mikep

Come on Morphix and Kitchenman (forget the kitchen lights) assist Lynda with the video technology so that we can all enjoy a ride though the Spanish countryside Mike

Shemozzle is correct firstly check that the connections are clean on each bulb. The next question is does each light fitting have a transformer, or do you have a number of lights being powered by a transformer/s?

Hi funkylyn Having read your post and steve.c's, I'm envious (terrible sin I know), but come on stop tempting us, buy a helmet cam and take the rest of us mere forum mortals on the ride! Mike

Thanks Flecc, I was just so stunned at a Pansonic battery for £200 I couldn't finish the sentance! Mike

Lemmy Panasonic 10a/h for £200? Where? Regards Mike

Having read the updated posts relating to Brooks saddles, I went onto their web side and saw this link to testimonials from 1937! It makes for amusing reading. I wonder if my gel saddle will still be comfortable after 100,000 miles? http://www.brookssaddles.com/DBpictures/testimonials_1937.pdf As an aside, it reminds me of the mid 1980's when I lived in a village just south of Dorking in Surrey. A regular at the local pub was Percy, then in his mid to late 80's (he wasn't sure in which year he had been born), a woodsman by trade. His former trade was evidenced by the two stumps which replaced his thumbs (the result of two separate saw accidents), but he still managed to sniff his snuff, leaving his silver grey moustache and beard a gingery brown colour on one side. Under doctor's orders his main tipple was brandy and water (better for his health); for the price of a shot of brandy, some priceless tales could be heard...... Percy had bought a smallholding in the village with his wife in the early 1930's and whilst the vegetable plot was the responsibility of his wife and children, the animals were his. Because there was no available work in the area for his trade, he took up work at a timber yard some 25 miles away in the vicinity of Kingston upon Thames (the mortgage had to be paid). It appears that there was only one bus a day ran through Ockley, therefore the only way to commute was to cycle, which I gather took the best part of two hours each way, on top of a 10 hour working day. Remember before breakfast he had to see to the animals and likewise before supper, so Percy's full working day was around 16 hours! As he said, it had to be done otherwise they wouldn't eat / have a roof over their heads. It makes you realise how much easier life has become over the last 80 years, and perhaps how much we take our modern conveniences for granted. It also makes me feel a total whimp getting back home from my 26 mile round trip to my yacht at Bucklers Hard, on an electric bike, needing a whisky and water, to thaw out the legs, and anaethetise the bum! Mike

Suspension forks - my BH is fitted with the Suntour NEX fork with mechanical lock out (the model down from the NCX?), I can't say that I'm that impressed with them due to the slight forward/backward play in the forks and using the bike on cycle tracks and the road I'm not actively convinced, that even when properly set up with preload, that they improve ride comfort. What I have found more effective at combatting ruts on tracks and poor road surfaces is a set of 622x50 Schwalbe Supreme tyres. I've set up the suspension forks hard on the adjuster and leave them locked out which allows very limited travel if I do hit a pot hole, but at least they don't "dive". Interestingly my wifes Raleigh Dover has Raleigh badged RST mechanical suspension forks (without lockout) which do seem to perform quite well with no fore / aft movement, and handle the differing surfaces much better than the Suntour forks. Both pairs of forks are approx max 65mm travel. I suspect much of it is too do with the spring fitted to mechanical (as opposed to air) forks and their designed weight range. I intend to replace the Suntour forks with a reasonable pair of steel forks, which hopefully will provide an element of flex and save 1kg+ of weight.

Which explains why the 15amp Panasonic battery size/contacts could not be compatible with the smaller ampage batteries. Again many thanks flecc. So does the Kalkhoff / BMZ(?) battery use flexible pouches, or has no one taken one to pieces yet to invalidate their warranty!

Thanks Flecc, thats just triggered my memory of a comment made in one of the dim and distant past posts that someone was having problems finding the pouch cells. Do I assume therefore that the pouch cells are specific to the particular battery chemistry used by Panasonic? Regards Mike

Without trawling through all of the posts on the matter of Panasonic drive batteries, do I assume that it is not a feasible proposition to replace the battery cells due to either cost or availability of the "correct"cells? Mike

Amigafan, the trip stats are impressive. Are you sure you were not holding onto the back of a tram??????

The bike has a Shimano dynahub, if the 60lux Philips for dynamos is purchased (which is in the product in their link), there is no need to play with any electrical connections other than deconstructing the plug onto the dynahub and inserting the wires for the Philips light. The unit works absolutely perfectly with the dynamo.

The Philips comes in two models a 60 lux for dynamo fitting (as in the link the OP provided) and an 80 lux which runs off 4 internal rechargeable batteries. I have bought and fitted both (to different bikes). I fitted the dynamo version to my wifes Raleigh Dover, fitting is simplicity itself, as it is a direct replacement for the pathetic oem B&M unit. You do not need to connect to the Panasonic battery. Your standard Shimano hub dynamo is quite adequate. In many ways the dynamo version is better than the rechargeable version because it runs at 60lux all the time, with a beam that puts to shame a number of dipped beams on cars I have previously owned! However its not that bright that it needs dipping for oncoming traffic if set up properly. Its certainly safe to cycle at 16mph on unlit roads and see all the potholes / bends as the beam is broadly spread and can be set to 10 - 15metres ahead without any undue bright spots. The unit also has a built in capacitor to keep the light on (albeit reduced output) when stationary. The unit is not good enough for off road use, but for urban / country road use IMHO its unbeatable and the silver one is on special offer at Rosebikes.

I think I agree with Flecc, theres more chance of being hit by the car as the driver attempts to read the message.

What a nasty ill thought out junction, putting the end of the cycle lane actually on the side road (if I'm reading the road markings correctly). As in your sketch above the only safe solution for cyclists is to continue the cycle lane ahead of the side road markings. I suppose the problem is that whoever is responsible for the junction design, the markings will not be changed because no-one died (as yet).