Choosing Cycling Lights

Warning and safety lights can save your life. More correctly - make you and your forward vision visible to prevent a major injury. Words by Paul Mah   Generally most specialty bike shops will advise you to get both a FRONT and REAR blinkers to make you and your bike clearly visible in dusk to darkness. This is critical if you are one of the avid pre-dawn warriors or just perpetually late night cyclist. However, for Singapore streets, cyclists have to compete with electric bikes, scooters and motorbikes all of which have low and high beam lights. Oftentimes a small blinker may not be noticeable enough in the melee of street lights and faster vehicles. So in summary - brighter is better. A small blinker is of course better than no lights - so if you value your bike and flesh, best to stick to the new technology of silicone-protected LED lights that uses at least 2x3V button batteries (which is 2032) or double AAA batteries which are now available at most specialty bike shops. These will work well in most types of rainy weather except when you are underwater at Orchard Road. Modes usually are fast blink, normal blink and steady on.   Tactical LED flashlights now comes in all sizes and colours, and are all IPX7 rated - which means you can swim with them. However, the key factor you will be considering when investing in pricier Aircraft Grade aluminium flashlight is: are you paying for more than your needs? This also means more in bulk and weight - unless you are getting a "state-of-art" technological gadget.   The choice boils down to whether you are a roadie or a MTB night rider. As demands for MTB is very rigorous, the lights tend towards HID brightness with accompanying 3W to 5W LED headlamps. Batteries too will be high performance rechargeable lithium-ion. Roadies will choose between one good "thrower" on helmet for forward visibility or combination of a floodlight on handlebar and a more focused (or spot) beam on the helmet. For insurance, invest your money on good brands that carries full warranty and always ask if it is CREE (www.cree.com). Bike mounts are now also available – some which can be fixed semi-permanently onto handlebars, and the simplest is the EZ silicone band. Buy a couple as you then can combine and use it for helmet mounting for smaller flashlights. Note that the smallest sized flashlight is using AAA batteries. The helmet mounted model is Tank007-E09 and weighs 14gms excluding battery.   Battery Tips As with all battery powered devices, use fresh batteries when you are going for a long ride or event Never leave home without doing a quick check of the flashlight and if you have spares with you. Most tactical grade flashlights should be able to use regular alkaline batteries OR SONY Eneloop. Higher performance models will function better with protected re-chargeable Lithium Ion batteries. Never leave batteries stored in the flashlights for more than 6 months – if not using remember to take the batteries out.   For more information on Tank007 Lights, check out their website www.tank007.net  

