Planet Bike Headlights revisited

This is a follow up to an older post where I compared the Planet Bike Blaze 1W light to the 2W light, specifically noting that the 2W on low was brighter than the 1W on high.

According to the Planet Bike website, the 1W and 2W have run times of 7/14/20 (low/high/flash) and 5/12/18 hours, respectively. This time I wanted to compare the runtimes on low versus high, as my past measurements have indicated that advertised runtimes were not very accurate. The specific issue is that there may be some disadvantages to running these lights on the low power mode.
In this picture, I am holding two 2W headlights, waving them in front of a camera, with the nearer one on half power mode, and the other at full power. It is clear that half power is being achieved by modulating light intensity. Others have noted (on candlepower forums and elsewhere) that these lights can interfere with other bike electronics when the lights are being modulated in this way.

I ran tests on a Planet Bike 1W Blaze, the PDW Cosmic Dreadnought, and two Blaze 2W lights. Initially I was getting some anomalous results, and so I bought a Maha Battery Charger that measures battery capacity, to ensure that there wasn’t a large variation due to differences in battery capacity. All batteries with either the Duracell white top rechargeable NiMH AA’s or the Eneloop equivalent. All battery capacities were between 1876 and 1981 mAh, the nominal capacity of the batteries being 2000 mAh.

Measured run times on high were:

• PDW 4.5 hours
• Blaze 1W 13 – 13.5 hours
• Blaze 2W #1 9-10 hours
• Blaze 2W #2 17 hours

Measured run times on low were:

• Blaze 1W 18.5 hours
• Blaze 2W #1 13.5 hours
• Blaze 2W #2 25 hours

The runtimes for the Blazes on either high or low were longer than advertised. The bigger surprise was the one of my 2W Blaze lights performed much better than the other. I believe that they were bought around the same time. I also checked this result by putting slightly higher capacity batteries in one and then the other, but I got the same result.  The run time for the PDW light was about the same as an earlier measurement.

Here is a video:

In terms of the comparison between high and low, you will have to decide whether low mode is worth an addition ≈40% more runtime. For my money, I’m not going to bother running any of these lights on low mode. I have no explanation for the difference between the two 2W lights, and I note that the runtime on the better 2W light is longer than the 1W. The discrepancy between the two 2W lights was the reason that I was getting inconsistent results the first couple of times I ran this test.

Any of these lights is a good be seen light, especially in this season of long, dark nights.

Battle Mountain Photos

I’ve let my flickr pro account expire, and so I’m in the process of migrating photos to google+ which has a nice interface for browsing photos. The first two sets of photos that I’ve migrated are pictures that I took on my two trips to see the World Human Powered Speed Challenge in 2008 and in 2011.
The definitive source of information on this event is Warren Beauchamp’s excellent site.

The 2008 photos are here. It was a fantastic year to be at the event because Sam Whittingham won the Decimach prize (going 10% of the speed of sound) after about a decade of trying.
I took this video the evening that the winning time was announced.
You can see the sense of camaraderie that surrounds all the people involved in the event.

The 2011 photos are here. I’ve already blogged extensively about this last fall as the event was running, and about a third of the photos have already been posted on this blog. If you haven’t seen the blog entries, just click on “HPV” in the category cloud on the sidebar to the right.

This year is shaping up to be even more exciting with the possibility that Graeme Obree will try to break the world record, and the Delft & Amsterdam Human Power Team will be aiming to do the same, after winning in 2011.

First snowy commute of the year

There was a bit of snow on the roads on the way in this morning, so I left a bit earlier than usual. It was actually quite peaceful on the side streets. The studded tires run very quiet on the thin packed snow base.

The snow wasn’t so deep that it needed plowing, so it was easy riding on the bike lane on Harbord, zipping past the car traffic. In this picture, if you look very carefully up the bike lane past the green light, you’ll see another cyclist. Not too much bike traffic today!

Everyone slows down on a day like today, and it makes it easier to ride. When the snow is deeper, it’s a different story. Let’s see how the ride back home goes.

Ride safe everyone!

Jan 7, 2012

Starting the New Year right with a family bike ride.

It’s been unseasonably warm, and it was sunny today, so we took the opportunity to do a lap of High Park. Lots of people out and about. Lots of people on the rinks as well.

Taillight Runtimes in Blink Mode

I ran a test of bike taillight run times a while ago, with all lights in the steady “on” mode. Since most of us run our taillights in blink mode, I decided to repeat the test for the same set of lights in blink mode.

Just like last time, the lights are, from left to right, the MEC Saturn, PB Superflash Turbo, PB Superflash Stealth, PB Blinky7, and the PDW Danger Zone. All these lights have superbright LED’s and 0.5W or 1.0 W LED’s in various combinations. The list prices range from $9-37. Just like last time, I used rechargeable AAA’s (NiMH) from Duracell, with the white tops, which indicate that they were made in Japan.

Here is a video of all five lights in blink mode, at the start of the test, and after 68 hours. After 68 hours, only the Superflash and the Blinky7 are still alive, but only the Superflash is bright enough to be usable as a “be seen” light.

Time lapse does a poor job of showing lights in blink mode since the camera is taking a picture only every 600s (5 minutes). Nevertheless, it is useful to use the video to see when each light cuts out.

The time lapse ends after 85 hours, at which point the PB Blinky7 is still running, but it is far too faint to be effective.

The run times are summarized as follows:
I’ve included the earlier measurements for steady mode for comparison.

Conclusion:
I would continue to pick the Planet Bike Superflash as my favorite taillight. The blink run time of 80 h is within shooting distance of the advertised time of 100 hours. It is probable that the runtime could in fact exceed 100h if you used alkaline batteries, rather than the AAA rechargeables that I used. Unfortunately, MEC seems to have dropped the Superflash, in favour of the Superflash Turbo and the PDW taillights, which I think is a real mistake. I e-mailed them about this, but they responded that they might be able to find a couple of the older lights if I needed one (I already have three so I am set).

note that MEC still sells the superflash as part of a set for $43 which is a good deal, but it comes with the Blaze 1W headlight which I think is inferior to the 2W version.

cold commute

It was properly cold riding in this morning (-15°C) Not Icebike cold, cold enough that I covered the lower half of my face, but not enough that I had to cover my nose.

So a few adjustments to my attire were warranted.

• balaclava (I couldn’t find my favorite wool one)
• warmer gloves
• a wool T shirt under the two jerseys (which was a bit too much)
• warmer shoes
• Montbell winter cycling pants, which were a lucky find a couple of years ago since they aren’t made anymore, and they were never sold outside of Japan AFAIK.

It was good to see about a dozen or so fellow cyclists out and about today.

back to the reality of biking in winter weather

The last commute of the year today made 224 for the total this year. That accounts for the very great majority of work days when I was not out of town.

My winter beater is doing fine.

The winter beater is equipped with:

• Alfine 8 speed hub
• zinc plated chain
• stainless Berthoud fenders
• Schwalbe Marathon Winter tires
• Moose Mitts
• Appropriate lighting

It wasn’t terribly cold (-1°C), and so I didn’t have my full on winter gear on.

• endura jacket
• two wool jerseys
• outlier climber pants (good to -1o°C)
• I’m trying out some 3mm thick Neoprene gloves for wet and sloppy conditions (with Glo Glovs over them, of course)
• Helmet with earflaps

Ride safe everyone, and have a great 2012!

a glimpse of life in Cuba

We spent the week before Xmas in Cuba. This is what you get if you rent a bike at a resort. This cruiser had a coaster brake, a suspension fork with brake disc (no lever or cable or caliper).

We took a half day bus tour of Morón to get a little look at life in Cuba. Here is a main street as seen by horse and buggy.

A car rental agency. We saw quite a few smaller cars from Hyundai, and some of uncertain make, such as the one used as part of the sign here. There were comparatively few of the stereotypical 50′s US cars.

Here is a bike shop. The main stock seemed to be patched tires, tubes and rims.

Also a lot of these bike taxis.

Most of the bikes were old city bikes, but I liked this more modern mountain bike with wood kid seat.

We’d like to go back, and to take the opportunity to see a little more of the way people live, but since this was our first trip there, the emphasis was on beach, not bike.

Bike to work pants

There have been numerous discussions in the bike blogosphere about appropriate clothing for cycling. The two extremes seem to be: bike specific clothing (think lycra, and MAMILS) and “just bike in what you normally wear”. For the city, the rules are a bit different, since wearing team kit looks a bit silly when you are commuting. One can make well reasoned arguments for just picking regular clothes that are practical for biking.

I for one am of the school of thought that high visibility is best. Underneath I’m partial to wool.

Nevertheless, there are many companies that have started to make bike oriented clothes don’t obviously look like bike clothes.There are bike clothing companies like showers pass or rapha that make jackets that don’t glow in the dark. For pants, there are a couple of companies that have started making “bike to work” pants.

“Bike to work pants” have reflective material sewn into the inside of the cuffs that are visible when you turn them up (to save the pants from getting caught in the chain). This appeals to those of us who are constantly losing our little pant clips or straps, and are willing to pay too much money to avoid a little inconvenience. AFAIK, the first company with BTW pants was Betabrand. Now Levi’s has gotten into this niche with their commuter jeans.

Over the course of the last couple of months, I have ended up with four pairs of pants that fall into this category. I thought that it would be fun to compare them.

Here is a picture of the four, from left to right in the order of acquisition: outlier climbers, Betabrand, Levi’s commuters, and Bonobos Ninja pants, showing the cuffs with flash photography to show the reflective material.

Outlier Climbers: the fact that I included these is a bit of a cheat, since the climbers don’t come with reflective material. I had the local dry cleaner sew on some reflective ribbon. Nevertheless, these are my go to pair of pants for any season that is too cold for shorts. They are made from Schoeller Dryskin fabric that has a water repellent treatment. They are good down to about -10C, but not too hot for warm weather either. They are expensive, but they are sewn in the US, if that sort of thing matters to you. Highly recommended. One note of caution: the climbers are cut very narrow. This has the advantage that the cuffs will not get caught in the chain, but these are not for you if you have sprinter’s thighs. Outlier makes wider pants as well, but you’ll have to turn up those cuffs when you ride.

