Rural Roadie

I can't believe this topic now has 200 postings, and I have read them all, definatly geeky.

vrkelley

Well there are *only* 200 posts...but look how many Views! Sheesh there are alot more geeks on this site than people will admit

RainmanP

Kat,
I will be posting pics when I have a little more done. My headlight still looks the same as the pic I already posted except that I moved the switch to the battery box. I finally found brackets for some additional taillights I want to mount. Had to special order through NAPA Auto Parts store. I will probably have them in a couple of weeks. THEN I think I will have something pretty interesting to show you. Meanwhile I am REALLY enjoying this home brewed setup already.
Regards,
Raymond

vrkelley

Pictures? Did someone say pictures?
This may take more than one post. So here goes...

Side View...I'm a believer in low profile equipment. Can you find the headlight and battery**********

vrkelley

OK so you can't see the battery- cuz it's in that seat post
bag. This picture shows the bag opened up and batteryinside.
The white bar is just reflectant tape that comes with the
JANDD bag.

vrkelley

Brake light and turn signal are Euro ClipBrite--notice the rubberband to
hold the light against it's own connector..read previous posts for
comments on those.

Here are the battery components and connector. I used an extra
recharger cap and wire as a connector between the battery and the
switch.

This stuff is sitting on a waterproof 17X20 homemade trunk that holds
briefcase etc.

vrkelley

When the battery and connector sit in the bag it looks like this.

To recharge, the connector slides off the top and the battery
goes in it's recharger. See previous posts for the parts list
and prices.

vrkelley

Toward the bottom of the screen is the waterproof toggle switch and
wiring. My wires are too long and bundled on the right. Those will have
to be shortened.

This picture shows lots of rain stains...Seattle what can I say. The red
switch on the handle bar is the Euro running, brake, and turn signal
which moans miserably in the rain. Any comments on how to waterproof
that one would be welcome.

vrkelley

Many thanks esp. to Pete and Ray for encouraging me.
Caution: To anyone who attempts this, you will be working with
DC power but you can still get a hefty shock. Proceed with caution.

vrkelley

Opps here's the headlight itself after a few runs. It's a
35W Sylvania bulb but looks harmless here! These pictures
don't do the headlight justice.

XtalMan

OhioH,

Where did you get the battery holders? I've been looking online for ones that will hold 12 AA cells like that, without success.

OhiOH

I glued a 4 and an 8 together end-to-end. That was somewhat of a challenge. I tried several types of glue: epoxy, epoxy made for PVC, PVC glue for plumbing, super glue. Finally I tried 'Liquid Nails' brand of super-super glue (Home Depot). I roughed up the ends, put plenty of glue on both side, stuck them in my vice and left them set for 24 hours. So far, so good.

If you build one of these you need to wire the terminals in series. I attempted to solder wires at 1st, but am not good enough at it to keep from melting the plastic. I ended up buying 4 9 volt connectors from Radio Shack and attaching two to each end, one to the ‘-‘ and one to the ‘+’. I have a crude wiring diagram if you would like it.

It has been working great, it survived this this morning:

RainmanP

vr,
Excellent stuff! And a homemade trunk! I wish I could sew (stop laughing you guys). I want to make a hood for my rear light setup and waterproof cozy for my battery box. (OK, NOW you can laugh.) Actually, I want them more for camouflage during my day rides than for water resistance. All the electicals are sufficiently weather resistant.

Somewhere in the back of my mind has been to rig turn signals and brake lights. Where can you get the Euro Clip switch? BTW, unless the switch gets hot, I would just slip a baggie over it held in place with a rubber band. That will keep the rain off of it and still allow you to see the buttons. Do the red buttons glow so you can see them in the dark?

