Batteries Are Not Simple Anymore

Poorly Designed Cateye Light Breaks if You Try to Use Rechargeable Batteries!

Many LED bicycle lights, such as the Cateye HL-EL520 pictured above, use "AA" size batteries. It is also the size that my Fujifilm camera takes. Over time, I've come to discover that AA batteries come in different sizes and power outputs. SOME will make your camera or bike light perform less well than others, and what's good for one may not be best for the other. As I discovered, SOME will physically break your bike light. Here's the rundown.

Alkaline Batteries - These are the garden variety battery that most devices are designed around. They work fine, but are not rechargeable and don't last long in my camera. It'd also be nice to not have to stock up on batteries for a bright headlight. That started me on a search for better. Highly relevant to this story is that Duracell AA Alkaline batteries, when fresh, are rated at 1.5 V and have about 2500 mAh capacity. As you can see from the Duracell service life graph, when voltage gets down much below 1.2 V, the batteries are on their last legs.

 

Alkaline Battery Next to NiMH Rechargeable

Duracell Voltage Drop Over Time - FROM Duracell Site

 

NiMH Batteries - The current standard for rechargeable AA lights are NiMH. These are pretty much a direct substitute for alkalines in many applications. HOWEVER, a AA NiMH does not have the same nominal voltage as an alkaline battery. They start at 1.2 V and drop from there. What this means is that if you have a camera that takes AA batteries, it won't take very many pictures or flashes before it poops out. There's ANOTHER problem with NiMH batteries. While it is difficult to see in the photo above, NiMH batteries are a little bigger than their alkaline cousins. In the case of my Cateye light, I put a set of NiMH batteries in and it broke. Yup, that light lasted all of two minutes. Using a micrometer, the NiMH batteries scope out at 0.565 inches compared to 0.550 inches for the alkalines. Luckily, my bike shop was still open and they exchanged it. The clerk broke it worse so he simply shook his head. Now I ONLY use alkaline batteries in that light. Their bigger light, the 530, CAN accept NiMH batteries and the LED stays pretty bright for many hours. Then I recharge.

 

NiZn Rechargeable is Superior for Camera Usage and Not Bad for Bike Lights

 

NiZn Batteries - NiZn are a fairly new type of rechargeable. While they don't fit into my Cateye much better than the NiMH, (they are about 0.558 inches diameter) they drop right into my camera. What's more, while the NiMH start out at 1.2 V, the NiZn start out at 1.7 V. What this means is that they last in my camera much better than either NiMH or disposable alkalines. They also work well in bike lights that can accept them. They're a bit "hotter" than an alkaline, but not by much.

 

Other Rechargeables - There are two other main types of rechargeable batteries that you might want to use in your bike light, and one that you DO NOT. The first of these are NiCd batteries. They were what people used before NiMH came along. They don't last as long, have toxic cadmium, and have memory effect problems. NiCds are on the way out. The second are rechargeable alkaline batteries. I don't have any experience with them, but looking at Wikipedia, they don't look like they'd work well as camera or as bike light batteries. One that you do NOT want to use is the lithium rechargeable battery. The problem with them is they put out 3.6 V. That'd fry your camera, and might also fry a bike light.

 

Last Words - In summary, I'm quite happy with my NiZn batteries in my Fujifilm camera. I use the NiMH batteries in my Cateye HL-EL530, where they make a snug, but acceptable fit and last quite well. I AVOID using anything but old-fashioned alkalines in the HL-EL520 since NiMH will break it and the NiZn are tight enough that I'm reluctant to try. One wonders why Cateye did not provide even a smidge of clearance on that light. As a back-up light, it works OK. Alkalines will last for years when you rarely use them. One more thing. Disposable lithium batteries are now available. According to Wikipedia, it looks like they will probably last about 50% longer than disposable alkalines, but are a LOT more expensive.

Too Much Junk

Kermit Crowds the Light Bracket

Frankenbike has never been about simple elegance. Instead, it is a conglomeration of various parts from around the world that mostly work pretty well. Still, I think I’ve passed the point where things start to simply represent too much junk. This happened when I added a cup holder to the fork that holds the gear shifter so I can carry two cups home from the local espresso stand. To avoid whacking my knee, I moved the fork forward and now I can’t toss the cable lock onto it. I also notice that only my smallest headlight can clip onto the handlebar bracket without interfering with Kermit.

 

Perhaps Kermit needs to retire.

