Sunday, January 3, 2010

A Bright New Year

I like the bell's kawaii packaging and lovely shade of blue, but its sound doesn't live up to its looks.

I got my new lights and [nearly] matching neon bell on New Year's Eve--a very foggy day and the perfect conditions for testing the Knog skink headlight and taillight. I went for a short ride during the day and conducted a short ride in the evening. (It was cold, dark, and wet--an extremely unappealing combination). Of course, I tested the bell too. I wasn't too pleased with how it sounded, but it's such a close color match I can't bear to send it back.


I think that the color makes a bigger impact when all the elements are close together...


...but placing the light on the basket may be the safer choice.

I couldn't decide between putting the light on the basket or the handlebars. During daylight hours it seems like an aesthetic choice, but at night it's a matter of safety.

My bell still looks smashing...
...but apparently my light lost some of its radiance behind all of those break cables.

My aunt said she couldn't really see my headlight on the handlebars when she drove towards me so it's going on the basket. It didn't help me out on the darkest street in the neighborhood either. I don't know if that's because of the location of the light or its limitations. It's probably a combination of both because the more powerful headlights are pretty expensive.

6 comments:

  1. Yeh I need to attach my light to the rack, as when i'm carrying stuff there's no light to be seen... yours look pretty cool!

    - Mambi

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  2. Thanks, Mambi. Isn't Knog an Australian company? You should have all of their cool new products available to you--I bet you have some nice lights.

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  3. I think that Planet Bike makes the best lights for the price. The 1 watt/ super blinky combo is fantastic. I find the Knog lights to be too weak but they are great for emergency lighting (oops! It's dark!).

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  4. Adrienne: I got these for the splash of color they lend to my bike. If I were going for pure utility I would consider Planet Bike and I also really like Cateye lights.

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  5. I bought myself a helmet-mounted light by DiNotte. It's spendy ($149 MSRP) but it is nice to have light wherever your head happens to be turned at that moment... plus this thing is super bright.

    I wrote about it a bit on my blog.
    http://rotelledivelocita.blogspot.com/2009/12/update-re-merry-christmas-to-me.html

    I've enjoyed reading your blog about your Globe experience.

    ~ Nate

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  6. Thanks, Nate! I bet that light comes in really handy on winter evenings. (It gets so dark so early)!

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