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.