Handlebar Tape is Getting a Bit Ratty as Well

Sometimes, Speed is a Savior

Speed Can be Your FRIEND - From Wikipedia
However, THIS Guy Needs No Help for Others to Know His Speed

There is a perception that you have to ride fast to operate on the road amongst the motorized traffic. Certainly, it is easier for an overtaking car to run you down and squish you like a squirrel if you are riding at 10mph than if you are riding at 20mph. Still, considering that on a straight road a motorist will see you at least a block or two away, they don't have to have the reaction times of test pilots to miss even the slowest cyclist. From the stories in newspapers that I read, the common reason cyclists get hit from behind is they are riding on a shoulder, or maybe even standing on the sidewalk, and some dweeb simply runs off the road and smacks them. Yes, I know, our driver licensing system seems to be a little less than perfect, but that is not the point today.

How Close Can a Car Get Before Reacting and Still Not Run You Down?
Remember, They Could Get MUCH Closer and Still Miss You With a Simple Lane Change

Cyclists benefit, when being overtaken, by the mistaken notion almost all motorists have that the cyclists are going much slower than they are, regardless of whether they ride fast or slow. "Those cyclists are SO slow!" I will never forget the sworn testimony of a police officer (a trained observer) at the ChipSeal trial that Chip was going about 8mph. In fact, Chip was going closer to 20 at that moment in the video. Had I had less self control, I'd have gotten thrown out of the courtroom for contempt after rolling around on the floor in hysterical laughter. Even the normally expressive Chip looked dumbfounded and actually disappointed, which made keeping my mouth shut even harder. Cycling advocates, such as here, note that the notion you need to ride quickly to be safe is mistaken, and they are right. While a lot of cyclists feel bad about taking the lane while doing 10mph when motorists occasionally exceed the posted limit, one wonders if their attitude might brighten a bit if they realized the motorists really figured that the obnoxious cyclist was hogging the road while going about 4mph. What's more, they'll claim that regardless of where the cyclist rides on the actual road surface. I don't know why this is so - in college I changed majors from psychology to engineering. Go ask someone else if you want to know the basis for motorist judgment errors. All I know is that's what they think. OUR task is to use that knowledge to our advantage.

Why, then, you might ask, did I choose the title I did for this post? Well, it is very simple. As in most road conflict, THE MAIN DANGER IS AHEAD. What this means is that overtaking motorists make their moves early to pass the poky cyclist. Those making turns and such up ahead often misjudge how quickly I am coming on. And those, up ahead, represent the MAIN DANGER.

Of course, riding even faster compared to what a motorist expects usually only makes things worse. Really, the only real benefit of cycling in a vehicular manner is that the increased dangers when you are going fast are much less than behaving in a manner that other traffic does not expect. In other words, the penalties of riding fast are less if you move as others expect a vehicle to move. That is a lot of the secret to low Dutch and Danish cycling fatalities - people simply mostly ride slower compared to the US. If you doubt it, ride at 20mph on a street with traffic versus try to ride at 20mph against traffic on a crowded sidewalk. Actually, simply take my word for it. I don't want to be hauled into court by some grieving survivor.

Sometimes, however, speed doesn't kill, but helps. I was reminded of this on Thursday when I got honked at by a motorist. Getting honked at is pretty unusual in itself for me, but this one might have been even stranger. What is more, speed might well have avoided the encounter completely. Actually, I'm being slightly misleading because it wasn't really speed that was needed as much as an "impression" of speed. A motorist up ahead that OVERESTIMATES my speed gives me an extra margin. During daylight, this is a tough thing to achieve. BUT, sometimes, the darkness can be a cyclist's friend.

I was Headed Southwest in the Dark, Down the Hill, Toward the Camera, About Where the Driver of the Silver Car Was
On Thursday, Perhaps a Sign Saying "Caution - Motorists Blowing Stop Signs"
Would Have Been Most Appropriate

It was dark out as I headed southwest on Bedford-Euless Road on Thursday morning. This is a sweet, five lane road I ride every morning on the way to work. Off to the right, within 50 feet of the now departed sign in the photo, a motorist, seeing my Mighty P7 Headlight on the "low" setting (about as bright as most better bike lights in the high setting), the guy decided to blow the stop sign until he realized the (inappropriate word omitted) cyclist was a LOT faster than he expected. I typically hit about 25-30mph on that slight downhill stretch. Well, to make a short story even shorter, instead of either following the law or hitting the accelerator to attempt a clean getaway, he stopped with the nose of his car right about in the middle of my lane. Then, to my surprise, the scofflaw decided to honk at me. Maybe he was trying to drive as if invisible and wondered if I might not have noticed the 4000lb missile violating my right of way. Duh - being a suburban road, such events catch my notice. Well, no actual evasive action was needed, other than to avoid mindless swerving as I laughed after passing the honker and tried to imagine the reasons for the honk. If this post was about lane position instead of speed, it might have illustrated the benefits of riding in "the line of sweetness."

