Vendetta arrived work in progress

[DuncanWatson]

For rear lights I am happy with the current commuter grade AAA driven lights. I supplement them with the various little lights that go on chain stays and the like. I run my lights solid but tend to get half a riding season from the big one and a full season from the little ones. I also run reflectors which are important as an aftermarket LED car headlight can swamp your taillights. But the reflector doesn't care, it just shoots that light back. Reflectors are a good thing to have on your bike. I will be mounting one to my ADEM headrest in addition to my use of reflective tape.

For a headlight I can live with 160 lumens. I would prefer if the industry measured stuff in lux like they do in Europe because 160 lumens is not the same depending on beam pattern and leakage. But 160 lumens with periods of higher beams on descents works for me.

 

[DuncanWatson]

I did some more learning exercises and riding on my Vixen. Today was a breakthrough. I can do clip-in starts now, I feel in control even when riding up hill and in downhill curves. I took corners at reasonable speeds and just enjoyed myself. I am doing well on hills. I was riding 3-5% grades at 7-8mph. Given the shape I am in that is amazing. Nothing short of amazing. I want to do my commute right #$%#$ now and see how I handle 3% for 2.5 miles. I found myself sitting up pulling on the bars while pedaling on some 5% sections just to pull by it quickly. I love it. After my brief jaunt of 3 miles I did some figure 8s and tried to take a right turn too tightly, I went down. No harm done to me or Vixen but I decided to stop rather than let any lingering nervousness build bad muscle memory. I went into today with a much calmer mind as well. The calm mind payed off with a calm bike. I wonder if some of the guys who complain how they couldn't get used to the Cruzbike format didn't have some nervousness built into their muscle memory and fear chasing their thoughts.

I have anger issues myself and find it difficult to calm my mind at times, I know it affects my reaction speed, movement and choices. All in all a very successful day and I couldn't be happier.

 

[DavidCH]

Haaaa if you have something on your mind at the end of the day and you have to come back down the 2.5 mile hill you will soon forget it. Going down the hills is something else. At the beginning I had to keep on telling myself, "Relax... Relax... Relax. Relax the shoulders. Relax the grip on the handlebars". The acceleration is a hair raising experience!

 

[super slim]

Ratz that is one MONSTER photo!!!
I also have night blindness so the Designshine headlight has been a godsend as I only need 1 light instead of two, 1 on the bike and a second strong 10 degree spot on my helmet.

I would wait as battery technology is going ahead in leaps and bounds, and LED lights are improving, so everyone's bike headlights are now very bright, but most are only 10 degrees to see where you are going, not to be seen.
On a PBP I think than being seen among so many other riders is not a problem.

If the light does not block your view, mount it as high on the steerer tube as possible! Mine is just in front of the water bottle.

Is a hub dynamo an option?

Reflective tape is VERY effective, after getting hit three times in 2 weeks back in 1998, when tail lights were very dim.
The forks and steerer tube reflective tape is black in normal light.

 

[trplay]

There are plenty of situations where too bright bike lights can be a hazard rather than a help. You will find plenty of intentional night riders out there who simply don't care. Don't be an unintentional A-hole and add to this growing number of riders. Take the time to understand the problems. You can buy a Chinese Cree light set for $35 that is bright enough to stop cars in their tracks. I know,I bought two sets (I now own a more responsible light set). A lot of my riding is in an isolated narrow road area where only a random car comes along. I noticed cars would always pull off the road and stop for me to pass. This was my aha moment. Check your lighting by going to the receiving end and see just what oncoming traffic is seeing. If its looks much like a car running on brights then do something about it. To disregard this makes you a bit of an a-hole. If you fix this and ride as a lone wolf then you're pretty much set. But if you ride in a pack you still have work to do. The mega-watt boy thinks his torch is the bee's-knees, but not so fast. He isn't nearly as welcome as he thinks. It turns out his light is so strong it causes a dark shadow in front of the riders his light is hitting. This blocks their view of rocks and irregularities in the road. His only solution is to drop back a considerable distance from the pack. So you say put him in the front and let mega-boy light the way. That works pretty good except no-nuts is probably running a nuclear tail light. The turd might even have it blinking. This ruins any chance of pack riding. Trying so will ultimately end up in an accident. There is a place for the super lights (especially off road and daylight road) but understand the effects it has under the conditions you are using them and take the appropriate action. Just saying?

 

[DuncanWatson]

This is a cell-phone picture from 2009 of my raptobike in a rainy commute. It shows my old lights next to a pickup in the rain.
Raptobike - Morning Commute by Duncan Watson, on Flickr

My headlight in this shot is brighter though smaller than the headlight next to me. Nowadays I run more reflective gear.

 

[SamP]

Busch&Muller has some US distribution, and you can order lights from overseas, if you want fairly bright lights with shaped beam patterns.

 

[ratz]

on't be an unintentional A-hole and add to this growing number of riders. Take the time to understand the problems.

I'm standing in the choir next to you. I carry a lamented card that has all the light settings documented for all the various types of rides I do and what power output to run. The photo I posted is indeed at night at full power but was only taken to illustrate the shaping of the lights. Having lights you can put at the right spot on the ground is as important as running the right output and having a vertical cut off. Apparently my "blinky blinky" wasn't as obviously tongue in cheek as I thought.

On the other hand riding, solo, on deserted roads in the middle of no where; I'll run full power L5/L3 EMS blinking patterns all day long. It's not blinding at high noon; and it's nice to be seen from ¼ mile away when I loose my own focus from the cadence of the ride. That's about the only use for the supper bright stuff on a Road. Wood trails being the other special case, but you still have to be kind to the trail walkers too.

High on my list would be an RF control for the lighting levels; that would be the bee's knees.

 

[trplay]

In no form or fashion was I thinking of anyone on this board or for that matter anywhere else. I hope no one reads it this way especially you Ratz!. Some people have very little night riding experience and its natural for them to think more is better. In cases where it effects no one else that's a good assumption. I throw in the raz-a-ma-taz as an attention getter. My primary intent is to make novice night riders aware of the blinding effect and the shadow effect it can have during certain types of conditions. Bright lights and responsible people are a good thing. Car lights have dimmers for a good reason. Now that bike lights are approaching this level I suspect we'll see them trend this way.

 

[ratz]

In no form or fashion was I thinking of anyone on this board or for that matter anywhere else. I hope no one reads it this way especially you Ratz!. Some people have very little night riding experience and its natural for them to think more is better. In cases where it effects no one else that's a good assumption. I throw in the raz-a-ma-taz as an attention getter. My primary intent is to make novice night riders aware of the blinding effect and the shadow effect it can have during certain types of conditions. Bright lights and responsible people are a good thing. Car lights have dimmers for a good reason. Now that bike lights are approaching this level I suspect we'll see them trend this way.

ok good I thought I was getting thick and sending out the wrong message. Speaking of Dimmers that's my favorite design feature on the light; in Steady mode the button by default toggles between Level 3 and 5 basically the same as a car. Unfortunately on the vendetta I don't have a good way to leverage that can't reach the button. I think Slim reach his on his setup. I need too look into some of that clear-coat reflective paint, I'm reticent to put stickers/tape on the bike until I have to.

 

[DuncanWatson]

My reflective tape will go on the seat back. I wear reflective leg bands in winter when I am night riding and my jacket is highly reflective.

 

[Eric Winn]

...

Vendetta with bar tape by Duncan Watson
...

Duncan,

I posted on your blog about your pedal fit and about trimming the slider. I'm wondering what size your chainstays are as I think we are about the same size and my slider is about 1 1/4" or 32mm away from the start of the bevel leading to the pivot cage.

Measuring from the centerline of the bottom bracket to the end of the chainstay on my Vendetta is about 20 1/4". Is yours longer? If so you may have the large triangle config rather than the medium.

 

[DuncanWatson]

Eric,
Thank you for the measurements. Mine is also 20.25“ or so. My inseam is probably closer to 29“ and my X-Seam is also small. I was surprised that Lief's bike was so long for me that I couldn't even stretch to toe a pedal circle. I am an odd-ball.

I am very glad to confirm I have a med chainstay. I can pedal without ankling in my current setup. Everything is a matter of a millimeter here or there at this point. I switched pedals to my issi pedals, and set up my backup shoes with brand new cleats. I eliminated my right foot sensitivity, and the left still feels good.

I also tried the front boom mounted water bottle location, but that was a bust. It interferes with my legs on turns.

Thank you all for your very welcome help
Duncan

 

[super slim]

The reason I push to have the Head light mounted as high as possible, is so you can light up the road ahead, WITHOUT blinding oncoming cars (that is Australia WILL flash you) or other cyclists and also pedestrians.
It also means that you can reach the light to adjust the power, flash mode, or alignment!

 

[DuncanWatson]

I went riding with Abbot, Lief, Tim Turner and Paul a man new to cruzbikes. Paul nearly took off with Lief's Vendetta, he loved it. Here is one of the pictures of him on Lief's Silvio
Cruzbike test rides by Duncan Watson, on Flickr

Here I am doing the Vendetta bike lift. I always wanted one of these photos, I didn't climb a mountain to deserve it but my Vixen is light and I wanted to show off how light:
Cruzbike test rides by Duncan Watson, on Flickr

We had a great 10 mile ride at a casual pace on the Centennial trail https://www.strava.com/activities/396797195
I discovered I want to move my cleat position up about 3mm or so to be closer to the ball of my foot. I normally run cleats closer to the arch on my recumbents but the Vendetta applies power differently and so on the ball it is. I will reserve other changes until I finish with the seat/bag/headrest situation.

BTW after I get the new seat on I will have a newer carbon set and headrest available for anyone who is interested. If you want one let me know and we can work out a good price.

 

[mzweili]

Lucky guy, having other CB riders close to you.
I think I'm the only one in Quebec and eastern Canada.
Still hoping it will change in a near future.

 

[DuncanWatson]

I received my Bent-Up Cycles Aero Bag today and the Adem Headrest:
Bent-Up Cycles Aero Bag by Duncan Watson, on Flickr
ADEM headrest by Duncan Watson, on Flickr

The seat arrives on Wednesday according to the tracking. As you can see the reindeer approve of the new bag.

 

[Rick Youngblood]

Nice Duncan. That's the new ADEM headrest pad, never tried one, huge improvement over the older models. The bag will match the bar tape, and tire stripes.

 

[jond]

ok good I thought I was getting thick and sending out the wrong message. Speaking of Dimmers that's my favorite design feature on the light; in Steady mode the button by default toggles between Level 3 and 5 basically the same as a car. Unfortunately on the vendetta I don't have a good way to leverage that can't reach the button. I think Slim reach his on his setup. I need too look into some of that clear-coat reflective paint, I'm reticent to put stickers/tape on the bike until I have to.

i run b and m ixon iq prem. shaped pattern but i still get comments that the light is blinding despite only illuminating people from the waist up. and of course if you look at the light it is. so until dimming lights are available the issue will continue. but for solo riding out of the city limits you cannot have too much light to illuminate wildlife potholes etc despite the shadow casting more light is better. i note 1 watt or better rear/ front flashing lights on bikes in daylight a long time before i see the actual rider or bike. so be seen lighting is very worthwhile. on the whole led lighting is a huge advantage for us despite the few drawbacks. remember the bad old days of incandescent and halogens.......

ratz there is a clear coat reflective paint available but it washes off and if i remember right it is quite expensive.

riding in moonlight is liberating fun till you hit something

 

[ratz]

riding in moonlight is liberating fun till you hit something

Especially if that thing you hit is unmarked two inch deep fresh chip seal gravel and warm tar/oil underneath. I have mastered the 24mph to 0mph sprint; none are faster; than me