Loud and Clear

Stand up and be proud, Singapore. A locally developed product is taking the cycling world by storm! Remember that one scene in Transformers when John Turturro explained that most of modern day technology was actually reversed engineered by studying Megatron? While science fiction geeks, including yours truly, wish that such a thing may be true, the fact is today some consumer electronics credit their origins from a less insidious source – the military. Surprised? The internet, microwave ovens, GPS technology are just some examples of trickle-down military tech that have made their way to the masses. UCLEAR’s HBC 130 helmet communicator is also such a product. Developed by local enterprise BITwave with the help of Kenji Lim of Motoworld, the product has already made its rounds in bicycle shows in the States and has received a lot of buzz for the way it revolutionises how cyclists communicate on the move.   Unlike conventional wireless communicators, the HBC 130 boasts a boomless microphone and patented beam forming technology that isolates background noise, resulting in clear, audible calls. Using their years of experience of working with the military, BITwave embarked on a project that took them nearly two years to complete. With the rider’s safety in mind, Mr Hui Siew Kok, President and CEO of BITwave explained, “We decided to put our technology into a consumer product so that users can benefit from it.”   The main control unit is fixed on the left side of the helmet with the help of the helmet strap or mounting bracket provided. The stereo headset pieces go on the underside of the helmet and additional Velcro bits are provided to help tidy up the rest of the wires. The additional mounting bracket allows cyclists to fix the unit onto any bicycle helmet, even dirt lids. Performance Synching the control unit to your Bluetooth-enabled smartphone thankfully is a painless process. We were able to synch one of our staff’s iPhones to the unit in less than a minute and gave it a test run. As was highlighted during the launch, the HBC 130 allows cyclists to answer calls via voice detection. This is where the beauty of the technology behind the unit comes into play. The two headset pieces also act as receivers that are able to detect the origin of a person’s voice and isolate it from the background noise, allowing calls to be answered with a simple ‘hello’. Call clarity on the receiving end was clear and the in-ear pieces had just the right amount of noise cancellation to allow you to enjoy your music and listen to calls while still being aware of your surroundings, something that road cyclists will definitely appreciate. Voice dialling is also enabled, depending on the capabilities of your mobile phone. What’s most impressive, and the key feature of the HBC 130 is its ability to isolate the wind noise that plagues conventional boom-microphone units. Even when cycling head-on with the wind in our faces, our testers on the other end of the line were surprised at the clarity of the call. We even tested the unit next to a stereo on blast and even then only the voice of the wearer could be heard. The simple design of the unit and its three large buttons allowed us to make volume adjustments and answer calls easily, even with gloved hands.   Keep the music playing The HBC 130’s battery life is impressive. The rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery has a standby time of up to two weeks and a talk time life of up to 10 hours, which is more than enough for an entire weekend of cycling. The unit comes with AC and USB charger, so cyclists who cycle to work can choose to charge their units via their laptops. An extension cord is also provided should you choose to keep the unit in your bag or pocket. In our tests we were able to play music continuously during one of our Sunday rides. If you fancy, the unit also pairs up with Bluetooth-enabled GPS units, so any directional notifications will be sent straight to your headphones even when you are plugged in to your music. Extend your reach Cyclists can also choose to pair two units for two-way communications via intercom. For those who are looking to connect more than two units, say in the case of touring, UCLEAR also has a Bluetooth-adaptor for walkie-talkies to extend the range and number of units that are able to link up with one another. www.motoworld.com.sg

Champions Triumph at Aviva Ironman 70.3

2011 female champion Mary Beth Ellis defends her title while top ITU short course champion Josh Amberger takes home first Ironman 70.3 title in his debut The sixth edition of the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore saw triathletes from 62 countries and over 400 local participants conquer the grueling race's new route at East Coast Park. The race continues to be a popular international race, with close to 1,200 international participants racing along the scenic east coast of Singapore. 32 professional triathletes have also made their mark here as they race towards world success, and earn points for the World Ironman 70.3 Championship in Las Vegas, USA, in September. The race saw Australia's up and coming triathlete Josh Amberger and Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore Triathlon female defending champion Mary Beth Ellis take home the titles. View pictures here.

Polygon signs Sam Reynolds

Freeride athlete Sam Reynolds joins the Polygon team as their first European rider after signing the contract with the rising bike manufacturer. Polygon is already the leading bike manufacturer on the Asian market and is now expanding to Europe and their bikes are expected to hit bicycle shops this year. With one of the most progressive European riders on board, Polygon is looking forward to a bright future. Polygon can look back on two decades of experience and in that time were able to prove their technological know-how and passion for gravity sports. It is for a good reason that their DH racing team, the “Polygon Factory Team”, takes home one victory after another in the Asian series. For 2012, Polygon is getting ready to bring their quality craftsmanship and cutting-edge technology to Europe in form of their own range of bikes. As a next step along the way, the bike manufacturer is excited to have the young and talented British rider on the team. “With his direct input, Sam will help us develop our bikes even further in order to provide the best riding experience to all Polygon riders. His will to always push forward and always give his best makes him a great ambassador for the Polygon company”, says Yustian Nimara, Marketing Manager of Polygon bikes. With Polygon’s wide gravity range, Sam Reynolds will be perfectly equipped for upcoming competitions, such as the different stops of the FMB World Tour. Sam being such a versatile rider, Polygon made sure he has a bike for every occasion. “It’s awesome to be part of something fresh and new and I am really stoked to be the first rider in Europe to sign for the Polygon team. Straight away Polygon has felt like the perfect match and I can’t wait to test my frames, especially the Cozmic DX Alloy & Cromo bike, and to develop them into the most fun bikes money can buy!” The 20-year-old British rider ranks among the top riders worldwide and has achieved great success in numerous competitions, like the 4th place at Red Bull District Ride, 2nd at Monster Energy White Style and overall winner of the UK King of Dirt Tour. For more info, visit sg.rodalink.com