Need Help From Night Riders

[Nanci]

Ok, I am thinking about moving my lights (two handlebar-mounted Cateye Micro Halogens) to somewhere lower, which means mounting on the fork, but I have no idea how to go about this or attach anything there. I have a road frame, not a touring frame. Does anyone have their lights mounted there? My motivation is to clear up the handlebars so the new Baggins Candybar Bag has room! I can fit it under the lights, but it isn't optimal. Apparently lower-mounted lights will show the road in more relief, too, although it seems like I can see just fine the way they are now.

The Baggins Candybar bag, BTW, from Rivendell, is _gorgeous_. It smells like waxy canvas with new leather- a familiar horsey-related smell, and reminds me a lot of a beloved old cantle bag I had back in my horse-owner days. It looks to be the perfect size- I was worried it would be too big. I'll get to evaluate the floppiness tomorrow, though it has tie-downs that would go to the stem and the drops, if I wanted to secure it more. It will be going on its maiden voyage tomorrow, just a little 45 mile ride that I will ride 15 miles both ways to get to.

It will be my first club ride- I'm nervous! I even cleaned my bike. She's standing in the kitchen shedding _ants_. Where did they come from??? They haven't infested my Jelly Bellys, and the bike lives hanging from a ceiling hook, so I think she picked them up while standing out leaning up against my truck. Stupid things.

Nanci

[Veronica]

What are you using for lights? I just have a single Jet - not in the photo, unfortunately. I have my HRM, another computer (who's obsessive), my bag and my lights all on my handlebar. My bag is a bit smaller than the candy bar bag though. I think I can see just fine with this set up. Of course different lights, change things...

Thom experimented with trying to mount his lights lower and didn't have much success unfortunately.

V.

http://www.tandemhearts.com/bike/tour-of-ca-2006/stage_two_1.jpg

[Lise]

What a great picture of V.!

Nanci, I have no advice (due to no experience!) to offer, but thank you for the ants story. It's so cold in Illinois that the ants are all buried deep in the ground, and you've given me one tiny reason to be grateful! :p

Have fun on your ride, L.

[Veronica]

Don't get me started on ants... They are dancing around in party hats here!

V.

PS - Thanks Lise! I hope the handlebars help Nanci out.

[DebW]

Just a caution. If you mount a light on the fork, make sure it is very secure and check it before every ride. If it loosened slightly and twisted, it could end up in your spokes and you would end up on your head. A helmet mounted light is another alternative worth considering. Has the advantage of putting light whereever you look. But I suppose that makes taking headers even more dangerous.

[Nanci]

I can send some ants up to you, I have a few to spare!

Do you know in Florida, (all the natives know this,) if your well pump stops working on a hot summer day, go out there, and the contacts will be swarming with ants. Kill them, clean the contacts with a nail file, and your water supply is restored! I had no idea- they don't behave that way up north...

Good news is, the moths are out, so Century Box Turtle has a supply of a new food, which he will wake up out of a deep sleep to chomp down as fast as I can catch them.

Veronica, I have two Cateye Micro Halogens, which mount under the bar, one on each side of the stem. I have two- one aimed for potholes, one aimed for distance, and usually use one or the other, sometimes both. I am seeing how this season goes before I buy a more expensive light system. I am very happy with these, though, and they are as bright as everything except HID. And $9 each...So really, I have four, and will be experimenting with how I want to do them, next weekend. I start at 4 AM, using lights 1 and 2, which have about a three hour burn time each, maybe longer. They have alkaline batteries. It gets light a little before 7, now. Then lights 3 and 4 will be put on at dusk, hopefully at the dinner control, and they will have fresh lithium batteries. So they will go from 6PM till I finish, hopefully by 11PM. I will try to run on one light only as much as possible, which should be fine. I will be out in the country, with hopefully not much traffic, with hopefully one or more other riders, with a ton of reflective gear and multiple major taillights. The reason they don't all have lithium is because it cost $20 for batteries for two lights, and I want to see how much longer they last. They are noticeable lighter- 30%?

Nanci

[Veronica]

Ahh... I can see how that makes adding the Candy Bar bag difficult. I don't suppose the lights can mount on top of the bar? I try to mount everything close to the stem. I tend to ride on the hoods or in the drops. I'm usually only on the bar when I'm tired, so I don't mourn the loss of positions.

V.

[Nanci]

The lights are designed to go under. They _could_ go on top, but would look dorky. Wait- they sit under the elbow pads, so no, they have to stay under. I have aerobars, and spend 25-30% of the time in them, up to 50% if conditions are perfect. It really gives my wrists/hands/back a break. Then most of the time on the hoods or the bars out at the edge, or occasionally under the elbow pads. Never in the drops, now that I have the aerobars.

I can't move the lights to a different position on the bar, because I have the stem in the center, then the computer mount right next to that, then the aerobars, one on each side, which have to be close to the stem to fit me right, then the lights right on the outside of the aerobars.

I _can_ hang the bag more loosely to fit it under the lights when I have them on, which won't be the majority of the time. I was just wondering about fork mounting, just in case it might be a better solution, but not if it's a huge hassle.

Nanci

[Melody]

Nanci, have you looked at something like the FSA Control Center or something similiar? I used to use a device that was essentially a short bar that extended off of my handlebars so that I could mount additional stuff on the bike. Unfortunately, I no longer remember the exact name of the one I used, but the LBS had one in a short and long stemmed version could allow it to rise above your bag and still be able to mount your lights and shine down on the road.

I'm not sure which cateye micro halogen lights you're using but like DebW said, be careful, if you mount them on your fork, that they are _very_ secure. Getting one stuck would definately seriously suck.

I'll sit here and think of what else you might be able to do. I've come up with some pretty creative ideas of somehow attaching odd things to places. :)

Mel

[Nanci]

That control center thing might work. I know what you mean. I think I have one bookmarked at Performance, but haven't actually bought it yet because I hadn't run out of space, yet. (Where's my GPS??? :-)

Nanci