Monday, September 29, 2008

Mark's LHT Brevet Light Setup


Mark W writes:

"Vik, per your request, here are three shots of the front lighting on my LHT, that also show the dual stem set up.

Needless to say, I don't subscribe to the French pechant for handlebar bags and/or small front panniers--especially since the LHT doesn't have the appropriate front end geometry. For brevets I use one or two small ortlieb panniers--which don't affect bike handling at all, get the weight low, minimize aerodynamic drag etc. And for touring involving camping, I use a Nomad. So that allows the area between the drops to be used for lighting."




"This set up works better than I thought it might. The lights aren't in the way of anything, there are no restrictions on hand placement on the bars, plenty of light for road riding at up to about 30 mph, the lithium AA's last for over 100 hours, and while the light pattern on the cateye EL-530s is inadequate if you only use one, by using four the pattern is quite good, even in the corners--better than the Fly IQ powered by a Schmidt SON on one of my other bikes.

Rgrds,

M"



9 comments:

bmike said...

wow.

wonder why the LHT if a nomad is used for touring, nothing is ever carried up front, and it seems that not much is carried in the rear...

Anonymous said...

"wonder why the LHT, if a Nomad is used for touring, nothing is ever carried up front, and it seems that not much is carried in the rear..."

Well, because the LHT is a decent platform for an all conditions reasonably fast, very comfortable long distance bike for someone of my weight (6'0", 185 lbs.)

All the touring braze ons are handy for for a brevet bike. For example, I have Velo-Orange fenders, which are the longer French type that are made to be mounted to a front rack--and I don't want to use a front rack. Because the LHT has double mounting eyelets at the fork drop outs, I'm able to attach a second fender stay at the front of the front fender, and the extra fender length doesn't flop around--plus the second fender stay gives the bike a classic, elegant look.

On tempo rides (fast, relatively constant speed) my splits on the LHT are virtually identical to my splits on my Litespeed Tuscany with Full Campy Record and Ksyrium wheels (the LHT weighs 35 lbs as equipped, the Tuscany weighs 18 lbs.)

So all in all, the LHT does a good job in meeting my needs. It was also relatively inexpensive at $2,500 fully equipped, is rugged, reliable, and I like its utilitarian design.

Russell said...

Sweet, what a cool setup. What is the crossbar the lights are mounted to?

Vik said...

The bar is a cut down handle bar.

El Duke said...

Really thoughtful set-up. Why follow convention when this works as well or better? Cool

Rory said...

Mark,

What do you mean when you say "Needless to say, I don't subscribe to the French pechant for handlebar bags and/or small front panniers--especially since the LHT doesn't have the appropriate front end geometry"?

The LHT doesn't have the right front end geometry for front panniers?

Rory

Vik said...

Yes the LHT's fork is designed for a rear only load or a front and rear load....it's not designed for a load mainly on the front...the LHT handles poorly setup that way.

Rory said...

What makes a bike's front end geometry suited to carrying front panniers only?

Vik said...

Hey Rory,

Low trail helps:

http://blogs.phred.org/blogs/alex_wetmore/archive/2007/04/25/reraking.aspx

http://bikebuilding.blogspot.com/2006/08/high-trail-vs-low-trail.html

Bicycle Quarterly did some extensive testing and discussion of front end geometry and how it affects bike handling with different loads. It's worth getting a hold of that issue to read the article.

I'm not enough of an expert on the subject to explain things much further.

I have tested the LHT with a front only load and it was unpleasant. Same bike with a rear only load or a front and rear load handled great.