Light Level on Thursday - Motorist Blows Stop Sign and Honks

Light Level on Friday - Another Boring Ride - Sidestreet Motorists Behaved Themselves

Bike Light at Left, Wimpy VW High Beams at Right. Those Lights at Left are COMING FAST!

Friday, I made corrective action. Hereafter, in the dark, I ride with my headlight on the "bright" setting. To any traffic up ahead, the light looks like an oncoming Harley and all motorists know THOSE bad boys are usually doing at LEAST 60. Those motorists, up ahead in the dark, deciding whether or not to blow those stop signs will probably hesitate, which will be all the time I need before the motorist realizes it was only a poky cyclist that just swept by on THEIR arterial. Speed is a savior. Well, maybe the impression of speed. Or maybe it is merely the GINORMOUS OPTICAL POWER of the Mighty P7, AKA "the Flamethrower."

Is that Marlon Brando on a Harley in the Dark?
Those Durn, Sneaky (Inappropriate Term Deleted) Cyclists!

PS: It might also be the first real legitimate reason I have ever run across to add a front reflector to the front of a bike. It also suggests a loudspeaker to play the sounds of a loud motorcycle might pay off compared to the more conventional "high vis." How DOES one create the impression of an attack aircraft beginning a strafing run?

Motorists Would be RELUCTANT to Blow a Stop Sign With One of THESE Bearing Down!
I Think I'd Need Speakers Because These Bad Boys Don't Use Lights When They Come...

A New Meaning for "Burning Up the Night"

My P7 light has always been a bit suspect, though it really DOES burn through the darkness. Apertome reported that an almost identical "SSC" light was getting recalled. Well, today, I saw the recall notice. It may be found here. It's a joint press release from CPSC and Health Canada. Interestingly enough, the recall was quite specific, considering that basically the same product has been sold under many different names.

Also, interestingly, when I went out to look over my own box and instructions carefully, I didn't find ANY of the information contained in the recall, though my battery looks like a "Series I." I guess it didn't occur to CPSC that the light might be sold by other outfits than the one that initiated the voluntary recall. They ask if people have had OTHER problems with lights from the indicated supplier, but not if people have the same light from other suppliers. Our government at work...

Regardless, my light continues to work well and I've never noticed the batteries even getting hot, much less burning up the night. Considering that it seems to have been better designed than at least two different Cateye headlights, and it hasn't even broken ONCE (unlike Cateye) I think I'll continue to use it, since I have no idea where I'd send it back to.

P7 Light at Left. VW Jetta High Beams at Right.



P7 Light Looking All Innocent





P7 Light in the Morning



Nuts



PB 2W Blaze is a Stylish and Lightweight Headlight that DEVOURS Batteries

 I like redundancy in my commute bikes. That means, though I use the P7 light every morning, I want another light as a backup. For this purpose, the 2W Planet Bike Blaze works real well. It puts out more light than just about any headlight that will operate on 2 AA batteries.

The down side of this is that the Blaze simply eats batteries unmercifully. Though I've only had it for a couple of months and only turn it on rarely, it's on its second set.

Needless to say, you'd NOT want to use the Blaze daily unless you were using rechargeable batteries. Still, I've hit on a solution that works for a backup light. First, I took it off the bracket and keep it in a pocket of my trunk bag. That eliminates the temptation to "play" with it on occasion. The current normal configuration is shown in the photo below. Just a naked bracket. Riding around in a bag pocket, however, exposed the light to the possibility of accidentally getting turned on and running the batteries down. Removing the batteries didn't seem real good either since then they get cruddy, or lost, or simply rattle around. But, in the photo at the very bottom, I DID hit upon an excellent solution that is lightweight, compact, free, and provides the title to this post all at the same time. Simply prevent electrical contact within the light and put it back together with the batteries inside. Should the light ever be needed, remove and install. Voila! Thanks, Mr P.


