I am heading down to GT tonight, will post back tomorrow morning with the conditions.

I have used the Ultrafire 18650 3000mAH cells for a while now (in DX torches), and I don’t believe they are 3000mAH as my run times are no where near what I would expect. I haven’t timed the run time, but I got less than 2 hours last week with a combination of 2 and 4 XPG’s on full power. I am out tonight and have just charged the cells, so will see how long they last for.

When I finish building my 2x XPG and 2x 18650 batteries inside light, I will do a proper timed run.

What affect on the beam would removing approx 5mm from the end of the Regina Reflectors have, as putting my batteries inside the Hammond box is going to be very tight, and this would give me a bit of extra clearance. I assume it would mean that the beam is not as focused and would be wider.
I also have a problem with the 2.1mm DC connector not being tight enough, and have had the connections come loose while riding. I have tried bending the centre pin on the socket, and squashing the plug to try and improve the interference between the connectors. I seem to remember having a light in the past that had DC Power Connectors that had a lock ring to screw them together?

I cycled the old railway line between Penicuik and Rosewell a week past Sunday and it was punishment, looks like I might just have to stick to the roads tonight.

13thfloormonk – There is a camera on the A702 at Boghall on the Traffic Scotland Website, which will give you an idea of what the road is like.

A colleague drove past Nine Mile Burn this morning along the A702 and he said the road was fine, got to minus 20 at Dolphinton though.

Planning on heading up to Clarkies in Penicuik tonight, anyone been along the old railway line to Penicuik recently, and know if it can be cycled or not?

I bought these Batteries they will sell them for £7.50 the pair posted, UK as well.

Troutie – I am in the middle of building a battery inside light (my 3rd hammond light), but still waiting on the XPG’s I ordered from you on the 17th November, are you still waiting for the Reginas? or more than likely my order is stuck in a snow drift.

Its almost 20mm bigger diameter, so you might have clearance issues, also the speedo will be out.

Its worth trial fitting them on a nice dry sunny day, as its not fun doing it for the first time in the dark, with wind and sleet in your face.
They should come with some plastic to kneel on and some of those big long gloves that you use to artificially inseminate cows, however its worth carrying around an old piece of carpet to kneel on, and a torch.

The other problem with RWD cars is that you can’t turn the driving wheels (left and right) like you can with a FWD car to fit them on, which makes fitting a lot easier.

There was only a light dusting of snow in Midlothian this morning (friday), it was too dark to see the Moorfoots.

I just bought some WTB Weirwolf 2.55 29er Tyres so will hopefully get to try them out in the snow (when it arrives).

They do work well, but on our RWD car they aren’t so good, as when you try to turn a corner the car just goes straight on, I guess another set on the front would help.
The other problem is if you have a RWD car with low suspension and wide tyres (255’s in my case), they are a nightmare to get on as they are a really tight fit, I ended up carrying a trolley jack around last winter so I could jack the car up to fit them.
The other thing is do not exceed the maximum rated speed, as I did and they fell to bits.
Apart from that they work exceedingly well.

I just bought some on Ebay, but not sure if they have your exact size.

I hope so.
There was nothing on the moorfoots this morning, but the snows due to come in today.

BCT – Yes it was 4x protected lithium batteries, the case wasn’t hot so don’t think the driver would have overheated.
It wasn’t planned to run the batteries so low, but when you are in the middle of nowhere in the dark, you need to get home. I thought I would have got a longer run time from the battery, but when I started to think the amount of times I tested the light in the back garden and then took the dog for a long walk, it makes sense they didn’t last aas long as expected.

Has anyone been sent any Spam e-mails from someone in China trying to sell you LEDs and drivers? This is the only place on the web that I have discussed LEDs, so seems a bit of a coincidence.

Does the BCT Driver go into flash mode once the voltage of the battery drops off? Mine certainly did last night, my 14.8V battery pack was reading just over 6V when I got home.

tomlevell – Thanks for the offer, its our holiday house and I won’t be going up again until Christmas, but I think I have approx dimensions around somewhere.

aP – Nice!

sharkbait – Its a Tiger Classic 5.9kW output, so yes its not powerful enough, but it was installed when we bought the place. There are electric panel heaters as well, so the room is never cold, would be nice to reduce the heating bill a bit.