This morning a couple of roadies I have gotten to know through occasional early morning encounters caught up with me, joking "Damn, somebody would need sunglasses to ride behind those lights!" I said "Yeah, but you saw me, didn't you? AND I don't ride this bike in a paceline." Besides, what they don't know is that these taillights pale compared to the one I will be adding soon.

randall t

For turn and brake lights you can get the Avenir or clipbrite i just bought both to look at them and decide on the one for me i ordered the Avenir from www.bicyclebuys.com 14.99$ and arrived in three days i ordered the clipbrite the same day and got it just short of six weeks and a lot of phone calls/emails almost daily www. clipbrite2000.net/beamer-2000.htm both use the same brake switch that is easy to install the clipbrite looks a little nicer,i installed the Avenir.both have a sound signal when the turn signal is on both light the brake light with out turning on the unit,i think the Avenir is brighter both have 7 leds.i just installed it so i am not sure about longevety. Randall

vrkelley

Ha ha! Good one on those roadies! You can get some really good fabric glue (I think from those old time sporting goods stores that sell fishing stuff). It bonds well but you there's no chang'n your mind!

Here's the URL for those cool - but poor working lights https://www.clipbrite2000.net/beamer_2000.htm
They attach to the seat post but I didn't feel that was safe esp with drivers who have depth perception problems. So I made my own hidden bracket from a plumbing T and attached it with zip ties to the trunk. PVC is painted black so it looks good. cool looking lights but their wiring connector is weak. Go over a bump and the L. Turnsignal comes on etc. I painted the Red switch that you saw in the prev pictures, because the switch was too hard to see at nite. Also there's a speaker hole in the top that took on water. A wasted $20

The brake sensor usually works and DOES help with traffic.

As for turnsignals, it's wise to have them to signal longer. But there seems no place to put them esp on the front of the bike. I'm sure turn signals could actually prevent accidents at some intersections.

RainmanP

Hmm. Actually, if I go all the way and do the brake/turn thing I will be using truck lights with 48 to 61 LEDs. These babies are SERIOUSLY bright. The two comparatively wimpy marker lights that impressed the roadies are only 8 LEDs each, but I do like the fact that they have reflector lenses so even if the lights aren't on they have significant visibility value. But then I have plenty of reflective material. Besides I have two commuter bikes so the existing lights won't go to waste. This is just a prototype setup. I have the two current lights mounted on an 18 inch aluminum bar. This is about as wide as motorcycle lights so with the more powerful stop/turn/tail lights should be wide enough to be effective for turn signals. I may wind up cobbling together my own turn and brake actuators from auto parts or momentary switches mounted on or near the brake levers. Still conceptualizing while I await my mounting brackets.

vrkelley

[QUOTE=RainmanP]Hmm. Actually, if I go all the way and do the brake/turn thing I will be using truck lights with 48 to 61 LEDs. These babies are SERIOUSLY bright. The two comparatively wimpy marker lights ... This is just a prototype setup. I have the two current lights mounted on an 18 inch aluminum bar. This is about as wide as motorcycle lights so with the more powerful stop/turn/tail lights should QUOTE]

Ditto. I'm basically copying everything seen on a smaller cycle because the motorcycle companies have put alot of effort into preventig accidents. Too bad the cycling industry doesn't wake up. Judging by the number of views in this post, people have to KLUDGE to get a realistic setup that doesn't fall off while commuting.

Is that 18" bar 3/8" in diameter? Or smaller?

EDITED: The problem with such a tiny switch is it's hard to carefully turn it to the setting while braking and looking. The switch would almost have to be a lever like a car. Saw on the Mechanics forum that somebody combined brakes on one handle. What if the other handle was open for turnsignals? **********? Not sure if that'd work here because we're at the foothills of the Cascades and accurate braking is a must.

XtalMan

OhiOH,

Thanks for the recap. I'm going to try to take advantage of everyone's experience here and come up with a simple, one headlight system. I just ordered the Optronics lights, and I'll try to imitate your PVC battery container system. I'm looking at using the 6-cell inline AA battery holders from allelectronics.com, hopefully it'll fit my needs. The xenon rear light I'll look into incorporating at a later date, once I'm happy with the front light setup.

