Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Lend me your ears! I mean, uh, lights! Also: Tison's bike


First, here's a shot of Tison's frame/fork (once again, stem used purely for posing purposes). Yes, he has clearance for a 4" tire in there. There's only clearance for a 2.5 in the rear, though, so it's not a true fatbike.

Notice that I tried to use a more attractive staging than the outside of my garage for this shot. Notice also that due to my sucky photo skills, it still looks terrible.

Next up, I have been hornswoggled into racing the 24 hours of Moab with my good friend (and perpetual Marathon nationals runner-up) Mike McCalla. His wisdom in choosing me to race with him (his words: "I think we can win a national championship!") is dubious, given that I've been on vacation or working all summer and haven't raced since July or so. Be that as it may, I find myself in need of a fancy-schmancy light system to ride at night with.

That's where you come in: I don't want to buy a whole light system, since I don't generally nightride (it's hard to get to any decent trails here without riding on fairly dangerous roads) and would probably use it for just this event (yes, Eszter, I'd probably use it for Vapor trail too, but that's just a glimmer in my eye at this point). I'd love to borrow one from someone, but most of my friends who have such equipment are also racing.

Here's the offer: if you lend me your light system (1000 lumens or brighter is probably mandatory) I'll give you 10% off a Waltworks frame. That could be some significant savings for you, if you're looking to get me to make you something. And of course, I promise to take good care of your lights and return them in the condition I got them in.

So if you're interested, drop me a line. This would probably work best for someone that lives in the Boulder/Denver area, but if you want to send me your lights (I'll send them back, or if you're in Moab, give them back at the end of the race) that could work too. Drop me a line.

7 comments:

Reid said...

How about this?

http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-Million-Candlepower-Rechargeable-Spotlight/dp/B000VHF3JK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1253729671&sr=8-1

It's not clear exactly how one converts between lumens and candlepower, but I think it's good for at least 1 megalumen.

Llama said...

I might have a system you could use. I don't know the lumens off the top of my head, but it's a two light bar mount with a third light for the helmet. I'm heading out now, but could get you the details later.

Anonymous said...

I sense some inner turmoil here. You are like the old shaper in North Shore who is anti surf contest, yet now you are being forced to ride by the man's rules. Also, I have a spare HID light, let me know if no local options present themself.
Mike

a wee leprechaun said...

Faith and Begorrah!

Tapered blades, I'm impressed! Is the lad a feather weight? Where be the rear brake mount?

word verification: snutak

VT Mike said...

Walt, have you built any frames with clearance for a 4" tire yet?

Lance said...

i have a Surefire mounted to the bottom of a Glock 17

http://www.surefire.com/X400-LED-WeaponLight

that way you can light the way and clear the way all at the same time!

Problem-solver, that's me.

Ryan said...

The state of the art on lighting systems has been seriously advanced by the LED flashlight nerds, and more importantly, is now way cheap.

Please note this $80 all-in-one kit that includes Li batteries and charger and puts out 900 lumens:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.25149

I have the same emitter in flashlight form, and I use two of them as bike lights, and they are stupendously effective. The only bad thing about the flashlight version is the 45-minute rated runtime.

A head/bar pairing of two of these lights is illumination overkill for $160 including shipping. They're better made than you would expect.

Downside: it's in Hong Kong, so it takes 3 weeks to get to your house.

(not paid by Dealextreme, not an affiliate link, just a satisfied customer)