markStockton

I don't know about BG and Jules. However I can say I found the terrain very tough, even more so at night. I can not believe the pace that the front runners managed to sustain. Also had my DIY light fail early on (loose connector on the Buckpuck, which was all nicely secured inside the water resistant battery housing ) and rode the rest of the distance with a 1W Luxeon head lamp.

Here are some pic's from last nights race.

Geez that is bad. Glad you are OK, sorry about the bike.

Doesn't anyone on this forum have contacts in the ICD that can look into what seems like a fairly clear cut case of police corruption?

I'm not to sure this does the light justice, however here is a photo taken last night. It is outdoors that the light excels, however as there is no immediate backdrop for the light to reflect off it is impossible to photograph. Also I have nothing to really compare the light to (apart from a Mag Light) tourch. A point of concern. The heatsink get's to hot to hold comfortably in about 5 minutes. I guess this means it is working and while on the bike it will have air cooling. However I didn't expect it to get this hot. It looks like a decent heatsink is a must.

Done... Excellent, I'd love to know how his new found sexual orientation works out for him.

Lipos have been widely adopted by Model Aircraft pilots. However buying them from hobby shops is just plain asking to be sexually assulted with out lubricant. Some of the specialist battery wholesalers are carrying them. In Jhb Framptons in Germiston is a good option. I'll post costs when I get my cell's. Yes you need a special charger as these cells are very difficult to work with. However a good fast charger that works off 12v can be bought for around R 500.00. These are well worth it as they are very good at managing your NiCad, NiMH and Lead Acid cells as well. Lipo's if charged or discharged incorrectly can and will catch fire and burn. Remember all the Laptop's that where recalled a year ago!!!

What about a man 2 man classified?

If I can find a source of 50mm round heatsink's, I'll make a mold for the carbon case and be able to turn them out fairly easily and cheaply. I'll try and take some pic's tonight, weather permitting.

Thank's' date=' that answers that question for me, the Buckpuck is going on the frame in the same enclosure as the battery. I havn' t decided about these option's yet. My plan at present is to have enough battery capacity to complete the ride at full power. Initially I'm planning on using 8 X 2500 NiMH batteries which should provide 2 1/2 hours battery life. I'm also considering making up a 3S 2P Lipo (Lithium Polymer) pack that should provide 5 hours battery life.

One advantage to the cold and wet weekend we just had, I made a epoxy / carbon housing for my light. Here it is I also shaped the CPU heatsink to mount the LED's on. All up it weighs 136grams, I think the heatsink is over half the weight. It looks like having a good knowledge of composites is going to pay dividends with biking as well. markStockton2008-03-18 03:50:18

Hi Wendell I popped out to the farm yesterday afternoon. It as a tad to wet to ride but looks like an awsome venue . I'm planning on returning on Tuesday. What I forgot to find out is if there are changerooms? Good luck with this venture.

Here is what I did about 6 month's ago when very new to biking. I bought a cheap Omega MTB on http://www.bikebay.co.za for about R 800.00, just to see if I liked MTB. It turned out to be hopelessly to big, so I gave it to my wife who is just over 6 ft tall. I then found found an old Diamondback with full XT group set for +- R 700.00 at http://www.gumtree.co.za/. This bike I used to complete 2 Babba's, the Fast MTB and Vodacom Challenge 45km MTB race. At this stage I decided I was keen on MTB and went shopping for a real XC MTB bike. I was going to buy new, but finally after riding lots of bikes ended up buying a Cannondale that was advertised here on the Hub.

Is it safe and possible to ride there from 17h00 till sundown on weekdays. I work not far up the road.

both cost (I have a family with 5 bikers in it) and sense of accomplishment.