This is How I Normally Commute - With a Naked PB Blaze Bracket



"Mr Peanut" Protects my Batteries!

Blowing Air




Venus, the Symbol of Friday, or, in "French Canada-Speak," Vendredi. From Wikipedia

 Over the Holidays, I went and fixed all the family bikes. While bikes may have some of the same DNA as old English cars, they’re a lot easier to fix. Unlike old English cars, bikes have a greater propensity to lose air from their tires unexpectedly in a rapid fashion. This has caused a reassessment and an actual RESOLUTION to modify my bike commute routine for 2011. It is ironic that, only yesterday, I sorta sneered at the whole practice of New Years Resolution making.


Sleeping, From Wikipedia

My past commute routine has been to top off the air in my bike tires Sunday night or Monday morning. Typically, each tire will require about four strokes of the floor pump to reach full pressure. On occasion, something will go wrong, like the tire will be flat when I go to pump it or it will clearly have lost an abnormal amount of air. Of such events are part of why the “ABC Quick Check” is a recommended routine action. Well, last night, to get a jump on the New Year, I pumped up the tires on my commute bike a little early; Sunday night. As I put the pump head on the front tire valve, came a “psssss” sound that clearly indicated a problem. Since it was SUNDAY NIGHT and not MONDAY MORNING, there was no rush or panic. I simply took off Frankenbike’s recently repaired front tire and put it on Seth. No need to even disturb my spare tube. No fuss, no muss. Oddly, this caused me to double check the Planet Bike backup light and, sure enough, its batteries had died. Had I forgotten to recharge the P7 Light’s batteries, I could have been lightless (well, I would have been reduced to using a Cateye light, anyway). Since I overslept this morning, the temptation to drive would have loomed. Even with the v3 commute, it’s still quicker in raw time to drive than to ride, because I can dispense with having to listen to the weather report before departure.

This serendipitous failure caused me to resolve to revise my commute routine. Henceforth, I resolve to top off the air in my tires and recharge the P7 Light’s battery at the end of the week's commute (FRIDAY) rather than waiting until Monday morning. This routine change has the advantage that if “unroutine” occurs, I do not have to scurry around to fix it quickly for the Monday morning commute. I can even pick up a replacement item at the bike store if need be, which Sunday night checkout does not support.

PS: In retrospect, since Frankenbike is all fixed, I could have taken Frankenbike today, but that would have involved a bit of changing around of lights. Those tool-free brackets, despite what the manufacturers would like us to believe, are NOT trouble-free. It is also odd that, despite sleeping an extra 40 minutes, I actually arrived at work at the same time as usual without skipping things like the morning shower and shave...

Frankenbike, Innocently Resting, Showing Why Kickstands are Often Extraneous

Christmas Lights by Bike

We went to watch the Christmas lights. In this, I was inspired in reverse by Justine Valinotti's post which notes "...how much brighter and gaudier those lights ...seem when you don't have two feet of glass and two tons of metal between you and them." You see, the lights I had in mind were accompanied by music that I'd be listening to through two tons of metal and glass - on a bike. I did bring along the radio and earphones for my daughter who hadn't heard it on her bike previously.

And so we went. Just to one house. One house was MORE than enough.

Conveniently, You Are Instructed to Tune to 88.3FM

Lights Turn On and Off to the Music

With the Grand Finale, All Lights Light, Before the Next Show Starts

Eldest Daughter Approves of the Show

Actually, two feet of metal and glass muted the music pretty well. A friendly motorist, however, rolled his window down so we could hear a bit better.

SUV Driver Rolled Down his Window so I Could Listen Too.
He Mentioned How He Saw Our Tail Lights Two Blocks Back
He Didn't Show up too Brightly in the Flash

The house is pretty unusual. As a matter of fact, you don't have to ride your bike there, since I know some reading this live a bit far away. Below is last year's show on Youtube.
x

Last Year's Show from 2900 Magnolia Court in Bedford, Texas

P7 Lights up the Night

Previously, I reported on the shakedown cruise of the new P7 lights. Since then, I have discovered how they act when the batteries get low and I took a few night shots tonight when we went to look at Christmas lights. All photos were shot with an iPhone. The camera I brought insisted I had to have flash which sort of defeats the purpose. I did not adjust any of the photos. My daughter said it is about the same brightness as one of our Land Rover headlights (SEE BELOW).

