Bright light, bright light.....

I had been looking for a headlight for Bumble B for along while and I got the awesome HOPE One which I don't think I did a review on but it is an awesome light none the less.

I've personally always favoured having a main headlight where Bromptons have it designed just over the front mudguard at the front. I have experimented over the years and you can check the "Lighting" tag for the past posts.

Well I think I've finally come up with the FINAL version (6.0) *fingers crossed*

This is the Cree XM-L T6  1800LM Headlight that comes with:

• CREE XM-L T6 LED Light unit x 1
• Adjustable headband x 1
• Rubber ring for installation x 2
• 8.4v 6400mAh Battery Pack x 1
• Charger (100v-240v) x 1
• Converter x 1

I also got the wide angle lens as from what I've read the beam can be pretty narrow from the basic unit.

Now I wanted to mount this light on the front reflector mount on Bumble B so I had to do abit of a hack to get it on. I took apart the Cree light but found that I wasn't to happy with the waterproofing where the mounting point was so I used abit of inner tube to surround the rear of the unit as there was no rubber seal between the  clamp at where the power cable connected to the electronics inside.

No watersealing

Now I feel more confident with it, all nicely water sealed with the inner tube. Just not sure if it will over heat or not though as the whole aluminium body works as a heat-sink. Early testing (indoors for a couple of hrs) suggests it does get pretty hot which is to be expected if the housing is used as a heatsink. On the road I would think it would keep abit cooler with wind/rain etc.

Old inner tube better watersealing

Rechargeable battery pack mounted on the side of the tube and doesn't get in the way of folding, but easy to remount with the Velcro strap it comes with. Not confident about the waterproofing for this so will probably do a hack for this at some point too.

Update:
Mounting the battery pack has changed, pity the battery pack isn't slimmer as it could fit inside the top tube.

Mounted on Bumble B

As you can see from the  above photo the headlight won't get in the way of a front bag either.

I got the Cree XM-L T6 1800Lumix Headlight on ebay (£16.99) from kgm-accessory & the wide angle lens (£4.25) from magiclightuk (thanks David P for the links)

Now for the important part, what it looks like in the night time ;)

Cree XM-L T6 1800Lums

Hope ONE

As you can see the Cree XM-L T6 is brighter than the Hope One and much cheaper. Can't wait to go on a proper ride with it >:D

#BWC2013 Cycling Jersey

Finally got the Brompton World Championship 2013 cycling top. I got it at the BWC2013 a few months back but when I tried it on it was too small. Lucky I was able to return it to Brompton to get a bigger size when they had my size in stock.

I like it and wore it for the first time at the LCC: spaceforcycling ride last week and it felt pretty good.

Some have asked for photos of it so here it is >:D Enjoy

Front: BWC 2013Cycling Jersey

Back: BWC 2013 Cycling Jersey

You may be able to still get it from Brompton Shop £60

LCC: #spaceforcycling protest ride

Yesterday was the protest ride in central London. 5000 on protest ride

AS always a good turn out by the London Brompton Club and ofcourse Bumble B was there to lend his support.

LCC spaceforcycling

Panoramic of gathered riders

Bumble B is ready to lend his support for the LCC

Off we go into the bright sunny evening around London towards Parliaments – and inside many MPs also called for dedicated space to make cycling safe for everyone.

Chris B with her legendary smile

Outside the Houses of Parliament

Bumble B & me with cowbell in hand

Sam my cycling bud being silly

The grass is always greener on a Brompton

Cute dog getting the VIP treatment

On the way home from the ride I was in the Old Street area when I heard a woman shouting or should i say screaming. I turned round to see a scooter on the wrong side of the road with a lady running after them with a bicycle.

I kinda figured that somehow they had stolen something from her but they where too fast to catch and where gone.

I noticed then I was watching the lady that I saw she had a basket on the front. I'm kinda guessing that she probably had her bag in it and the guys on the scooter just came passed and grabbed it and rode off.

Updated: News Story

So people a word of caution to PLEASE make sure you have your belongings properly secured when riding your bicycle as something like this could happen to you.

Now go out and have a good ride & be safe...