I haven’t ridden much in the other three pairs of pants since it is starting to feel like winter around here.

Betabrand bike to work pants: These are the original pants in this category. The blue grid material is also reflective, and the back pockets are also lined with the same material, so you can turn them inside out and let them hang out at night if you want. Otherwise, they are just like regular pants. I find that they don’t fit that well, but this could be because they only have even waist sizes. BTW Betabrand’s customer service is excellent. The pants are sewn in San Francisco.

The Levi’s commuters were a birthday gift. The website says that they are cut the same as 511′s, which means in practice that they are very skinny. The jeans are cut from stretch denim, so that the tight fit doesn’t bother me when I ride. They are have the same Nanosphere water repellent treatment as the climbers. Here we see drops of water on the climbers (left) and the Levi’s. In practice, the climbers start soaking through after about 15 minutes in light rain. I haven’t ridden with the Levi’s in rain yet. I will note that the Nanosphere coating needs to be refreshed every once in a while by throwing the pants into the dryer, whereas I was told not to put the jeans in the dryer. The other odd thing about the jeans is that one of the pockets appears to have a waterproof lining. Perhaps this is to protect a cell phone from sweat? I’ll also note that the other non-jean commuter pants are cut quite differently from the jeans, and they are a thicker, non-stretch material. To complicate things further, there were some pants with a stash pocket in the small of the back, and some without, and this also affected the fit. This line of pants is definitely something you have to try before you buy. They are sewn offshore.

The final pair is a very late entrant to the party: the Bonobos Ninjas. I bought these because I like Bonobo’s pants in general. Unfortunately, they have changed their shipping policies, and it now costs an arm and a leg to ship to Canada. They used to produce their clothes in the US, but it is mostly China now. Ironically, their suiting seems to come from Montreal.

A few notes on Palo Alto

This past weekend I made a quick trip to my old stomping grounds in Palo Alto. Regrettably, there was no time to bike around, but I had some time to walk around downtown. Some things have changed in the 20+ years I’ve been away, but some things are still the same.

Palo Alto Bicycles is still around. I don’t know if the mix of bikes is much different than in the past. Mostly high end road and mountain bikes (although back then, they were mainly steel, and they also sold a small boutique brand of components called “Avocet”. I still have some of their saddles.

The one bike I liked in their shop was a Ti Ritchey Breakaway.

Just down the street was the Stanford Theatre, still going strong. It opened when I was in town, and I still have vivid memories of seeing the premier of “Brazil” there, although that was atypical programming for them. The Stanford has the advantage of not having to be a profitable enterprise.

I’m still sad about the other theatre in town, the Varsity, that at some point got converted into a Borders, and of course that means that now it sits empty. It was a wonderful repertory movie house and occasional music venue. I remember when Van Morrison played there.

Coming from Toronto, I was shocked to see that parking (both on street, and off street in lots a block away) was free for 2 hours on weekdays, and unlimited on weekends.

This was an interesting bike rack design with instructions. The advantage is that it does not block the sidewalk. The disadvantage is that in protrudes into the roadway.

Up by the Caltrain station, I wanted to check out the bike facilities since I know a large number of commuters do the mult-modal thing. Here are some standard bike racks.

These stacked bike lockers are more interesting.

There is also a Bikestation, but since it was the weekend, I couldn’t do more than peer through a doorway that had card key access.

I saw a couple of bikes with this yellow tag, which is encouraged by Caltrain so that bikes can be loaded in a way that takes into the account their destination.

There are bike racks all over the Stanford campus, not surprisingly. I didn’t have a lot of time to walk all over campus, but what little bike infrastructure that I saw wasn’t terribly impressive. I did like this sign though. One fun fact about this sign is that it is only about a hundred meters away from the shop where I believe the Xtracycle was first conceived.

My hotel was a little away from downtown, along El Camino Real, which is a very pedestrian and bike unfriendly streetscape, with three lanes of traffic in both directions, plus curb lane parking. You are taking your life into your own hands if you cross away from a stoplight.

At this intersection, the triangle island have gaps to accommodate bike traffic, which implicitly steers bikes across the crosswalks with the pedestrians. That is a McLaren dealership in the background, which is a sign that some people around here have too much money.

One can’t help but admire the level of craftsmanship visible in the new McLaren MP4-12C. This is the air intake, with carbon and a very delicate looking steel hexagon mesh screen.

This McLaren I could afford.

Next door, there was a Fisker dealership. The car was much bigger than I expected, and it was not very attractive. I mainly took this picture because of the charging station.

In Palo Alto, bilingual doesn’t always mean English and Spanish.

Back to bike content: all the buses have bike racks on them.

I do miss some things about living in California, but living in Palo Alto is not one of them. I feel much more at home in Toronto.