My new touring rig

[Joshua Billings]

Here is a picture of my new touring bike from REI. I bought the Novara Randonee 2013 model. I plan on doing some touring but mostly use it for commuting to work. Having fun! I got the ortleib panniers for front and back with a surly nice front rack on order. Biking is really good.

[John S.]

Nice bike Joshua.

[Mitchell Rossman]

Nice bike! A Revelate Designs Sweet Roll is also nice to have, but not needed.

[David Lutz]

Nice bike….same as mine!

If you ever want company on a tour let me know.

[Daniel Pittman]

Pretty rad. If you're serious about commuting, you need better lights. NiteRider has some sweet new models coming out for '14, including a 600 lumen helmet mounted headlight with integrated tail-light. They're based in San Diego. Great people and amazing products.

[Joshua Billings]

Yah lets go Dave. I was thinking big sur. Maybe bike down there and do some backpacking as well if we can find a safe place to stash the bikes. The lights i have seem pretty bright but I will check those people out. Bike on.

[Eric Douglas]

As long as someone suggested lights:

Nothing beats a generator hub for touring. You can get a decent wheel and light for about 200 and then never have two worry about batteries.

Some setups even lets you charge USB devices off of the bub–great for long tours. Tis is how I keep my iphone, ipod etc. charged on tour.

Cheers,

Eric

[Joshua Billings]

Yah funny you should mention that. I am getting a shimano hub and supernova E3 pro 2 light this week somtime. I actually bought a wheel prebuilt with disk brakes so I am getting new surly forks too. Should be nice for the months to come when it gets dark earlier. I'll take photos when its done. Still no touring but that will be soon.

[Eric Douglas]

Glad to hear that you're getting a dynamo wheel. Now you'll have a real touring bike.

One question: Why did you choose the Supernova light? Supernova makes nice lights–I especially like the E3 triple for off road–although I prefer the beam of the Busch & Müller Luxos IQ2 Headlights for on-road. For comparison, see Peter Jon White's site:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp

Regards,

Eric

[Joshua Billings]

Man i just had too spin the wheel and choose one. So many out there. Do you think the light I chose is a good one? I like the beam pattern from peter white bikes and I wanted led so as to not need to change bulbs often. The e3 pro 3 is too bright for on road use. Is there one you think i should be looking at instead? I like the look of the one i got. Tail light too with a switch that turns both lights on at the same time or off. I will most likely leave it on always. Also I am thinking about getting a usb charger at the stem. Looks cool but you can't run lights and charger at the same time. Thanks for any insight. Also getting a brooks saddle. Coinage going through it. I am loving it and have lost 35 lbs so far. Getting down to fighting wait. We will see about the rains. Want some fenders soon too.

[Joshua Billings]

Here is a pic before the fork change.

[Joshua Billings]

I did check out the lexos u . Very wide beam. Also the one you recommended looked nice. It seems like maybe the beam i chose has a longer beam pattern but not as wide. If you are going fast at night it is nice to see far ahead.The one i chose also has a fairly wide beam too but let me know if you think or heard differently .

[Arapiles .]

"One question: Why did you choose the Supernova light? Supernova makes nice lights–I especially like the E3 triple for off road–although I prefer the beam of the Busch & Müller Luxos IQ2 Headlights for on-road. For comparison, see Peter Jon White's site:
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/headlights.asp"

I'd be very wary of buying the Luxos, as there appear to be serious problems with a large number of the lights produced up until May. I bought one and it failed completely within days. Unusually the German web shop I bought it from refunded the purchase price and the cost of returning it to them (which is not their typical practice – they usually repair and return) which suggests that they've acknowledged that there's a serious issue with them. Caveat emptor.

[Eric Douglas]

I wasn't aware of the problem with the Luxos. Do you know of any forums (or other sources) where this was discussed?

IMO opinion the Luxos has the best beam for road riding–but if it isn't reliable, the beam quality doesn't matter.

Eric

[Arapiles .]

If you google "Luxos U problems" you'll find plenty of references. There are several threads I've seen (and participated in) – Aushiker links to a few, BNA has a thread and there's been discussion of the Luxos in the UK (YACF perhaps?) and plenty in Germany (apparently).

The Luxos – both U and B models – is bit of a lottery. Some people have had no problems, but a significant number of users, such as myself, have had complete failures. Some riders in the US reported failure after rain, but mine simply didn't work from the off.

I don't know how Peter White got those beam pics but they bore no relation to what I saw. I should point out that I commute daily all year round and I've been using StVZO compliant bike lights, including Busch & Muller lights, for the last 6 years and I currently have a Philips LED (what they call the Saferide in the US), a Trelock LS950, a B&M Ixon IQ and an Ilumenox Vega 6 Volt Dynamo Headlight, so I know what the Luxos should've looked like. I bought the Illumenox to replace the Luxos, since it seemed silly to have the dynamo wheel on the bike but no light attached to it. The Illumenox only claims 35 lux (half what B&M claim for the Luxos) but in practice it's just as bright as the Luxos was – which really doesn't say much for the Luxos. At 70 lux the Luxos should have been similar to the Philips, which is an extremely bright light with a wide spread beam, but it was nowhere near it (MTBR has a test and beam shots of the Philips, and my review of the light is around the internet if you're interested). The main reason to buy the Luxos was the (reputed) wide beam but mine was so dim it barely lit the road in front of my wheel, let alone the sides of the road. The one light I am hearing good things about is the Exposure Revo, which is reputedly every bit as bright as it is claimed to be. One of the guys on the BNA thread had had a Supernova E3 but it failed after a year (well, it was apparently after 15000ks but even so …), so that's yet another light off my list!

[Eric Douglas]

Gosh-the Luxos does seem to have have had allot of problems–I was only aware of the rear light compatibility issue. Mine's been fine so far, but apparently its the luck of the draw.

I been using over the past few years a Supernova E3, E3 triple, Inolight 20, Schmidt E6, Busch & Müller Luxos U and IQ Cyo. To my eyes the Luxos is as bright as any of the others but with a wider beam–with the exception of the E3 triple–which I loved for off road but hated for on road.

By the way, PJW got those beam pics by taking them in his driveway.

Regards,

Eric

[David Lutz]

Bike looks great Josh!

What front rack is that?

[Joshua Billings]

Its the surley nice front rack. I like it because I can load the top of it with bigger things and I can mount my light in front since my handlebar bag blocks the ability to mount a light to the bars. Also I can hang the panniers lower for better steering( so I've heard).

[Arapiles .]

"I been using over the past few years a Supernova E3, E3 triple, Inolight 20, Schmidt E6, Busch & Müller Luxos U and IQ Cyo. To my eyes the Luxos is as bright as any of the others but with a wider beam–with the exception of the E3 triple–which I loved for off road but hated for on road."

Which suggests that the one I got really was faulty.

"By the way, PJW got those beam pics by taking them in his driveway."

Yes, I understood that: my point was that the brightness and spread of the beam in his photos bore no relation to what came out of my Luxos.

[Backpack Jack]

Who wants to do a water bike tour? This is crazy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLboyOqi6R8

like your setup Josh!

Jack

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