "Did you ever notice that......"

In general on the forums the conversation often starts out with HID lights costing too much or that they may not perform that much better.

It almost always ends with........

Enjoy your new light superslomo. :beer:




http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/3817/ebccpr5.jpg

I took a ride with it helmet mounted the other night, and definitely took a route that I would not have previously felt comfortable riding in the dark. People changed their minds about left turns, or pulling out of parking spaces when the spot hit their mirrors or windows.

Also, the folks jogging on the path around Prospect Park moved over onto the grass as if a car was coming. I kept a blinkie on the handlebar just for good measure if I was looking in a different direction. It's so worth it, as long as I don't have to tell anyone who doesn't ride how much it costs :D

I'd keep it on the bike, I mean, in the city, when you're flashing joggers and drivers in the face at distances of closer than 20-30ft, it can seriously blind you for a minute or two. At least on the bike, I always have it pointed relatively straight forward, another problem is that if you're looking to the left, WHAM! doored from the right or run over by a car pulling out of a parking spot cause your light was facing the wrong way.
It's also a potential liability. A blinker, they can argue in court that it was lost in the glare of the other lights, and your HID, bright as it may be, they can claim was pointed in the wrong direction cause you were looking the wrong way.

I find it's best when you don't need to "see" around corners, to have the strobe on your head to attract attention where you look and the bright light fixed, like a vehicle. Also, mount it upside down on your bars, the lower angle creates more depth of field and also protects the light in the event of an accident.

It's the only helmet mounted option that I have, so until another mount comes in the mail or otherwise I'm a bit low on options. I'm thinking I'd prefer it on the bars in one sense, but it is useful to be able to spot out details on the road ahead with the brighter light... I'm going to try it both ways, see what works best.

I think this is a good suggestion for riding on the road. In my state it is illegal to point a light into the face of a driver too. When one first starts out with a helmet light it takes a little practice to not look into someones face by accident. There is another rider around here that used to blind me all the time. Now he has learned to do better.

You killed him didn't you.

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: