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are you gay James?...
No i'm not gay, but I have a few gay friends, and it is something that irritates a lot of gay people out there when people use the word "gay" in that context, I personally think it is inappropriate and offensive when used like that.
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I have changed the name of the 'guide' to:***
Guide to commuting in London for a beginner (who might like to ride a single speed bike)
This is to encourage all the hipsters who have found their way into this thread to fuck off. :)[B][/B]
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If it's a guide to commuting, then you might want to add something about road positioning, intersections, trucks etc
Incidentally, your use of the word 'gay' is well Jewish. x
I don't know enough about it, but I will link to the 'safety' thread I started, good idea.
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Yes but the point is that they discharge less, so they have a higher 'effective' capacity.
I don't get it. They will discharge what the thing they are plugged into draws.
The higher the demands of the light, the quicker the battery will go flat.I don't know anything about 'hybrid' batteries, never heard of them, but the link you posted seems to refer to a standard NiMH battery. Where's the explanation of this 'hybrid' stuff? I'm curious since my current set of NiMH batts I use with the Dinotte are coming to the end of their lives - some need charging after an hour, for example.
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I don't get it. They will discharge what the thing they are plugged into draws.
The higher the demands of the light, the quicker the battery will go flat.I don't know anything about 'hybrid' batteries, never heard of them, but the link you posted seems to refer to a standard NiMH battery. Where's the explanation of this 'hybrid' stuff? I'm curious since my current set of NiMH batts I use with the Dinotte are coming to the end of their lives - some need charging after an hour, for example.
The point is: They Discharge when not in use. They slowly lose the charge, which might be important for lights because they are not in constant use.
An article explains it all here:
The other key thing is that these kind of batteries don't just eventually die like the ones you have been using. They only die due to improper charging, which most cheap ones do.
A bit about the charging, and the charger in particular, is here:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2002_reviews/maha_c401fs.html
A little bit of the technology from the Ansman site here:
As the graph shows, the question is how long do batterys last as lights? If it is only a few weeks, then the slow discharging where it 'seeps out' is not a problem. Therefore you can go for regular rechargables. However, even if you do this, you should still get good batteries and a charger since the will effectively last forever. Examples of these are the Mignon's shown also on the Ansmann site, which go up to 28500ma.
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Surely the best tip is to buy a bike that fits? :P
as for lights, the more the better. Also take a look at the halfords bikehut lights, they have very similar models to cat eye, but are cheaper and brighter.
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Yes but still get a decent brand. The ebay ones are effectively 'fakes' they won't have the capacity they say they do if you actually tested them. So go for something like the Mignons. Or any of the other decent nonhyrids on that baterry shop. You will notice a big difference; I did with my digicam.
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POST UPDATED TO INCLUDE SAFETY SECTION.
And Sizing calculator added to bike section.
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***Guide to commuting in London for a beginner (who might like to ride a single speed bike)
DFP: As for not spending more than £5 on lights - wtf? You've never ridden on a country lane after dark I take it.
[/quote]I took the thread to be about city riding, i which case some nice large LED blinkers (not knogs) is all you need.
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DFP: As for not spending more than £5 on lights - wtf? You've never ridden on a country lane after dark I take it.
I took the thread to be about city riding, i which case some nice large LED blinkers (not knogs) is all you need.[/quote]
Again, that depends on where you live. Many places in London are very dark - without street lights. I've already nearly been driven into despite the big cateye on the front down a residential road round by me. (although granted the driver was probably so unaware that he would not have seen a light-house coming toward him)
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I get it now, "self-discharge". Battery masturbation.
The Dinotte kills 4 AAs in, maybe, 3-4 hours? So I'm not sure these would be the best option, since they don't sit around for any great length of time.
Probably best to get highest mAh rated normal ones (for me).Yes but still get a decent brand. The ebay ones are effectively 'fakes' they won't have the capacity they say they do if you actually tested them. So go for something like the Mignons. Or any of the other decent nonhyrids on that baterry shop. You will notice a big difference; I did with my digicam.
To clarify, high capacity standard nimh batteries are best for lights that get used 'in one go', i.e. high powered LED on med/long night ride.
Hybrid nimhs are better for blinkies that slowly eat batteries over the course of a few months.
On other nerdy forums like candlepowerforums and some mtb forum threads, these people get recommended all the time (and I've just bought some). Good value/quality.
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To clarify, high capacity standard nimh batteries are best for lights that get used 'in one go', i.e. high powered LED on med/long night ride.
Hybrid nimhs are better for blinkies that slowly eat batteries over the course of a few months.
On other nerdy forums like candlepowerforums and some mtb forum threads, these people get recommended all the time (and I've just bought some). Good value/quality.
Well done mate, you've expressed it better than me.
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Here is another interesting article. Powerex comes out very well indeed - which makes that charger an even better bet!
As well as Vapex, mentioned above, the other brands to watch out for are Eneloop (or whatever Sanyo call their batteries these days) and Uniross Hybrio.
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Those Vapex ones are the ones I have.
I don't know how long NiMH are supposed to last but for what I paid for them, I've had something like 2 years of daily use out of them = not bad.Edit: I lie. In summer they don't get used so much.. but I've done some long night rides and such.
How long is your commute? They would still be working if you had a decent charger. But it does seem sad spending 40 quid on one. Note though it has a lifetime gurantee.
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One other thing we should add that I would not mind knowing myself: What basic mechanics book is best? I've heard something about zinn or zen?
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How long is your commute? They would still be working if you had a decent charger. But it does seem sad spending 40 quid on one. Note though it has a lifetime gurantee.
20k each way. How do you know they'd still be working? It's probably less to do with the charger and more to do with me running them right down, before recharging, which I was always warned against doing with my Vista Lite Nightsticks (also NiMH).
The charger is a fan-cooled Vapex quick charger, supposedly designed for these batteries. Possibly shortening their lives by charging them so quickly but £10-20 for 2 years is fuck all. They still work but charging is problematic and they don't last as long. -
Thanks Paul-Michel!
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About
Beginners Guide to riding Fixed/Single Speed in London
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@Paul-Michel
not about how many tyre levers you are carrying !