New LED lights

LED lights have been around for several years, but until recently they were really only practical for riding in built-up areas, or at least lit-up areas. The big advantage of LEDs are reduced power consumption and long life. However, the light output from LEDs has been disappointing. They allowed the cyclist to be seen, but provided little by way of illumination of the road.

For cycling in complete darkness, halogen lights were the only option. My own preferred option was a SON hub dynamo powering a B&M Lumotec and a Schmidt E6 similar to the one pictured below. This provides plenty of illumination for my needs. The only drawback is that I always need to make sure that I have sparebulbs in my saddlebag. Good quality bulbs seem to last a long time - I think 100 hours is typical.

Picture: m-gineering.nl

However, in the last year or two several high quality LED lights have become available, and with high light output and long life, LED technology is a real option for fast riding in complete darkness.

With the recent announcement of the Schmidt E delux, there are now 4 excellent LED lights on the market for use with hub dynamos.

  1. The Schmidt E-delux
  2. Busch & Muller LUMOTEC IQ Fly
  3. Solidlights 1203D and 1203DR
  4. Inoled Extreme

The IQ Fly has been getting rave reviews, but it seems to have been surpassed by the Schmidt E-delux.

Hand made by Wilfried Schmidt, maker of the SON, it is compatible with 6 volt dynamos from Shimano, SRAM and of course the SON by Schmidt.

Features include:

  • 80 lux output (this compares with 40lux for the IQ Fly and approx 25 lux for the E6)
  • a standlight, so the light stays on for a few minutes after stopping
  • On/Off and Senso mode. Senso mode automatically switches the LED on, when the ambient light levels falls
  • Aluminium casing and copper heat sink for dissipation of head from the LED.
  • internal optics are from the B+M IQ Fly.
  • available in Black or polished aluminium
  • weight: 85g.
  • can be used with or without a taillight, without modification

The Edelux should be available in June 2008 at a price of less than 130 euro.

Moulton HPV racing

A few pictures of Andy Forey racing a modified Series 1 at the HPV races in Hillingdon.

The bike has a 406 (20 inch) rear wheel with Continental Grand Prix tyre and original 4 speed hub, with a shortened steerer tube to allow the bars to get lower, and a polystyrene aerodynamic moulding.

Mike Burrows has written that aerodynamics is the most important factor in terms of bike speed. It seems to have worked out well for Andy... he finished second in the "all bikes" race. Not bad for a forty year old shopping bike!

Overtaking Boris

Was it a Moulton that overtook Boris Johnson on an evening in February 2006?

The other night a woman overtook me on her bike on the climb up to Islington. Nothing unusual about that, except that her wheels were only the size of soup plates. How was it possible that the revolutions of her tiny wheels could cover the ground more quickly than my huge wheels, when as far as I could see our feet were pumping up and down at the same sort of rate. I gazed at her retreating form with the baffled awe of a tribesman seeing his first aeroplane. Was it an optical illusion? Was it the gears? Not for the first time, I wished I understood physics properly. Is it true that a clock loses weight as the spring unwinds? Does a boat really go more quickly through cold water than hot water? The worrying thing is that the nation of Newton and Faraday is becoming almost as ignorant as me. Over the past ten years the number of students taking A-level physics has fallen from 45,000 to 30,000, and the number of university physics departments has fallen by a third. It is madness, not least since physics graduates are the best paid of all.

One week after the article was published in the Spectator, the letters to the editor contained the following:

Sir: I was surprised to read that Boris Johnson, as a cyclist and historian, had not pondered on what had allowed the reduction of wheel size from the ordinary 'penny-farthing' with the crank drive to that of the conventional bicycle which he no doubt rides (Diary, 11 February). It is, of course, the chain drive with the larger chainwheel at the crank and a smaller sprocket at the hub which enables the revolution of the cranks to be independent of wheel size. The Starley 'Safety' incorporated this. Lord Hailsham was probably the first parliamentarian to enjoy the benefits of the yet further reduction of wheel size with the Moulton bicycle.

He acquired this in 1964.

The letter was signed Alex Moulton.

Clarks Shoes Poster

As I bought my daughter her first pair of shoes yesterday, I struggled to contain myself... when I saw a Moulton on the wall. Or at least a picture of a young boy pushing an old Moulton along a beach. Below are two pictures of the poster... the first taken on a mobile phone.

The second picture is from the Clark's website

New 8-speed Sturmey Archer Hub Gears

Sturmey Archer (or Sunrace Sturmey Archer as they are officially known these days) are at the International Bike Show in Taipei, and they're showing off a new 8 speed hub gear with a wider 325% range. This compares favourably with the 305% range on the current 8-speed. Pictured below is the disk brake version (X-RK 8), but it is expected to be available in the roller, drum and freewheel (no brake) versions also.

They are also bringing back a coaster brake version of the 5-speed hub gear. I'm a big fan of coaster brakes so I'm very happy to hear this. Currently, if you want a Sturmey hub with a coaster brake, you have to settle for a 3 speed.

A few new products that we are debuting at the show are the all new 8 speed hub as well as bringing the 5 speed coaster back into production. Both models offer a wider gear ratio with many internal changes.

All new 8 speed. 325% total range.

New 8 speed, disc side.

Closeup, new 8 speed.