As for how the light acts when the batteries are low. THAT is very simple. The light remains identical to what is shown until they blink out as if someone shut off a switch. My lights lasted a little over three hours on the high setting. For my current commute, that means I'll be charging them once a week. The low setting is MUCH lower. The low setting is about the same as the high setting on the Planet Bike Blaze 2w light. I think one reason they LOOK exceptionally low is that the high setting is so bright.

The Light Action on an Unlit Residential Street. Cyclist is About 10-15 Feet Ahead

The Light Action on a Four Lane Road. Cyclist is About 30 Feet Ahead

License Plate Reflection on a Residential Street

Light Action on Residential Street

After this, I got to thinking and we tested that theory that the P7 is about as bright as an automotive headlight. P7 versus a VW Jetta pair of headlights. YOU be the judge. The P7 beam is to the left of the two Jetta lights. In fairness to the little Nazi car, the contest is less one-sided if the VW puts its high beams on.

P7 Light at Left, VW Jetta Lights to the Right. Note the Intensity, as Well as the Light Beam Pattern.
I Typically Aim the P7 a Bit Lower So as to Not Blind People

First Flight of the P7



Maserati, Seen in the Doctor Parking Next to the Entrance to Baylor Grapevine Medical Center on Monday. Doctor Visit 3 of 3 for the Day
Don't Those Doctors Understand? - "Alfa Romeo, es mas macho."



Veggies Need Not be Starchy!

I’ve used Cateye headlights a lot, but it is time to move on. I’ll keep them for occasional use in ways that their shortcomings do not cause problems. To replace them, I have acquired a “2W Planet Bike Blaze” and a P7-C. The P7 actually came on Monday, though I couldn't have used it, instead spending the day discovering how my medical adventures have affected local doctors, and allowing my local restaurant to prove that dinner side dishes need not be starchy. Anyway, this morning I used the P7 and it is a great light as long as one is prepared to live with its idiosyncrasies. While I haven't done too much fact checking, I've heard that the P7 uses the brightest available single LED to make its light. It certainly IS bright whether that claim is true or not.



Bike With Lights Turned Off

Apertome reported on the light and on a battery recall involving it here, and here. I must admit that the battery/light interface is certainly rather strange. Unlike any light I’ve ever seen, the on/off button is lit when the battery is hooked up – and stays lit. The situation is compounded by instructions that are worse than worthless.

The light itself, however, is brilliant, albeit with a fairly wide beam. No matter – it’s got so much light that it is brighter than any of my other lights, including the fatally flawed Cateye HL530 with fresh batteries. On the high setting, the maker claims 3 hours of light. On my new commute, that’d be about a recharge once a week. On the v2 commute, it’d be a recharge every other day. The light is also very solidly built and doesn’t depend on an unreinforced plastic mounting bracket the way the Cateyes do.



P7 in "High" Mode. Note that Street Color Sets the Brightness on Each of These Three Photos



In addition to the “high” mode, the P7 also has a “low” setting and a “flash” setting. I don’t think I’ll use the "flash," instead I'll ride with high when there's no oncoming traffic and drop it down a notch when all I need is to be seen.

So far, the P7 does what it needs to do – light up the way forward.

Should you consider a P7? Well, it definitely isn’t a light for everyone. For starters, it probably isn’t available in your local bike shop, or even on Amazon ("unavailable"). I got mine off eBay and Apertome got his online. For a second reason, as noted by Apertome, the batteries and battery/light interface is suspect. This might or might not get better in the future. It also throws a broader beam than is optimal for a headlight - I worry about blinding oncoming motorists, which is why I'll operate it as I would an automotive high/low beam combo. ON THE OTHER HAND, the light is half the price of any equivalent lighting power and gives you the lighting of a generator light without the weight, drag, cost, and complexity. Simply charge this puppy up – and GO. Perhaps, tomorrow, I'll find out how it does in the rain...

P7 in "Low" Mode is About the Same as the Planet Bike 2W Blaze on "High"

Night Traffic Cameras

Signal Operating Traffic Cameras are Tricky

There are a lot of traffic signal cameras around North Texas. They seem to be the signal changing mechanism of choice for almost all new signals. I reported here and here how a cyclist can use knowledge of how they work to make those pesky traffic signals turn green.

Well, it appears there may be another factor at play – our lights when it is dark. As noted, the traffic cameras do not use infrared to detect vehicles in their zone of interest. They use visible light. As a result, as long as the sensitivity is set appropriately, they’ll detect a cyclist “in the zone”  – at least during the day.

