mountain_lion

Here is a computer generated profile from 90m DEM for the track you indicated on the GE screen shot above. Should be close enough to use until you get an actual recording. uploads/20080323_141133_kommisaris_hill.zip (.gpx format)

Sorry, should have said hello and asked if it was PappaBear and his men, but was expecting a larger group including at least Fanie, Marius & Lilo. Sounded like someone took a tumble on that downhill...

Jammer ons het julle gemis. Met 6:15 vertrek het ek verwag julle sal ongeveer 8:15 bel van Neethlingshof omgewing. Het gewag tot 8:40 en toe het ek en my vrou maar gery. Moes eintlik gevra het dat julle SMS wanneer julle vetrek ook. Ons was op die Standpad toe julle bel en het die foon te laat gehoor. Het dadelik teruggebel, maar net voicemail gekry. Toe julle van Mug & Bean af bel was ons heel bo op die klipperige single track oppad na Coetzenburg. Ons is toe oor Helshoogte toe. Amper bo het daar 'n groep van 5? van voor gekom, maar dit was seker nie julle nie. Moes seker gevra het, maar teen daai bult het mens nie baie asem nie! Volgende keer. mountain_lion2008-03-22 05:14:50

An outdoor shot will indeed be more meaningful. Perhaps like the beam comparisons which MTBR did in their lights shine-off (dated by now, but still a very nice reference). I am not surprised about the heat at all. These power LEDs get hot! Decent size heat sink is a must. This is also why using the dimming function of the buck-puck is important. If you only run the LEDs at full blast when needed, the heat problem is reduced. P=I?R, thus if you can drop the current a bit, you reduce the energy required (and thus the heat to dissipate) substantially.

OK I am in too. Dick, I trust you will get them from Neethlingshof to Pappegaaiberg, which means you will be passing very close to my front door. Will PM my cell number to PappaBear so that you can let me know when you are approaching Stellenbosch.

OK, I had another look at my Argus track. My Edge 305 did loose the satellites under the concrete canopy on Chappies, but only for a short while and continued in dead reckoning mode (straight line) until it managed to lock on to the satellites again. This did not have any influence on the total time recorded. My unit is not set to stop the time if you stop moving in any case. It is easy to get the moving time & stopped time on the PC from the track log after downloading the data.

I might join in Stellenbosch. Being local, I will skip the road bit. Time? Looks like it is going to be hot!

8 X NiMH AA is probliby the best way to go. Easy to source and charge. Might need to get a larger charge - my smart charger only takes 4 at a time. I also had some other cheap NiMH AA chargers, but gave them away. Using a smart charger does extend battery life. I have a few 6V 4Ah sealed lead acid gel batteries which I am using for my existing home made light sets. Also easy to charge and not expensive, but they are bulky and heavy. Unfortunately I doubt if 6V will be enough to power 3 LEDs in series. Where do you get Lipo batteries? Cost? Special charger needed?

Looks cool Mark! Care to post a photo of the beam in action? I doubt if I am going to go for fancy like you with carbon. I hope to find the right diameter Al pipe else PVC. I am not really concerned with weight. But first I must order my LEDs...

That garmin speed and cadence meter is worthless. The battery on that thing lasts like maybe two weeks then it stops working and you need to replace the battery. A far as I can tell, my Garmin Edge 305 did not loose signal anywhere along the route (had a detailed look at the tracklog in MapSource). My Garmin time and Winning time for the Argus only differ by a few seconds. I did use the cadence and speed sensor, which by the way has been running on the original battery for 6 months (used regularly). Same for Mrs mountain_lion's 305. Sounds like you have got a problematic unit.

Don't recall the tree being there...

Nee, ek is nie groot nie en weet nie eers wie die Bulls is nie

I am not sure which maps Avnic plan to bundle with the 705. If they do not include a topo map, then my GPS topo maps (hobby project) might be of interest. See http://madmappers.com/AfricaTopo ZP: we must get together some time and compare data. Looks like you are doing good work around Stellenbosch. From the image and tracks which you posted on another thread https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=21348 it seems like you have gone past my house! mountain_lion2008-03-13 15:56:47

AFAIK 1kJ = 238.8459cal or 1kcal = 4.1868kJ Thus 712kJ = 170058.3cal = 170.0583kcal mountain_lion2008-03-13 00:23:48

ISP traced the problem with http://shop.rabtron.co.za/catalog/ to a proxy machine. Changed to a different proxy and all is fine, so I can start shopping...

The only issue with longer wiring between the LEDs and the buck puck is impedance of the wiring. To reduce the impedance of the wiring (and thus the voltage drop) , just increase the wire size (cross sectional area). More copper = less impedance. No problem. How are you doing brightness control? Variable pot on the buck puck or switched fixed steps? Also where are you locating & mounting this control? Running at max. brightness should not always be required and by dropping the current to the LEDs you can extend your battery run time by a considerable amount. mountain_lion2008-03-07 14:11:35

I stated on a hard tail and am now riding the Anthem 2. Very happy with it. HT does help with building your skills, but budget wise it might make more sense in going for the Anthem from the start. Pump the rear shock a bit harder to get more of a hard tail response if you want...

For my previous home made sets, I used a LED flasher mount on the stem. Works well, with the lights out of the way under the handlebar. See https://www.bikehub.co.za/forum_posts.asp?TID=11234&KW=lights&PID=189021#189021

Above ideas work fine for a down lighter type light; I have used it too. Problem with the high power LEDs is heat. No point mounting the LEDs on a heat sink and then enclosing it. A metal enclosure which is thermally bonded to the LED will be best. Then the enclosure can form part of the heat sink extracting the heat to the outside. I am still thinking about how achieve this in a practical way that is easy to build at home.

Oh, and I thought it was all about this race.... http://www.discoverydiving.com/uwbikerace.htm mountain_lion2008-03-05 08:11:37

Well said Ctrl-C. JB, your input is appreciated on the Hub, sarcastic or not.

All fine from the office; must be something funny with my ISP or my setup at home....

Thanks for checking WH Nope, cookies enabled etc. Same on 2 PCs here; perhaps my ISP or something on my router. Although I have no problem with other similar sites... Will try from the office tomorrow.

I also need components for my next light project, so I just tried browsing http://shop.rabtron.co.za/catalog/login.php without much success. No matter what I try (with Firefox and IE7) I am stuck on the login page. Clicking continue as new (unregistered) customer has no effect. Even tried to register, but submit of the registration form (they require a ridiculous level of personal data...), took me straight back to the login page and I still can't login ... If I can't even browse a supplier's website before registering as a customer, I am certainly not going to order from them... Are they having problems, or is something wrong on my side?

Agree with this. Have a look at how Stan does the conversion himself: http://www.notubes.com/support_movies.php When converting to tubeless using standard tyres, the shaking and laying flat is important. I have been running tubeless for a year now and no problems. First converted the non-UST tyres that came with the bike, but did not like them and got the Cross Mark LUST. (still have to see how they do in real mud, but very nice in the dry). Just converted Mrs. Mountain_lion's MTB too with Kenda Karma USTs. @R299 each, it was worth it to go UST rather than standard tyre.