New, New Raven Owner

[JimK]

I use this little mirror that hooks to my glasses. I use glasses with swappable lenses, dark or clear etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Bike-Peddler-Cycling-Eyeglass-Mirror/dp/B001VTQNVO

[sdg_77]

Here's another mirror suggestion - the Zefal Spy.  The mirror clips onto bar ends via a 'rubber' band,  I use one on the drops for my Sunday Morning bike and mrs sdg has one on the top of her RHS bar end.  Having tried a few mirrors - the Spy does appear to be more stable than some of the others.

sdg.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/zefal-spy-mirror/

[FrogPrince]

The Zefal Spy mirror looks like a possibility but it may not work with the upper hand position on the Ergon GP5-L grips.
Not sure I'd want to mount a mirror on my specs but I'm still thinking of trying a helmet mirror.

Thanks for the suggestions
Colin (FrogPrince)

[FrogPrince]

Went out for a night ride along some pitch black lanes and my verdict on the Lumotec IQ Senso plus R is that it is adequate. The sharp rectangular cut off and central hot spot will take some getting used to. I was not sure how best to position the beam ....if I raise it to get more distant lighting it may still dazzle on-coming drivers. I did not feel safe going faster than 20 MPH down hill. Perhaps I would have been better off with the 60 Lux version???  I've been using a magicshine battery light that is far brighter but not very kind to motorists as it is designed for off-road use.. As it is bar mounted it is possible to dip the beam by hand when I see an on-coming motorist. The main advantage of the dynamo light is there is no worry about the battery running out on a longer ride. However I think the Top Light Line Plus rear light is excellent. The best rear light I have seen.

[jags]

ah good stuff on that review on your lights, i more or less have the same set up dynamo light kindly donated by Andre and cateye  which is a much brighter light,
i'm happy enough with the lights but if i thought the new B&M headlight was as bright as  battery lights i would be saving up to buy it.

[John Saxby]

Thanks for your lighting report, Colin.

On mirrors:  I've used a helmet mirror for years.  Current one is a "Third Eye", I think it is.  There are quite a few on the market here in N America.

I've found no "ideal" solution to The Mirror Thing.  Tried a couple of bar-end mirrors on my drops: these were sturdy, but never showed me the traffic behind me as well as the helmet mirrors.  I also tried a mirror fitted to my left-hand brake lever (you peel back the hood to fix it in place.) ("Left-hand" brake, as we ride on the right here.)  This gave me good rearward vision, whether riding on the drops or the hoods, but was forever getting knocked out of alignment, so I removed it.

Through all my experiments with other mirrors, I kept the helmet mirror.  Now, that's the only one I use.  They seem to be a bit more fragile, though the current ("third Eye"?) seems well enough made.  The small mirror has to be readjusted fairly frequently, depending on where you place your helmet after you take it off, etc., etc., but that's not much of a bother.

One caution: I used to use a Bell mirror (I think it was) which had two ball-and-socket joints, one for the arm-to-helmet mount, and the other for the arm-to-mirror fixture. A good idea in principle, but the joints were made of plastic, and the arm-to-mirror fixture in particular wore out rather quickly--lasted no more than two seasons.  Mind you, it only cost me $9.98, so what did I expect? More than two seasons is what I expected...

Hope this experience is useful -- good luck.

[Andre Jute]

I've had one of those Bell helmet mirrors for years, John. But mine is in no danger of wearing out. I use it only as  an emergency mirror when my handlebar mirror has scarificed itself agains a wall or a carelessly driven car. I have another problem with it, viz the speed with which my eyes refocus on the road in front of me...

Frog, don't get Dan and me started on the shortcomings of that generation of BUMM's IQ lights... And no, you don't want the 60 lux version. That one has the same flat cutoff, the same hotspot, and zero light near you, so you'll ride over every broken bottle and into every ditch you come to. I had one of those, in fact the early, desirable series without the hotspot, and sold it on because it was dangerous at the speed I like to ride in the narrow lanes with broken verges and instant transitions between road and ditch, keeping the 40 lux nearfield Cyo, also the first series without the hotspot. But, because my bike is now electrified, I currently run an IQ Fly designed to operate on 36V, and that hotspot (same optics as you have) is a constant IRRITATION. See http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLINGbuildingpedelec6.html

[FrogPrince]

Thanks everyone for your comments

[FrogPrince]

A couple of weeks on.
Looks like the mirror problem is solved with a Zefal Spy Mirror. Not a perfect solution as it slightly compromises the hand positions on the right Ergon GP5-L grips ....but not totally. I can get a good enough view behind me to see that I haven't left a group of six or eight cyclists behind. The quality of the mirror is good enough. SJS was cheaper than anywhere at £9.99
Appologies for the rubbish picture but you get the idea

A word about quality control  

I very quickly became aware of a regular ticking noise when applying my back brake. On investigation I discovered a step (offset alignment) in the rim join. This was making a noise each time it went through the blocks. I can't see how, firstly, Rigida would let this pass QC and also do not understand why Thorn's wheel builder did not reject the rim at the time of building my wheel.

Result

I phoned the workshop and arranged to cycle in (30mile round trip) for them to check out the rim.  I was given quite a lot of reasons why these rims could be like this but I played the cracked record and they agreed to rebuild the wheel with a new rim while I waited ....about an hour. The chap from the workshop showed me a few rims so I could choose one I was satisfied with.........there were others with the same problem. Must have been a bad batch !!!!!

A satisfied Customer

Anyway in an hour I had a rebuilt wheel and no noise ....and that's good customer service.
I would have been pretty fed up if this had gone out across the globe to me in NZ or the US and I had discovered this problem.

[rualexander]

A slight misalignment in the rim joint is fairly common on pinned rims, usually it can just be filed/sanded smooth,  and it soon wears itself in anyway, but it is annoying to feel it when you brake.
 Good service to get the wheel rebuilt onto a new rim while you waited though.

[sdg_77]

mirror problem is solved with a Zefal Spy Mirror .....  can get a good enough view behind me to see that I haven't left a group of six or eight cyclists behind.

Good news - and strangely enough keeping an eye on groups behind me is what I find mine good for ... I lead SkyRides, so as long as I can see a row of yellow bibs with the other leader's blue shirt at the end I know I'm not dropping anyone.

sdg.

[FrogPrince]

"A slight misalignment in the rim joint is fairly common on pinned rims, usually it can just be filed/sanded smooth. "
I didn't want to do this as it was a CSS rim. 

[FrogPrince]

Did a 100k charity ride in the pouring rain yesteday ....the New Raven performed fautlessly on all sorts of terrain, on and off road ...........not sure I did! Rather stiff and sleepy today 

[moodymac]

Hello Frog Prince,

I could not believe it when I read through the above post.  I have fallen onto a gold mine!  I too am 65yrs., have a six footer's back and  a 5'5"er's legs.  I now enjoy my seat lower than the bars.  I have read through twice, but could not find a frame size.  Could you please state the frame size and pedal length?  Sorry if you had and I missed it.


Tom

[FrogPrince]

Frame size 500L
Crank length 165 cm