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#1
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Cycle lights with Torx fasteners?
Just had my front Cateye Opticube nicked after leaving my bike locked in a secure office carpark for a couple of hours. Just shows you can't leave anything attached to your bike without some thieving git lining their pockets. Anyway the whole attachment (not just the light) has been half inched and this was aided by the thief-friendly design of the Cateye attachment ( a large hand turnable plastic nut the size of a £1 coin neatly removes the entire thing within minutes). Anyone manufacturer use slightly more esoteric fasteners like Torx ? Or am I going to have to drill holes though the lights and start using wire cable to secure everything? Yes I can just put the lights in my pockets but occasionally they get forgotten and so I'm looking at a way of securing lights to my bike rather than go for the pocketable variety. Also the really small lights don't light up the road that well anyway. |
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#2
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Cycle lights with Torx fasteners?
Mickey Mouse wrote:
Just had my front Cateye Opticube nicked after leaving my bike locked in a secure office carpark for a couple of hours. Just shows you can't leave anything attached to your bike without some thieving git lining their pockets. Anyway the whole attachment (not just the light) has been half inched and this was aided by the thief-friendly design of the Cateye attachment ( a large hand turnable plastic nut the size of a £1 coin neatly removes the entire thing within minutes). Anyone manufacturer use slightly more esoteric fasteners like Torx ? Or am I going to have to drill holes though the lights and start using wire cable to secure everything? Yes I can just put the lights in my pockets but occasionally they get forgotten and so I'm looking at a way of securing lights to my bike rather than go for the pocketable variety. Also the really small lights don't light up the road that well anyway. Most dynamo lights bolt on, instead of using a clip on bracket thing. You could replace the bolts with Torx ones if you wanted (assuming you can buy them in the appropriate size). And I think dynamo lights are a lot less attractive to thieves in general (because they probably won't have a dynamo to power it, and they are probably less noticeable if mounted on the fork crown etc). I've never worried about my dynamo lights when leaving my bike locked up outside shops etc. Note that for Cateye lights you can get a bracket that bolts on, instead of the easily removed 'Flex Tight' bracket. It doesn't stop anyone from stealing the light, but at least they can't remove the bracket without a screwdriver etc. -- Craig Wallace http://craig.neogeo.org.uk http://www.neogeo.org.uk |
#3
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Cycle lights with Torx fasteners?
* Craig Wallace wrote:
Most dynamo lights bolt on, instead of using a clip on bracket thing. You could replace the bolts with Torx ones if you wanted (assuming you can buy them in the appropriate size). And I think dynamo lights are a lot less attractive to thieves in general (because they probably won't have a dynamo to power it, and they are probably less noticeable if mounted on the fork crown etc). When I went in my local bike shop and asked for dynamo lights he told me I don't want them "they're crap". I said well I just asked for them didn't I, which means I *do* want them. Need to find a slightly more helpful shop or alternatively use the internet. Any Dynamo brands better than others? Don't really want to spend a fortune but I agree with you, definitely less desirable to a thief. I'm OK for now but will switch to dynamo soon. I've never worried about my dynamo lights when leaving my bike locked up outside shops etc. Note that for Cateye lights you can get a bracket that bolts on, instead of the easily removed 'Flex Tight' bracket. It doesn't stop anyone from stealing the light, but at least they can't remove the bracket without a screwdriver etc. Didn't know you could get a different type of bracket; bit late now though :'( The plastic nut was rubbish anyway. It could never be tightened up enough without going loose again so the light used to just spin around the handlebars when I went up and down kerbs resulting in the thing aiming straight at my face (upside down) blinding me or I would almost get myself killed trying to tighten it up by hand again as it would invariably come loose whilst riding. Maybe the thief did me a favour? Got a simple removable Oxford Ultra Torch 9. Should do the trick for now until I move onto some serious candle power for the winter months. |
#4
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Cycle lights with Torx fasteners?
"Mickey Mouse" wrote in message ... * Craig Wallace wrote: Most dynamo lights bolt on, instead of using a clip on bracket thing. You could replace the bolts with Torx ones if you wanted (assuming you can buy them in the appropriate size). And I think dynamo lights are a lot less attractive to thieves in general (because they probably won't have a dynamo to power it, and they are probably less noticeable if mounted on the fork crown etc). When I went in my local bike shop and asked for dynamo lights he told me I don't want them "they're crap". I said well I just asked for them didn't I, which means I *do* want them. Need to find a slightly more helpful shop or alternatively use the internet. Any Dynamo brands better than others? Don't really want to spend a fortune but I agree with you, definitely less desirable to a thief. I'm OK for now but will switch to dynamo soon. There's a good selection of dynamos ranging from very basic entry level to some pretty good B&M stuff at St John's Street Cycles. www.sjscycles.co.uk I bought a basic JOS setup from Decathlon - they have similar at SJS but not quite the same. It was dirt cheap - the whole setup coming to around £13, and is as good if not better than any of the cheap battery powered sets you can get. It's then easy to upgrade a front light here, and then get a better generator, etc. if you decide you like the dynamo setup. Colin |
#5
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Cycle lights with Torx fasteners?
On Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:09:42 +0000, Mickey Mouse
wrote: snip The plastic nut was rubbish anyway. It could never be tightened up enough without going loose again so the light used to just spin around the handlebars when I went up and down kerbs resulting in the thing aiming straight at my face (upside down) blinding me or I would almost get myself killed trying to tighten it up by hand again as it would invariably come loose whilst riding. Maybe the thief did me a favour? when you went "up and down kerbs" - care to explain? -- I encourage my children to wear helmets. (Guy Chapman) Some evidence shows that helmeted cyclists are more likely to hit their heads. (Guy Chapman) I have never said that I encourage my children to wear helmets. (Guy Chapman) - proven to be an outright lie. He then quickly changed his web page - but "forgot" to change the date of last amendment |
#6
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Cycle lights with Torx fasteners?
* judith wrote:
when you went "up and down kerbs" - care to explain? The cycle path I use to get to work (which is not on the road) joins the road further along and there is a small kerb of about an inch or two where is then runs as a red painted cycle lane. In fact there are quite a few like this where I live (where cycle paths separate from the road later join a main road with a dropped kerb). Every time I used go up and down these, despite the drop being only very small, the jolts used to cause the front light to spin round, usually ending up with me being blinded. |
#7
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Cycle lights with Torx fasteners?
"Mickey Mouse" wrote in message
... * judith wrote: when you went "up and down kerbs" - care to explain? The cycle path I use to get to work (which is not on the road) joins the road further along and there is a small kerb of about an inch or two where is then runs as a red painted cycle lane. In fact there are quite a few like this where I live (where cycle paths separate from the road later join a main road with a dropped kerb). Every time I used go up and down these, despite the drop being only very small, the jolts used to cause the front light to spin round, usually ending up with me being blinded. judith is just trying to cause trouble - best to ignore her. |
#8
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Cycle lights with Torx fasteners?
Mickey Mouse wrote:
* Craig Wallace wrote: Most dynamo lights bolt on, instead of using a clip on bracket thing. You could replace the bolts with Torx ones if you wanted (assuming you can buy them in the appropriate size). And I think dynamo lights are a lot less attractive to thieves in general (because they probably won't have a dynamo to power it, and they are probably less noticeable if mounted on the fork crown etc). When I went in my local bike shop and asked for dynamo lights he told me I don't want them "they're crap". I said well I just asked for them didn't I, which means I *do* want them. Need to find a slightly more helpful shop or alternatively use the internet. Any Dynamo brands better than others? Don't really want to spend a fortune but I agree with you, definitely less desirable to a thief. I'm OK for now but will switch to dynamo soon. For lights Busch and Muller are good. Something like the IQ Fly is brighter than most cheap Cateye lights etc. For the dynamo, a hub dynamo is most reliable. Shimano have a range that are reasonably priced and decent quality. Dotbike ( http://www.dotbike.com/ ) are probably the cheapest UK source for B&M lights. Or its often cheaper to order from Germany (depending on exchange rate etc), eg http://www.bike24.com/ or http://www.roseversand.de/ Note that for Cateye lights you can get a bracket that bolts on, instead of the easily removed 'Flex Tight' bracket. It doesn't stop anyone from stealing the light, but at least they can't remove the bracket without a screwdriver etc. Didn't know you could get a different type of bracket; bit late now though :'( The bolt on brackets are a lot more solid, and less wobbly in my experience. See for example: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Ca...et/5300006463/ Got a simple removable Oxford Ultra Torch 9. Should do the trick for now until I move onto some serious candle power for the winter months. Isn't it winter now? It was snowing here today... -- Craig Wallace http://craig.neogeo.org.uk http://www.neogeo.org.uk |
#9
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Cycle lights with Torx fasteners?
On Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:57:07 -0000, "Clive George"
wrote: "Mickey Mouse" wrote in message .. . * judith wrote: when you went "up and down kerbs" - care to explain? The cycle path I use to get to work (which is not on the road) joins the road further along and there is a small kerb of about an inch or two where is then runs as a red painted cycle lane. In fact there are quite a few like this where I live (where cycle paths separate from the road later join a main road with a dropped kerb). Every time I used go up and down these, despite the drop being only very small, the jolts used to cause the front light to spin round, usually ending up with me being blinded. judith is just trying to cause trouble - best to ignore her. Thank you Clive for you worthwhile contribution. It was a reasonable question - to which the OP has given a reasonable answer. Have you still not got over *inviting* me in to the group? You remember - I post a very reasonable post to which you are the first to respond with: Oh dear. Mostly my view is you're extremely badly informed. And the rest is history (or rat-**** depending on your view) ;-) (I saw your post about "nym-shifting trolls" - do you actually know Tony Raven?) -- I encourage my children to wear helmets. (Guy Chapman) Some evidence shows that helmeted cyclists are more likely to hit their heads. (Guy Chapman) I have never said that I encourage my children to wear helmets. (Guy Chapman) - proven to be an outright lie. He then quickly changed his web page - but "forgot" to change the date of last amendment |
#10
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Cycle lights with Torx fasteners?
* Craig Wallace wrote:
For lights Busch and Muller are good. Something like the IQ Fly is brighter than most cheap Cateye lights etc. For the dynamo, a hub dynamo is most reliable. Shimano have a range that are reasonably priced and decent quality. Dotbike ( http://www.dotbike.com/ ) are probably the cheapest UK source for B&M lights. Or its often cheaper to order from Germany (depending on exchange rate etc), eg http://www.bike24.com/ or http://www.roseversand.de/ Thanks. Will go visit those sites. Is it possible to buy quite bright Dynamo lights then? I was always (perhaps mistakenly) under the impression that they were inferior to their battery counterparts. Got a simple removable Oxford Ultra Torch 9. Should do the trick for now until I move onto some serious candle power for the winter months. Isn't it winter now? It was snowing here today... Well it's pretty bad now; we had some sleet here today. Ideally I'd like to get some Dynamos ASAP (by mid-November latest) and use my Oxford to bide me a bit of time. Need to do a bit of research and buy the right ones. I've got some basic info in my Haynes Bike Maintenance but it doesn't really go into that much depth. Are the hub ones much harder to fit? Guess I can always get the shop to do it but would prefer to have a tinker myself if it's not too difficult. |
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