RainmanP

My rear light bracket is made of 1/8" by 1 1/2" aluminum bar. Below is a pic. It is a bit crude because I made it in a hurry one day. I plan to refine it a bit, straight up crooked cuts, add reflective material to the mount itself, etc.. The pic illustrates the reflective lenses of the 8-LED marker lights from LED-R-US. These lights only draw 0.03 amps, practically nothing. They are probably fine for bicycle commuting, but I will be adding much brighter lights.

I couldn't resist including my helmet and some Glo Glov traffic gloves. The lower part of the helmet is blue. I cut blue 3M Scotchlite to fit the blue surfaces. Since it is almost exactly the same color blue as the helmet it is not noticable in daylite but adds a little more reflectivity in the dark. The Glo Glovs were designed for policemen directing traffic. The gloves are one size fits all lycra that easily fit over cycling gloves even on my largish hands. The back of each glove, left in the pic, has a reflective high visibility green triangle and finger patche while the palm, right in the pic, has a reflective red triangle. They seemed like a good idea for signalling and additional visibility. Since I have only had them a couple of days I'm still not sure they are worthwhile. I will try to remember to post a report in a few weeks.

vixen2yall

YAAAAAAAAA he finally posted a picture. he finally posted a picture... *does the snoopy dance...*

i'm teasing ya rain. sorry i've been waiting to see your set up for a while. looks very nice i might add. wish i was electronicly inclinded... but i'm not. i'm surprised if i can hook my batteries up w/ the right polarity.

ordered in some side lights last night.

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...d=71&pagename=

figure every little bit helps. i'll let ya all know how well they work when i get them in and play w/ 'em.

cheers
kat

RainmanP

Kat,
Sorry for the wait. I really wanted to refine the bracket some before I posted pics, but I just haven't had time to fool with it. I will post more later when I have improved the setup some.
Regards,
Raymond

vrkelley

[QUOTE=RainmanP]My rear light bracket is made of 1/8" by 1 1/2" aluminum bar. Below is a pic. The pic illustrates the reflective lenses of the 8-LED marker lights from LED-R-US. These lights only draw 0.03 amps, practically nothing. They are probably fine for bicycle commuting, but I will be adding much brighter lights.

[QUOTE]

WOW! You won't need an orange flag to keep 'em from coming too close. 'cept for those roadies...they'll probably come by with video-cams on their helmets!

vrkelley

randall,
The clipbrite switch looks just like the other light you ordered! I'm posting the Avenir 'cuz they look so similar- so people know what we're talking about. Switch (top of picture) didn't fit my regular handlebars so I used a zip tie to strap it on. Also you'll need to cover the speaker hole in the top so it doesnt' fill up with water.

Then the wire connector that holds the light fell off before I even left the driveway, leaving the light swinging into the spokes. If you learn of a way to keep it connect please post the solution here. The switch box still looks good so I'll probably have to make my own connector to the light housing.

RainmanP

vr,
Where is the brake sensor mounted? Under a lever? Under a caliper?
Thanks,
Raymond

randall t

The Avenir is boxer ,the clipbrite has nice curves,both have 7 leds the Avenir seems brigher,but the clipbrite might need new batterys i used the one supplied.both have the same handlebar mounted switch and brake light sensor,the brake sensor is mounted on your brake inner cable and put in a position where a small movement of the inner cable the sensor hits a cable stop and presses the switch,i would not set it to close as you might bottom out the sensoe and break the sensor. i am not sure about your mounting problems the wire that goes to the unit should be on the bottom(speaker wire) there is a screw in the back side that your bracket will mount onto,this screw is black so its easy to miss,its is also inside a little square resess that when your mount is installed it keeps it from rotating,the mount clamps around your seat post, i mounted mine on a bracket i made that also holds my side flashers,let me know if you need any help, (one day i will learn to post photos)