Lighting up time

One day last week on the daily commute home I cruised past this chap on a mountain bike. Wearing jeans, trainers and a sports-casual jacket (him, not me), my first thought was 'good on him, the more people on bikes we have the better.' This was immediately followed with the thought: 'do yourself a favour pal and get yourself some lights.'
I've had mine on my bike for a couple of weeks now but with the clocks going back on Sunday, there'll be a good few sets of lights dusted off this weekend.
It's a rather depressing thought that we'll have to wait until the end of February for it to be light at 6pm again.  But if you want cheering up, it's only eight weeks until the winter solstice and the days start lengthening.
I use three lights: one rear, two front. Lighting technology has come on leaps and bounds over the last decade or so with the development of LED technology.
I've always really rated Cateye lights as , apart from anything, you can but replacement brackets and the like rather than having to buy a whole new light because a plastic clip breaks.
You really do get what you pay for with lights and, with that in mind, I pepped up my front luminosity with a Moon 500.  It's a neat little unit which charges via a USB and it's bright.

The light of a silvery moon

While the high viz top may be de rigueur among certain parts of the cycling community, I think they are a option, while a decent set of lights are an absolute must.
So, if you're going out riding this weekend, go and treat yourself to some lights first.  It's nearly Christmas after all!
Ride safe

Installing new bike computer

I finally got round to fitting my new bike computer today and I have to say, it was incredibly easy to do and to set up.
'It' is a Cateye V3 unit which measures speed, cadence and heart rate.  Never had a cadence monitor before and I'm looking forward to seeing what insights to my riding style it provides.
It's a neat little affair requiring the ability to use five zip ties and peel the back off a sticker in order to install it.
I like the look of having the main unit set on the stem but prefer the housing type which clamps underneath the top cap rather than the band around the stem: not the end of the world though!

Centrally mounted: neat

The sensors are contained in one single unit which attaches to the non drive-side chain stay. With the magnets attached to the back wheel and the crank arm and everything tightened up, snip the ends of the zip ties and that's all you have to do.

Aligning the sensors is straightforward

Calibration is easy: insert a four digit code which corresponds to your wheel and tyre size and press 'set'.
A quick test reveals an initially bewildering range of numbers flashing up on the display but it's quite obvious what they all are.
Time to go and get some clicks on it!
Ride safe