Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
This is a collection of thoughts I've had bumping around in my head for a bit. Just figured I'd get them out.
CygoLite DualCross 200: I've already got a review up here. This is additional thoughts.
The DualCross, now that I've used it, has some notable weaknesses. Probably the biggest one is the ridiculous mounting bracket. Some genius at Cygo decided to have the light cantilevered out way in front of the bar. It keeps your bars flat, certainly, but it also means that the light head has a huge lever arm when, say, going over bumps. I don't know about you, but bumps are an unavoidable part of riding a bike for me. The result? I've grown used to rotating the bracket back up to a useful position. (It's as tight as I can make it, too -- the bracket design suffers from more than one flaw.)
The light, as I mentioned in the review, has multiple modes. The "primary" modes are accessible by briefly pressing a button. One button scrolls "up" through light levels, the other button scrolls "down." (I put those in quotes because in the secondary mode, up and down are meaningless, but the buttons work the same way.) The secondary modes are accessed by pressing either button for a few seconds, and then releasing. Then, it's a quick button press to scroll through the modes.
What I find myself disliking is the unnecessary complexity of the interface. It offers four levels of light, which sounds great until you think about how you'll actually use it. For myself, I want the lowest level most of the time (the "being seen" level). If it's dark or I really want to get a car's attention, I want the highest level (which is bright enough to see where you're going). The middle levels never ever get used. Fortunately, with the two buttons, you don't have to scroll through all of them to get to high or low. Still, I'd rather just have two levels, or some way to program it so i could skip the middle two.
In the secondary set of modes, you get four "special" modes: quick flash, slow flash, "walking" (or "very dim") steady light, and SOS flash. Here again, I only want two modes, but only one of them really exists. I want a medium-fast flash (fast is epilleptic-seizure-fast, slow is really too slow), and I want the super-dim mode. The SOS mode (at least for me) is the dorkiest waste of programming I've ever seen. I'll never use it, although I can see some mountain biker being really glad to have it, assuming he hasn't bobbled the light head straight off the bars.
So, if I were in charge of this product for Cygo, I'd drop it to two modes (high/low and flash/dim), and I'd change how the buttons work. One button (pick one at random, I don't care) would switch back and forth between high and low beam. Hold it down to turn off, just like now. The other button would immediately switch to (or switch on) flash or dim mode, again hold down to turn off. Every once in a while, I want to switch from primary to secondary to get that fast flash, but I want to do it right now. Unfortunately, I have to hold the button for 2 seconds to switch it off, then hold it for two seconds again, to switch it on in secondary mode. Unacceptable, so I don't futz with the light and grab for the horn instead.
The battery mounting system (consisting of some single-sided velcro and a strip of foam tape on the battery case) leaves something to be desired, but it generally seems to stay in place. It's not too big, and doesn't take up a water bottle cage.
For all that's negative, the light has some phenomenal positives. In particular, the beam is huge, and really lights up the road on high beam. It spreads quickly, but has enough of a hot spot to be useful. I don't know why they crossed the beams like they did, that just seems like a gimmick, but the beam pattern is really good. The battery life is also excellent, particularly when you always use it on the lowest light level or one of the flashing modes like I do.
Although I dislike the mount and the UI, I'm keeping it.
Delta Air Zound: This is a horn which you fill up with a tire pump. It has a remote bottle that looks for all the world like a 500 ml pop bottle without a label (in fact, I'm pretty sure it is). This horn is functionally identical to one of those boating horns with the 6" long trumpet and the can of compressed stuff underneath.
But WOW what a sound it makes! I was all proud of my motorcycle horns (I always replace the stock motorcycle horn with a louder unit, so I can actually be heard), but this thing is about twice as (apparently) loud as those motorcycle horns. I don't know who's got the right dB rating, but the Air Zound is at the top of my list for horns now. I'll never have another bicycle without one of these (at least, if it's destined to be in traffic). $20 at Amazon. Go buy one, right now, and put it on your bike. You will be amazed. Now, if only I could figure out how to mount it where I can reach it immediately.
REload Bags shoulder bag: REload is a company that I first heard of when I passed by their little factory space on Capitol Hill last year. A bunch of young hip biker people were sitting around industrial sewing machines chatting and sewing together bags. It seemed cool, and when the time came recently to get a bigger biking bag, I decided to give them a try.
Every bag they make is custom -- you choose the colors and the extra features. I ended up with a burgundy and grey bag that looks really good. I'm very happy with it so far. The strap hardware is a little funky, in that it's chrome-plated metal instead of the more normal nylon, but I guess it's more durable when it's cold out.
So yeah, thumbs up on the REload bag. The one I got is the Small Civilian model, and I added dual front pockets, pen pockets inside, and a ballistic nylon base. My total price after tax was $140 or so. Their website is nowhere near as slick as Timbuk2's site, but their bags are of at least comparable quality, and REload will sew artwork onto your bag (for a fee). If you see anyone running around with a shoulder bag with art on it, that's probably a REload.
Mountain Mirrycle mirror: This thing rocks. It pokes up where I can see it, and the mounting system is very solid. Complete and total thumbs-up on the Mountain Mirrycle mirror, if you like handlebar-mounted mirrors. Of course, you'll also want to have flat bars and a grip with a hole in the end. With all that, I don't have any problem with the mirror shifting unexpectedly, or even vibrating too much. I'd even consider putting one of these on a motorcycle. Very good stuff.
Posted at 22:40 permanent link category: /bicycle
So, I came across an interesting situation today. I was thinking about a trip I might want to make, and went to the website of one of my favorite airplane rental places. No comment on who, because he's a good guy, and I don't want to bring him negative publicity. This is a commentary on business practices and websites.
I went to the website to find prices. I found my plane, and was pleased to see that the rate hadn't changed. Woo! I remembered that the last time I was in, there was a fuel surcharge, though, so I called to ask about it. Sure enough, there's still a surcharge of $10 per hour.
That's all fine, but the website actually says, "All our prices include fuel" and strongly implies that other rental agencies have hidden fuel surchages and insurance fees. The fuel surchage isn't mentioned on the website.
So, think about that for a minute. There's text on the site that says, "We don't have hidden fuel fees!" and there's a hidden (at least on the website) fuel fee. It's very obvious when you get in the office -- there are signs around saying "$10 fuel surcharge applies" and it's listed on the printed price sheet. So it's not exactly hidden to a walk-in customer.
But what this guy doesn't seem to realize is that the whole world minus walk-up and current customers sees his business through the filter of that website. Say I'm a private pilot from New York, and I'm planning a trip out to the Seattle area, and am looking for a place to rent a plane. It's going to be a bit of hassle anywhere, so I want low rates and my particular plane type. He's got one, and his rates are pretty good. Neat! Imagine my surprise when I get there and discover that there are hidden charges.
Yes, current customers and people who call or walk in will get the whole story. But if they saw your website first, they're going to be annoyed, and might even be distrustful -- you said right on your site, no hidden fuel surcharges!
If you're reading this and you have a business and a website, you might keep that in mind. Your website is your storefront to the entire world. It says a lot about your business. Don't let it mislead your potential customers.
Posted at 11:52 permanent link category: /aviation
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater