This is a shameless attempt to save the the most advanced civilization in
history from imminent self destruction by eliminating carbon emission,
dependence on foreign sources of fuel,obesity, hypertension and diabetes.
Cycling accomplishes all those things at once and helps us develop a better
understanding of ourselves, each other and our relationship to the cosmos.

Oh, horse puckey!
I like to ride bikes, have been doing it all my life.
The rest of that crap is just a fringe benefit,
and the blogosphere gives me a chance to share my interior
monologue with virtual rather than imaginary friends.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Did I say brake light?

I felt like I really was choking on some Koolaid on this one.
There is this product created by Busch and Mueller, the German light company, which promises to provide a brake light to any dyno operated light system.
Pete White lists it on his website, there are no disclaimers about using certain dynos or the compatibility with other lights or brands.
That is enough to make anybody suspicious.
This is what the benign little creature looks like when you get it from Peter White.
It's like the Clark Kent of tail lights.  Boring package, nor real surprising information, no grand promises or disclaimers.
When I was "winterizing" Byron, I hooked it up directly to my Spanniga tire driven dyno, so I figured I had a couple of strikes against me.  It was an incompatible brand and a plain old fashioned dyno, not the fancy, dancy hub a bubba latest greatest bs.
As you would expect from a German light, the reflector is great by itself,
(next to my son's would be school beater, he rides his bike most of the time also...surprise!)
The regular light and standlight work beautifully
and it's all good at that point.  This light is offered without the brake function for $20 less, so I really felt like I grabbed a $20 bill an jumped off a cliff on this deal since I could find no, none, nada, not one review or opinion on this product. 
But I have wasted much more on much less so I took the plunge.
I am not sure what I was expecting from a "brake light" for a bike, but this standlight function has an added microchip to monitor the frequency of charge coming from the dyno.  
In theory, the chip will release more power to the light when it detects a reduction to the input.
Dammit, it works!
It's not a long or dramatic effect, but it does get your attention
(and we all know that cagers react to bright flashy things).
I probably should have made a video, but these two sequenced shots give you the idea.
My son riding by
and applying the brakes.
As I said, it's a momentary but very dramatic visual effect,
the light reverts to standlight mode in a moment but that burst of light is the signal which might get a drivers attention at night.
A Brilliant Idea, $20bucks, hell yeah!

No comments:

Post a Comment