The ones from Costco are made by BodyGlove, we have had a few over the years, they are OK but not very manouverable and the layers delaminate through use.

Quirrel – I paid £20 for one of those drill bits from Machine Mart, and also £70 for a pillar drill and £30 for a new soldering iron, so my lights haven’t been cheap.

It looks like a ceiling fan will be the cheapest and easiest option.
The house is in the North of scotland (very cold in winter) and this is the main room which includes the Lounge, Dining Room and Kitchen. The house is well insulated, and it is warm, it could just be warmer/use less fuel.
sharkbait – A Mezzanine floor would work, but I can’t afford it and we don’t need the extra space, the high ceilings are also a nice feature.
Smarty – So a celing fan sucks the warm air up, rather than blowing it down, makes sense.

The Ecofan wouldn’t work as its designed to sit on top of the stove and that is where the flue exits.
Also think a roof fan is a bit tacky? (not sticky but cheesy)
I like the idea of gathering the heat in the roof and then sucking it back down to floor level, unfortuneately there are no cupboards to hide any ducting in, so it would have to be a feature, although could make it using shiny stainless steel tube like the Flue.

I would advise regularly lubricating the locks, as I had to recently drill my locks out of the roof bars (same locks as the 591) after they seized.
Had mine for years and they work like new, the black paint has flaked off one of the arms, but hasn’t rusted or corroded.
Jack Hardcore – where did you buy them for £115 delivered?

Quirrel – you don’t need the box with the two part plates, it works just fine without them, and as there are less parts, less waterproofing is required.
You will have to drill two large holes (approx 20mm) in one of the end plates and fit the lexan behind, but I think this is a neater solution.
If you search through the posts there are plenty of pictures.

Great video Coastkid, it took me a while to work out where they were as I haven’t ridden them since I lived in Eskbank 8 years ago!

ahhhjrene – there are paths and trails everywhere, you just have to look, might want to avoid Roslin Glen as there are a few to many Tourists wandering around since the Davinci Code came out. Sir John Clarkes estate (Clarkies) in Penicuik has some good trails, although the Roman Bridge decent (my favourite decent of all time) has been destroyed because of logging.

stevenmenmuir – I would be up for a tour of Midlothian on the 1st.

I went from an Inbred (DN6) to a Tinbred, and could tell the difference. The Ti frame was more springy and shock absorbing as well as being lighter, although sometimes felt like you were pedaling in Jelly.
I am about to do the same comparison with a 29er Scandal and 29er Inbred (currently riding the Scandal).
Would love a Ti 29er but the Carbon 29er is cheaper.

Well mine lasted all of one ride.

Anyone glued the stars onto the heatsink using AAA rather than screwing on? I know screws are the belts and braces approach, but I think the large surface area of the stars and the light weight will mean that they won’t fall off, or am I going to be the guinea pig?

What about a Cosmic Shoulder Holder, I think I still have a neon pink one from the late 80’s.

stayhigh – What type of drill bit did you use to drill the two holes in the black plastic cover for the LEDs, I want to go down this route but need to buy a suitable drill bit?

thesurfbus

Just cut it through with a hacksaw and make it a split crown race, I have done it several times with no problems.

I sold some knackered but under 1 year old marzocchis on Ebay, was totally honest about what was wrong with them, got more than I expected, I think it was a bike mechanic that bought them.

Hi BCT

Are there any 2 Way holders left? If so how much?

Doug

I too would be interested if there are any alternative optics for a wider spread.
This websites useful if you are going down the Resistor route http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz
Trout I take it that big resistor is a 3W?

stayhigh – I am using 4x 18650’s for two of the light units with a splitter cable (or will once they are built)

I used to have to touch things an even number of times and with the opposite side of the body that I first touched it with, also the TV volume had to be an even number, also lots of other little idiosyncrasys.
Fortuneately since the birth of my kids I no longer do them (too busy doing other things), although I still check the doors are locked several times before going to bed, and check the gas is off on the cooker hob. Which is probably because the wife has a habit of leaving doors unlocked and she has left the cooker on a few times as well.

100mm, 6 degree rise, on 2″ risers, tried some fleegles but needed a high rise stem and it looked daft.

Bigjim – I have just bought some 18650 holders from this company http://www.luminousdiy.com/Light%20Kits%20and%20Parts.htm you have to build them yourself though.