Garden Here's where the Kale were at last week: It's been shitty and rainy all week and I haven't felt like going outside to snap more photos of them. We were scheduled to till dirt last weekend, but the ground is so sloppy. It's supposed to stop raining today, and then we have typical Kansas wind and sun until Saturday, so hopefully we can do it this weekend. Bicycle Stream of Consciousness [ Threespeed Edition ] I still haven't torn apart my touring bike to check for damage after my crash, and it's been raining so much I can't ride my Raleigh because steel rims + rain = another crash. But I have been thinking about consolidating down to just the Raleigh. I'd need to do some retrofits. New alloy rims for sure. My noodle is thinking on 26" / ISO 559mm, which is smaller than was stock (26" 1 3/8, which are actually ISO 590mm). It'd allow me to fit some large, cushy tires on there for brick/washboard roads, but I'd probably have to move to drum brakes as finding caliper brakes with long enough reach for the shorter rims would be hard. I could move to a dynamo lighting setup too if I dropped down to one bike. Drums would be appropriate for the bike, (and were indeed an optional extra back in the day) but modern hubs are wider so I'd have to coldset the frame. Or find vintage hubs, which are much less powerful. And which also means using ebay, which means using paypal... I'd also like to find a rear rack off a Superbe to fit on it, which also means paypal. Basically, what I want is a Superbe, not a Sports. But I've only ever seen one for sale in the area, and I let is slip through my fingers. I should probably get my paypal account unlocked, I guess. Fuck.
Only with an old halogen/bottle dynamo setup. I agree those are horrid. I've seen LED ones in action, but never ridden 'em. If I go the dynamo route, I'd probably plop down the money for a Schmidt Edelux II. Is it the brightest thing I could buy for the money? No. Is it comparable to the Light and Motion's I've got? Yes. Is the beam pattern on it better? You betcha. Thing is, the L&M lights have symmetrical mirrors, so I never use anything brighter than "low" on my lights if I'm in the city. That's 75 or 150 lum depending on which light I'm using (and if L&M isn't lying to me). 75 being the one I judge by because I had it first and its perfectly functional for me. Not exactly a high bar for a LED to hit these days.