At night, it is another matter. I always figured that the headlight of a cyclist is plenty bright to trigger the signal, but then I started to encounter lights that would not change for me in the predawn darkness, but WOULD change during daylight hours. I tried taking my blinky headlight off and pointing it directly at the camera. No joy. What DID work was simply turning the blinky headlight on steady mode, and lighting up the flamethrower for extra effect before I rolled up to the intersection camera field of interest. I have not seen anything on the internet about the specific changing algorithm used by the cameras, but it appears they may depend on a light staying lit for longer than a cyclist’s blinky headlight, so that the lights are not triggered by extraneous brief flashes of light. I’d LOVE it if someone out there can verify this, but in the meantime, my suggestion is “make sure your headlight is on steady mode when coming up to a traffic signal activated by a camera. Stop a bit further back from the stop line than usual, because your headlight may not be high enough to be in the camera’s detection zone.” If you get bored, take the light off and point it at the camera; in steady mode. Certainly, this advice cannot hurt and may improve your ability to change traffic signals in the dark. I really DON’T like signals that won’t trigger for me!

Do Traffic Signals Operated by Cameras Trigger Better for YOU When Your Lights are Steady and Not Blinking?

Five Whys for Cateye

In a previous post, here, I noted a fix for a wiggly Cateye HL-EL530. That post was premature. As it turned out, sometimes a simple fix is not adequate.

Where I work, there's a level of affection for what is known as "Six Sigma," where people use what I (somewhat politically incorrectly) refer to as "an engineering approach" to solve tough problems. The name comes from the Motorola and then General Electric program whereby they wanted to ensure that light bulbs would fail less than three standard deviations from the mean. In English, that'd mean that if you bought a GE light bulb they hadn't bothered to test, it would light up for you 997000 times out of a million. Dilbert aside, I KNOW that six sigma works because I've used it to solve problems that have been around since before I got out of elementary school. I don't know that I care for all the "belt" mystical stuff, but there is substance beneath the BS, sure enough.

Anyway, part of "Six Sigma" is what is known as "THE FIVE WHYS." This is simply going down levels below the immediate problem you are having, to find out why that problem occurs and why THAT problem occurs and so on. It's sometimes hard to get below three whys, but even three is beyond what most people do. Even me.

THE FIRST WHY
My Cateye light wiggled - Why? It was loose in the bracket. Every Cateye bracket. That was the first why, and it was what prompted my post and the zip tie fix. Slap myself in the face! I'd forgotten to keep digging to deeper whys.

The SECOND WHY - Why was my Cateye light wiggling in every bracket? Because something had changed in the light. I didn't examine even down to the second why.

The THIRD WHY - Why did something change in the light? Because of the photo below.

Which brings up the FOURTH Why. Why did the front of the light bracket break? Because something acted to pull the light upwards at the front or push it down at the back. I'm not sure what that might be other than the on/off switch is at the top rear of the light. I've never smacked the thing intentionally, however. It's just gotten well used over the year I've had it. What's more, this pretty definitely looks a lot worse than it did even a couple of weeks ago. SOMETHING is chewing my light bracket up in the opposite direction of what might intuitively be expected.

We shall SEE what the Fifth Why reveals. Right now that light is at my LBS. Perhaps I will be a happy camper. Rain is in the forecast for Monday, so missing my light is not a big deal yet. Even should this drag until Tuesday, I have my cruddy Cateye 520 as a backup.

Wiggly Cat Fix

Cateye Headlights

Note the Big One's Position Relative to

Brake Handles. The Chrome is Mostly Gone on that Side

My experiences with Planet Bike fenders and tail lights may have created the impression that PB stuff is troublesome. It is, but no more than most bike stuff. Today, I talk about another supplier of bike stuff, Cateye. I have three Cateye headlights. The one on the right side of the photo, sometimes known as "the flamethrower," is a Cateye HL-EL530. It's the most powerful LED light they make that uses AA batteries, and is now just over one year old. When newly charged, it's nearly as bright as a motorcycle headlight. On the other hand, it jiggles. It jiggles in each of the three mounts  I use it in. It isn't a real serious problem, but it gets irritating to have to steady one's headlight while riding. Actually, it jiggled up until last week. It no longer jiggles, wiggles, or does any other improper behavior.

