Shifting Energies

Went to the mind, body spirit and well-being festival at Birmingham’s NEC on November 4th. I’d never been before, so had nothing to gauge it by but the atmosphere was inclusive, welcoming and, as you’d hope, positive.

Equipped with an open, enquiring mind, some products/services smacked of very expensive “snake oil” but that is the case with any large event, regardless of topic/interest. The majority of stall holders/practitioners appeared knowledgeable, qualified and genuine.

On the subject of products and potions, Rock N’ Roll’s UK distributor kindly sent Seven Day Cyclist www.Sevendaycyclist.com some samples for testing. One of the reasons, mild and relatively dry weather aside, why I’ve stuck with dry/emulsion preps, rather than opting for something wet.

Unfortunately, seasonal pilfering seems to have begun early. Despite being in the office, project managing a refit, the (presumably) casual postie claimed I had rejected the consignment…Hmmm.

Elsewhere and as the days draw shorter, well prepped bikes and lighting becomes increasingly important https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/winter-wonderland-one  https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/in-the-blink-of-an-eye .Thanks to the ubiquity of COB (Chips on board) technology, where LEDs and placed directly atop printed circuit boards, even relatively small capacity lights are becoming increasingly intense.

I’m also warming to the trend for steady/pulsing settings on blinkies, which combine a fairly modest steady setting-20-lumens, or thereabouts, with a more extrovert flashing cycle-typically 50/70lumens. Paired with a “proper” front light, these seem to hold the attention of other traffic, say when entering the flow of traffic.

I’m putting a Bush & Muller IQ Eyro 39 Lux front light through its paces for another, very popular title.

It looks just like a traditional dynamo light, to the point, I was looking for the connectors! However, it’s powered by an integral lithium ion cell, which has two, steady modes.

The highest is 30lux, the lowest 10. Interestingly, the lens and reflector are engineered in such a way as to project a generally pure, “carpet” of light at close range, which was much better than I was expecting in the navigational sense.

Unlit backroads still call for a fair bit more than 30lux, 80 is nearer the mark, especially if 18 to 23mph is to be a realistic tempo on the flatter sections, let alone faster descents.

Along the lanes, the Eyro feels underpowered, rather than impotent-12-15mph is pretty much tops, 23mph seems realistic through suburban and better lit, semi-rural contexts.

Bush & Muller reckon its’ good for 5hours plus, from a full mains charge- potentially a week’s commuting or so, for some. Though pretty disciplined when it comes to charging, I like auto-kick downs, where lights automatically default to the lowest setting, when the batteries’ reserves dip below a certain point. 

This ensures there’s always something to limp home on, even if we’re talking glimmer territory. Talking of which, even on the lowest 10 lux setting, output seems comparable with an old Lumotec lamp and Nexus dynohub combo that guided me through South London’s shadier districts for several years.

Generally speaking, 800-1200 lumens is my benchmark for unlit lanes. Leaving aside the auction site retina burners, these tend to produce a very pure, assertive arc that makes larger vehicles, SUVs in particular, pause for thought, rather than ploughing ahead.

The Eyro though pure and with reasonable peripheral bleed is comparatively tame. This has seen a few drivers take a more aggressive stance, muscling through and creating tighter gaps, not to mention potentially more danger.

A moot point with more powerful commuter systems, even those packing a modest 650lumens, or so. Observation, though possibly confirmation bias suggests a tendency for those drivers, without other licences to substitute skill with greater aggression.

By the same token, I used to buy into the belief that Black Cab drivers were better drivers. Many years’ experience in the capital and other cities has led me to conclude, they are simply better regulated and undeniably, superior navigators.

Back to lighting, thankfully, most high power systems staircase downwards to 150-200lumens.

More than enough, most of the time for well-lit city and suburban contexts and conserves juice too (although I have been known to crank it up to 300/400 when it’s particularly gloomy, or I’m competing with seasonal, neon malaise). Daylight modes aside, thundering through the town with 1000lumens is not only unnecessary but aggressive and alienates other road users.

The same goes for high output rear blinkies 50-60lumens is brilliant for murky nights and/or unlit backwaters but taking other factors, such as lens and size into account 15/20lumens (maybe 30 in  constant mode) is pretty much optimum, especially in slower moving/rush hour traffic. Dip as you would expect another for you…Talking of which, my reserves are dwindling now, so off to tend kettle and investigate the fridge.