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).

Accolades to Biged! By aligning the underside marks, gear changing has improved dramatically. Theres still a bit of fine tuning to do, I'm amazed how sensitive the adjustment is to just one "click" either way on the adjuster, but its working reliably enough now for my wife to go for a ride. I can see I'll be riding the Raleigh quite a bit over the next month just to get it all bedded in before the first service. Thanks everyone for your input. Mike

Biged# You may have just won tonights' star accolade! Will confirm tomorrow. Just like your Aguttu, the top lines were lined up, the ones underneath were not! Adjusted according to lower marks which put upper ones out, flicked between gears, checked the lower marks and they had gone out of alignment. Adjusted again, turned upright, flicked through gears, now both upper and lower aligned. Will test ride tomorrow morning! I wonder how many other riders of the 8 speed Nexus will be turning their bikes upside down this weekend? Regards and thanks Mike

Thanks Lemmy, I'll check that over. By the way really enjoyed your video of the ride along the Thames towpath. Regards Mike

Thanks all I will now change my pedalling style and continue riding the Raleigh for the next week or two to put some miles on it. If there's still a problem then it can be reported at the first (free!!!!!) service in a month or so's time. Regards Mike

All the lights identified so far appear to be basically "torches" modified to use on bikes, giving probably a concentrated beam ahead. I'll put forward another option which is roughly the price of the light you've seen. When I was looking for a headlight for both unlit country lane/cycle path and urban use I settled on the Philips, the link below is to Rosebikes, currently the cheapest on offer that I've found. Philips LED headlight Bike Light Set at a low price in the online bike shop www.rosebikes.com The reason I bought the Philips is simply because its designed to spread a beam like a car dipped beam, without any bright spots. Even on the low setting the output is quite good enough to cycle safely, which is important because on max setting it is bright enough to trouble oncoming traffic. I've used it a couple of times and the spread of light into periphery vision is excellent which is what I wanted for the New Forest lanes so that I could see animals on the verges.

Dave You have confirmed my suspicions. I could not understand why Shimano would offer a basic Nexus 8 speed / a premium Nexus 8 speed / the Alfine 8 speed - albeit that the Alfine had a different changer on the handlebars.

Hi Artsu, yes, I ease off slightly (not totally), the same as on my derailleur geared bike to ease stress on the components.

I've just bought my wife a Raleigh Dover with the Nexus 8 speed hub gear (SG-8R36) as she's decided that we should go out together for cycle rides. I took the bike out for an 8 mile run to check it out prior to letting her loose on it and then I used it again this morning (total mileage now only 12). I've noticed that the hub is a little hesitant at times to change gear when the twist shift is moved. Either the gear does not change or is delayed by a couple of seconds, the problem seems to be in the upper gear range 5-8. Checks to date confirm: 1. The handle bar control / cable / hub cassette joint pulley are moving freely. 2. With the sellector set for 4th gear, the yellow lines in the window of the cassette joint pulley are perfectly aligned - so adjustment is correct I'm left with the question of : 1. Does the hub need a running in period? 2. As its decades since I used a Sturmey Archer hub, am I using it correctly? The Shimano data indicates that you peddle through a change down, but no mention regarding changing up - peddle / no peddle / back peddle? As an aside I am impressed with the build quality of the Raleigh and once this irritation is sorted I'm sure it will be a very enjoyable bike to ride.

I've just picked up on this thread and thought I'd comment on my experience. My BH came with 700x38 Cheng tyres which seem to roll OK at about 75psi, but the worry was more the durability/puncture resistance of the tyres. SJS were selling a pair of 700x50 Schwalbe Marathon Supremes at about half price, so tyres and tubes were changed and run at just under 5 bar. Result, speed/effort little difference, the main difference came with the feel of the bike and how it cornered, an amazing improvement, and the added comfort! With the Supremes it would possible to change the suspension forks for rigid, and get rid of the suspension seat post and still have a more comfortable ride over the original tyres.

I have just bought one of these to fit on the rear rack: B + M Toplight Line senso at a low price in the online bike shop www.rosebikes.com as I needed a rear reflector as well. Initial thoughts are that it produses an acceptably bright red beam across the width of the light and also down over the reflector; rather than a high intensity single source of light. I've left it on the "senseo" automatic setting so it should switch on whenever needed. Because my helmet has an inbuilt red flashing light, I think that any extra solution to maintaining visibility from the rear needs to be some form of luminous strip on the panniers. Has anyone found a suitable product that easily attaches to the panniers?