So pop over and show some support.

Cheers

Cateye EL-410

As the daily commute is getting darker and darker, I have been more and more concious about the drawbacks of my current commuting light, the Cateye EL-410.

My commute is only 4km each way, but some of the roads are pretty rough with some hefty potholes and badly set drains. As the bike is subjected to periods of strong vibration, it highlights a glaringly obvious problem with the EL-410; and that’s the quick release band mount. I thought that having a quick release band was a good idea at first, but having to constantly tilt the light back up every 500 yards is a real pain in the arse, especially with lobster hand winter gloves on. I went to the Cateye website and found that they supply the H-33 Commuter Bracket for the EL-410 as an accessory; so I purchased one to steady the light. The bracket is excellent and does its job very well, but the amount of light from the EL-410 is still pretty diffuse and disappointing. As such, I was looking for a cheap replacement “be seen” light with a sturdy mount… and so far I believe I found one.

I bought the Raleigh Special Products LAA883 on ebay for £16.99 with free delivery. There was a few people selling it for less, but every time I followed the link, they were out of stock (don’t you just hate it when shops do that!). The light arrived last weekend, and I slotted in the 4 X AAA batteries and, as advised on Bike Radar, I greased the seal before closing to ensure a water tight fit.

The first thing that strikes me is that the light feels quite solid and weighty as does the mount. The mount is excellent compared to the Cateye band system and can still be removed easily with gloves using the thumb screw. The bracket is shimmed with two pieces of rubber and the sturdy thumb screw bites down on the clamp with reassuring tension. The light unit then slides into the slot on the top of the mount, and here’s where you have to be careful. Sometimes it feels like its been slotted home fully but it isn’t; so make sure you give it a final push, and pull forward to test it has been seated properly.

RSP LAA883 Front Light

While riding the light stays absolutely solid, and there’s no more slowly rotating round the handlebars as the bike vibrates. It has two modes, constant and flashing and run time is meant to be  150 hours on flash, and I have no reason to doubt that. The light itself is very bright and easily lights up road signs from 100 + yards away but doesn’t dazzle the rider. It may be my over active imagination, but I noticed more drivers reacting to my presence further away and some looked a bit dazzled when they came closer. Not a bad result for a £17 5 LED light.

The beam pattern has a good centre focus with four light bands emanating from the centre in an ‘X’ shape. The bands are a bit useless, but they do give some extra light left and right. Although the light is very bright, its a little dim for unlit lanes and bike paths; however it would work if you were going slow enough.

The body lens, which is placed 20mm back into the body, also throws a large amount of light outward, especially onto the rider and bike to help side visibility. Upon further inspection, the body lens isn’t just a clear section that runs flat along the body like the Cateye. The lens flares out towards the front, which is probably why light easily travels backwards and onto the rider.

Flared Body Lens Projects Light Backwards

All in all this is an excellent front light for the money. Its bright, sturdy, good run time and very cheap. I’ve only ridden with it a few times in the rain, but one shower was very heavy and the light seemed fine, thanks to the rubberised switch cover and greased seal. The only drawback I have noticed is the vagueness of the light’s click when seated in the bracket, but as long as you double check before riding, that shouldn’t be a problem.

So; if you are looking for a cheap ‘be seen’ commuter light the RSP LAA833 is definitely recommended.

Sustrans UK

I was reading through the latest Sustrans issue of ‘The Hub’ when a story about a 99 year old cyclist called Horace Sanders caught my eye. Its not just because Horace is 99 and still cycles, but a few paragraphs into the article he jogged my memory regarding the ‘bikes on trains’ issue. Horace said:

“During summer holidays my family could load their luggage and bicycles in the guards van on the train. I don’t understand why its now so difficult to take bikes on trains.” He continued later in the article to say: “Also, when, if ever, are our trains going to have better facilities for taking bicycles? How crude can we get, when bicycles and passengers are enmeshed together at the entrance to passenger coaches?!”

In my opinion the above quote is a great advert for experience over so called rational logic. Sure, its logical to provide more paying seats on trains and employ less staff to keep prices down; but are you limiting you customer base by removing sought after storage facilities?

During the 70′s and 80′s I remember people taking bikes, luggage and other large packages on the trains, utilising the guards van. I even saw people brining large TV’s and other such goods home on trains, especially at Christmas. I did the Glasgow to Ayr bicycle fun run a few times, and on the way back there was always 20 odd bicycles stored in the cage in the Guards van. Why was this facility taken away, and if it was removed for good reason why cant it it be brought back for one?

A similar issue was raised by Channel fours John Snow on his snowblog, and describes the rather bemusing regulations train operators impose. In john’s article he even mentions that fact that some American tourists were being refused entry onto the train because they had bicycles. Imagine what tourists must think of our rail system! Its slow, unreliable, dirty, smelly and now impractical for anyone carrying anything larger than a rucksack!

The reason I can’t see this as a step in the right direction is that it seems to miss the point of better cycling facilities within cities and suburbs. I am aware that point of view is a narrow one, but let me run through some reasoning.

Firstly; schemes like this work in Denmark, as they already have the bike infrastructure to support journeys to the station by bicycle. These hub’s came about as a way to encourage people to leave their bikes at the station, as opposed to taking them on the train. As you can see, this is an entirely different problem than we have in the UK. Right now; we cant even get the bikes to the station.

Secondly; in some parts of Britain, you may have to walk 2 or more miles from the train station to your place of work. If this is the case, then that’s when you really want to have a bicycle with you, not in a bike rack at your home town. In these situations you would need to have facilities such as Velib to fill this gap; which once again exist in the Netherlands but not in the UK.

Finally; with the price of train transportation constantly on the rise; the almost yearly deterioration of service and already severe overcrowding problems in carriages, should we be considering the train as a viable mode of transport for the future? Do i need to point out again that the rail infrastructure in Denmark is far superior to anything we have in the UK?

To put this simply, it can be said that the Netherlands introduced the cycle parking schemes at train stations because they needed to provide better parking facilities for the already huge numbers of bikes left at stations by commuters, who used the efficient trains and arrived there safely using excellent cycle specific transport infrastructure. This is not the issue we have in Britain, and definitely not the same situation.

I think that London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, has a far better way of pushing Britain’s cycling revolution with his ‘Cycling Superhighways’ idea, as it recognises that a bicycle is a very practical alternative to expensive & unreliable trains or buses. It also recognises that once people are cycling more, that you need to provide facilities such as secure bike parking facilities everywhere, but not just at train stations.

Bowery at the "Swan Pond".

This is my main commuting bike, a 2008 Giant Bowery. Its stock with exception of the bars, stem and brake set.

I run 73.1″ fixed, which is a bit spinney on the flats but great for the ride home after 8 hours walking up and down a factory.

The forks shown here have now been changed to some Columbus Tusk’s. This was due to some sloppy crown race installation by Giant at the factory. Briefly speaking, they glued the crown race off centre which resulted in major headset creak, and eventually the collapse of the bottom bearing cup. I tried removing the factory installed crown race but it was glued solid, so I opted for the quicker and less troublesome solution of fork replacement. One thing I will say is that its the last time I will buy a bike with a semi-integrated headset! They are total sh*te!