If YOU ever get a jiggly Cateye, the fix is laughably simple. For other reasons, I had to zip tie something. Inspiration hit, and I slid the leftover zip tie piece against the bottom of the light and then slid the light/tie combo on to the bracket. The little plastic shim was just perfect to make the light rock steady. If I ever lose the zip tie shim, a toothpick would make an admirable substitute.

Leftover Zip Tie Remnant

Stabilizes Wiggly Cateye HL-EL530

I do have another observation about the current crop of Cateye lights. They have chromed plastic bezels. The chrome seems to wear off even if you never touch it. It's even wearing off on my little "be seen" blinky where the chrome is UNDERNEATH the clear plastic lens. It's got to be either UV or just bike riding vibration. This wear does not appear to hurt the light function in any way, and the lights haven't shorted out from getting wet which is a real good thing. Both of these lights are about one year old. I can't say worn chrome is a big deal, but Cateye might have thought of this before I discovered it.

Chrome Gone From the Plastic on

Cateye HL-EL530

 

Chrome Gone Even When Protected

by Clear Plastic on Cateye HL-EL135

More on Lights You Might Not Know

One bracket fits most Planet Bike tail lights

Yesterday, I related here how my Planet Bike Superflash started turning itself off. Tonight, I performed minor surgery on it and bent the switch bracket a smidge to make it harder to turn on (and also off). We'll see if that cures the irritant. I won't mind a light being a tad harder to turn on if it doesn't turn OFF by itself. In the light's defense, I now have nearly a year's use from it with three sets of batteries, so it's not a total waste of the $15 I paid for it. AND, there's another consideration to this light, and to some Cateye lights as well, that is worth considering. So, campers, if a PB or Cateye is on YOUR Christmas list, and you're unsure if that was wise, read on.

Simply put - when considering a low cost light, also consider the bracket. Planet Bike includes not only a seat post bracket with its tail lights, but also a seat stay bracket. This gives you a lot more choices of where to mount the things. What's more, most of their current lights all use the SAME bracket. This means you can swap lights amongst the various bikes you have and use different lights. This sounds like a pretty minor item, but it means I can carry a spare light of a different model and it'll fit the bracket I have installed. It also meant that when I thought I had a Superflash problem, I was able to get the model available at the LBS and it just snapped in place, allowing me to be on my way in no more time than it took to put the batteries in. If I want, I can put brackets on multiple bikes and in multiple places and have easy light mounting regardless of whether I have a trunk installed or whatever. Planet Bike treats its front lights the same way - one bracket fits multiple light models. You buy a few spare brackets and you can have two lights on each and every bike you ride without going broke buying lights. If a light goes bad, a replacement will give you yet another bracket option.

 One bracket fits most Cateye headlights

Cateye headlights (the Cateye tail light brackets seem much less standardized) are much the same way. While I'm not overly keen on how stable the Cateye headlight bracket is, it'll take any light from the little blinky one up to the 530 model. In response to a comment I made on "Lovely Bicycle," here, that suggested I get a new bracket, I was able to discount that advice because I have THREE Cateye brackets on two different bicycles, and I've considered buying a couple more so I can run two headlights on any of the frequently ridden bikes with a simple snap & go. I find moving brackets around to be fiddly and the plastic loses a bit with repeated tightening and loosening. Without extra brackets, I'd not be routinely running with two headlights on each bike. During the day, an empty bracket weighs very little.

So, my HL-EL530 that jiggles in the mount would NOT be helped by a new mount (it needs a shim), and I'll keep buying Planet Bike tail lights, even if my Superflash surgery proves unsuccessful. The more brackets I've got, the more I get easy lighting options. Lights that go on a bike easy get used. Something to keep in mind!

PS: Nobody noticed, but in the previous light post, the Planet Bike Superflash is mounted upside down! The PB rear light brackets work equally well in either direction. When mounted on my Tricross seatstay, the light could not be installed OTHER than upside down. Now, with it mounted on the rack stay, I have it mounted rightside up again.

Blinky Headlights

I'm still riding the road bike to work, even though it's now mid August. I've got "be seen" lights on, including a blinky headlight. It really lights up the reflectors, such as those in these Bott's Dots. Actually, it gets a little hypnotizing and is worse than useless for actually seeing hazards in the pavement. In dark areas, I turn off the blink and run it in steady mode.

Looks like it'll be back to Buddy soon for the ride in to work, probably immediately after the HH100...