Lighter Moments

Unnerving creaking from my Univega’s post region prompted a swift dismount but turned out to be little more than a loosening cradle bolt. Easily silenced with a lick of grease and nipped tight with a 4mm Allen key. 100miles in and the wonder metals’ unique, subtle zing adds to the machine’s already compliant ride, saving a few grams over a 6061 model too.

Another box of goodies arrived on my doorstep this week, hence, this Bontrager flare R city tail light clings limpet fashion below the increasingly indispensible Cycliq fly 6 https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/cycliq-fly-6-camera-and-rear-light . 

This little blinkey boasts a total of 35 lumens and has daylight and two night time flashing settings. “Intelligent” systems that automatically kick down once battery reserves plateau is pretty commonplace these days but sensors that adjust the beam’s intensity according to lighting conditions are also becoming mainstream.

For such a small light, visibility is pretty impressive- reckoned to be around the 400 metre mark. 

My own experience suggests this is likely to be on open roads and clear nights. So far, I’ve only been running it during daylight hours but have been pleasantly surprised by its potency. The positive top-mounted switch is easily commanded in full-finger gloves and its dimensions are perfect for pared to the essentials road and TT builds.   

I wouldn’t want to be following at close quarters in the flashing setting, say on a group ride and I generally prefer models with greater surface area for town work but let’s see what the coming weeks and different riding contexts reveal.

Up front comes this Cygolite dash 450, which as its name implies is a compact 450 lumen model, very much of the commuter plus genre i.e. capable of delivering enough bite for semi-rural navigational work on the one hand but with a wide range of town-friendly settings.

Years spent riding trails and back roads in the dead of night have meant a definite leaning towards big guns that belt out 1000 lumens plus. That said I’ve become increasingly partial to these and similarly unobtrusive designs that have enough wallop for those spring/summer evenings when that hour’s blast on the best bike has transitioned into two.

True, most blinkies in flashing modes usually provide enough presence in the seen-by sense and for contingencies but I prefer a proper light, something around the 350lumen mark running alongside in these contexts.  

The Cygolite boasts 7 settings, four night modes and three for daylight, which should cater for most contexts, save for dead of night and quoted run times between 1hr 15 and 70hrs. Build quality is pretty solid throughout at the bracket allows some adjustment, which is a boon when affixing to moustache bars and others, with less useable real-estate. 

This sample has been playing backing singer to my Univega’s Exposure Revo dynamo system, which for my purposes and the machines four seasons’ hell n’ high water design brief is indispensible.

Back to the Cygolite; the rubbery centre mounted switch cum battery life indicator is ideally positioned and easy to use in middle-weight gloves and on the fly. The top row of 4 LEDS has a slightly dated feel on the one hand given the increasing ubiquity of COB technology.

However, the combo works on the basis (one that I happen to subscribe to) that in most riding contexts, drivers tend to notice a pulsing/flashing set up first. Formative impressions are quite favourable when run in overcast daylight.

Experience with this genre suggests these are fine for longer commutes/rides with a mixture of city/suburban and shorter semi rural sections. Again, several weeks in different contexts may reinforce, or refute this opinion...

Staying with lighting, I’ve always been drawn to integrated systems, higher end hub gearing and dynamos in particular, especially for touring and four seasons’ working bikes.

Giant has extended this principle to its Strive helmet. I’ve always been impressed with Giant’s level of specification, not to mention their TCR concept, which arguably normalised semi/compact geometry road bikes back in the late 90s. Look closely and you’ll notice there’s a branded fascia that pops away to reveal a magnetic plate. This is specifically designed with their Numen Plus Link tail light in mind.

The NPL is a four mode, 20lumen model with a quoted 5 hour run time in its lowest setting. It uses COB (Chips on Board) technology, where diodes are mounted directly aboard the circuit board, saving production time and optimising output.

Another neat feature is the auto on/off sensor that works in the same way as a Shimano dynamo switch, reacting to the light levels and automatically turning the light on/off.

20 lumens sounds tame given the lumens race but given it’s positioning, anything more potent is likely to dazzle and alienate approaching traffic. All things being equal and save for really foggy contexts 15-35lumens are sufficiently potent for most conditions and from a generous distance too.

The NPL charges via magnetic USB system, reminiscent of one Blackburn employed on their flea a few years back, although much easier. Connect light to base via the magnets and the plug the USB cable into the mains/PC/Laptop port.  Talking of laptops, time I gave mine some down time and headed out to test some more goodies.