rumrunn6

or do you compress your riding into the fewer daylight hours?

sjanzeir

Given where I live, to me it means more daytime rides as the weather gets milder and the sky clearer of haze fur the day, which means more exposure to the sunshine for some vitamin D and less air conditioning-induced allergies.

mdarnton

Lights, lights, more lights. Also less wind and a bit less traffic. It's good, though hard to get used to at first.

wolfchild

I`ve been using my lights a lot more. I continue to start my weekend rides at around 5 :30 AM, it doesn`t start getting light until almost 7:00 AM.

fooferdoggie 

More riding in the dark now after work. summer is nice I get home from work on my bike commute hop o the tandem and go for another ride dome home eat and go to bed. Now we have this.

mdarnton

LED strip lights... what a great idea! Just a couple of days ago I became aware that they come in USB powered versions! Campers use them for lighting at night.

gecho

I love night riding and winter gives me a lot more opportunities to do it. With snow I find I rarely need to run my lights on anything but low (though low is 800 lumens). Definitely need a helmet light for riding trails in unlit areas.

I started a ride at 1/4 to 8 in the morning yesterday and it was still dark. I rode in the dark most of last week because the days were warm and I was trying to ride while the roads were frozen.

rumrunn6

batteries, batteries, more batteries ... hahaha


wouldn't it be nice if their charge time was equal to their run time? it seems they take so much longer to charge, than they actually run for

sjanzeir

That's why I still run AAA-powered lights and buy batteries in bulk.

rumrunn6

fwiw - when I was running AA lights (when I was commuting) I used rechargeables like these Panasonic eneloop


they held up well & I kept a charger at work & at home so I was never w/o a charge

sjanzeir

I'm aware of their existence and I can easily grab a set from the neighborhood store or off of Amazon.sa. The issue is that I'm just too forgetful (not to mention too lazy ) to keep track of my device/battery charging duties. That, and the fact that our 14 cats (now 15, with our two-week house guest) seem to have an appetite for charger cables. Sometimes life's just easier the old-fashioned way. I ordered a box of 40 AAAs off of Amazon.sa for SAR40 (about $12) in June and I still haven't gone through even half of it yet.

rumrunn6

to thine own self be true

MNBikeCommuter

Ahhh, ancient technology I can relate to! My first LED light was back in 2004. It was "smart" and monitored battery voltage and would shut the light off when the NiMH batteries had had it.

I had a 1.5 hour commute to work, and it wasn't long into the fall that the batteries couldn't even make that trip. The light would shut down with 10 miles to go.

I finally figured it out: The light was monitoring battery voltage, and NiMH battery voltage drops as the temperature drops. So for leaving home at 32F, the voltage was just above the threshold to shut off, but depleted below the threshold on the way to work. That also explained why when I charged them at work, it didn't take long, as they had plenty of juice left!

rumrunn6

what is your solution? (to batteries in the cold) I'm, still thinking about what happened w/ 1 battery last night

I eventually switched to an external battery. I then wrapped it in bubble wrap & stuffed it in an empty water bottle, covered it w/ 2 plastic sandwich bags & a rubber band. I probably could have done better, but I didn't have an issue with the battery dying on my rides, in cold weather. don't see the rubber band in this old photo but I recall it was quite water proof

ironwood

My Kasai dynamo hub works great. It is always there and it doesn't need recharging. If it needs replacing however, I'll probably get a SON.. A side dynamo like the Velogical, which runs on the rim, not the sidewall, looks like an interesting alternative to a hub dynamo, but I have no experience with it. For years I used a sidewall generator on my utility bike, but they are considerd obsolete, but I think B& M still makes one.


Another thing I do in the winter is to put reflective velcro strips from Soms Fab on various places on the bike frame. I also wear a diagonal reflective strap and ankle bands


I also think that one of the most dangerous times to ride in the winter is a bright morning or late afternoon when the sun can blind a driver or another cyclist.. Cloudy days are much safer.


"There's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing."

MNBikeCommuter

I don't even remember what I did regarding that NiMH problem other than to live with it and continue to charge the batteries at work. Going home, I didn't need the light until the last few miles so they'd do all right. The light itself didn't like the cold (down to 0F) and didn't last all that long. It started buzzing, which wasn't a good sign. I switched to a Dinotte headlight with external Li battery, and did the same for the taillight (400R). The Li handles the cold better than the NiMH.

My first lights 30 years ago was a Vistalight 2-headlight system (10W halogens) and a 3lb 6V lead battery. It was under-powered for both lights at the same time so I had to use just one. And run time with a new battery was 1.5 hours and steadily declined, and worse in cold. LEDs with Li batteries are miraculous in comparison...

sjanzeir

Besides, if either of the two headlights or the taillight runs out of juice midride (which doesn't happen often) i can pick up AAAs for pennies at the nearest store and they'll last for weeks!

fooferdoggie 

it was 36 and snowing. rode but it was a pain the snow on my glasses making it harder to see. the snow on my chest was making me a bit cold plus that we were going slower and not working as hard.

Miele Man

Where I live it's dark early in the morning and it's dark again around 1700hrs (5PM) so I use a battery powered light with an external battery and a cable long enough that I can keep the battery inside my jacket where the battery stays nice and warm and thus keeps a charge to run the light, longer.

Batteries not running a light for nearly as long in the cold is why I stay away from internal battery lights. Besides I can switch out an external battery a lot easier.

Cheers

rumrunn6

so fun!

rumrunn6

in anticipation for tonight's nite-ride, last night, I got the bike out of the basement & put it on the car. this morning was bit frosty! glad I finally got around to lubing the drivetrain

MNBikeCommuter

I have not had a frosty bike like that in the garage or outside at work, but I HAVE had a bike sweat coming from an overly air-conditioned office into a hot and humid afternoon.

Eric F 

Shorter days and colder weather means more garage laps for me.

Miele Man

Sometimes going from a warm indoor environment to a cold outdoor environment can cause condensation inside things like brake or gear cables that can freeze them solid. Sometimes that will happen with a freewheel or freehub too.

Cheers

rumrunn6

tonight is the earliest sunset! from now on sunset, will get progressively later!

weatherman says the days are still getting shorter, until 12/21