BUILDING LIGHTS

	Lights Page We have been experimenting and revising these systems for over a year. They are still a work in progress with better, more dependable methods incorporated in each handmade set. Our testing revealed we needed at least 20watts of power in the woods and even more for fast technical downhill racing. Road riding required no more than 20watts with most of the time around 10-15watts. Big difference between road and woods. The Helmet light needs to be at a minimum 15watts in the woods and 20watts if preferable.

	Our goal was to produce a complete lighting system that was superior to what was commercially available at about a quarter the cost. We also wanted extended ride time with out using 2watt bulbs. When our lights came up behind other racers at Cannan it cast a shadow in front of them causing comments.

	Every piece we use is readily available through surplus outlets and electronic supply stores. We spent many hours searching on theInternett for suppliers and are continually in quest of a "better deal" or heavier duty parts.

	The foundation is the MR16 and MR11 bulbs available every where. A 20wattMR16 is $5.40 with a 15wattMR11 being the most expensive a $8.90. This is important if you ride hard and crash a lot. Anything will break in a hard fall. The housing is made out of .35 inch aluminum tubing which we enlarge at one end to accept the base of the light by hammering over a metal rod (trailer pen) beveled a little. Another thing we found, we wanted to be able to easily switch the lights on and off a lot. You can alternate the helmet and bar lights to greatly extend the burn time. Plus you want to be able to easily switch to max light for quick descents and turn off helmet light when you converse. Therefore we use large pushbuttons at the rear of the light. The ceramic socket is available at discount lighting supply outlets for around 3 bucks.

	Using both MR 16's and 11's gives us the flexibility to use the smaller lights on helmets or road bikes if desired. After assembling and soldering the switch we fill up the tube with any epoxy. This holds it all together. It is a throw away item but think about it, its only 13 bucks worth of parts. The beam spread is spot with 7 to 15 degrees depending on what is desired. You definitely want a narrow spot. We spray paint the back of the reflector with BlackBarbecuee paint to prevent glare upward but mask off the bottom so light is cast downward. This give a very important illumination of indirect light of the ground and the front wheel. Your periphery vision uses this to sense where the front tire is related to the terrain.

	Mounting the lights to the bar is accomplished using 1/2 inch conduit U straps and ty wrapping them to the bar. Our Aluminum tubing is just alittlee undersized for these U straps so we make up the difference using a piece of road tube slid over the aluminum. This actually helps keep the assembly tight on the bar (no metal on metal contact). The lights are easily pointed up and down and side to side. Ty wraps are very cheap and allow quick removal and installation.

	We use Velcro to attach the helmet light. Get the wideVelcroo brand that has the super sticky rubberish backing. Make a U on the helmet and then just wrap the light. This allows for many easily changeable positions ahead and back on the helmet. This is important if you are riding down hill, up hill or on the flats for a long time.Velcroco holds like glue. Here again if you crash the whole thing is only 13 bucks, well add a extra .25 cents for tVelcrolco

	Batteries are the most expensive part of any light set. You can spend money on fancy coiled cords or LED Displays but storage is the key. We have taken the very cheap way out using SLA (sealed lead acid) batteries. These packs 12v @ 2400ahr are 5 bucks a piece. We put a slow blow fuse in them which not only protects the light system on the bike but also the charger when they are charging. We duct tape them in the 6 pack form (6 D cells) or flatten them out to fit in a Camel Back for the helmet light.

	The Cube 6 pack fits neatly in a water bottle cage. We are using a two prong (trailer wire) connector for all our connectors. These have the male and female receptacle on each end. You can wire them so the charges are always polarized correctly to the batteries. Lights of course make no difference.

	We have tried a bunch of chargers and came to the realization that cheap is not the way to go. We had some at 5 bucks and they kept popping. We have have great luck, so far, with these OKI chargers which are around 11 bucks. The were made to replace a cell phone's Ni Cad battery with the cigarette light end. We make a converter plug to adapt this to our batteries. This allows us to charge our batteries from a car (quite convenient when the power strips are full at the 24 hour races or you are on the road on vacation).

	Another no brainer is the "Energy management system" that some light companies promote. Well we accomplish the same thing with these $8 volt meters that are smaller than a pack of smokes. Nice to have to know if your batteries are fully charged. Running two light systems (helmet and bar) gives you the ability to kill one and ride out on the other

	In our quest to due epic rides at night we are using large SLA 7.2 ahr batteries. These last many hours and can be acquired for around 18 bucks. They are used in back up power supplies for individual PC's so they readily available. We make aluminum trays out of signs and use saddles from a hardware store to bolt them on.

	The final mounting gets you an extra 4 pounds of lead to pedal. We are experimenting with Ni Cad and NiMH cells to achieve a lightweight high ahr and "cheap" energy source. Email us if you know of anything at lights@bikeclub.org