I have been contemplating some upgrades for the bike (part of it is lust for shiny new stuff and mostly things I think can improve my commute and beyond). There are 2 bikes that I am focussing on upgrades, firstly, it is my Long Haul Trucker and the second one id some upgrades to my New World Tourist. Lets focus on the simpler upgrade, my Long Haul trucker.

The focus is on setting up a power plant on the bike to generate electricity. Recently (2009 / 2010) many companies are working on products that focus on harnessing energy from the bike to charge electronics (phone, GPS etc…). Some good products coming on line are from pedal power +, B&M and Dahon. I have invested in checking out Pedal Power + and will be testing out their product in the coming weeks. The missing component in my bike is a good electricity generator.

Dynamos on bikes are very old technology and have been around for a long time now and the technology is very mature. Generally, there are 2 classes of products, side wall dynamos (good ones are from B&M) and the hub dynamos (good ones are made by SON, Shimano and SRAM). Pros and cons exist for both versions and I have decided on going along the Hub route. It is expensive option (generally) but if you get a good deal on a hub, it is a very fuss free option.

As I was procuring some components I chanced on a great deal for a Shimano DH-3N72 hub (< 60 USD) and pounced on it. I dont know much about the quality of dynamos but Peter White says that the Shimano Hubs (especially the 7x and 8x) are very good bang for the buck and a very good long term value. I received the package and the hub looks very delicious in appearance and it came with a skewer too. The electric attachment also looks pretty robust I do think it is a good value. I will have to wait for the built wheel and some riding to see if things are going to be smooth sailing.

So, the project essentially involves building a new wheel around the Shimano dynamo hub. I also found good deals on a nice head light (Spanninga Luceo) at velo orange and the entire package does not blow a hole in the wallet. I contemplated re-lacing my current front wheel with the hub but when I thought about it, I needed to get rid of the current rim tape, undo the spokes, get new spokes or try to re-tap the current ones to be used with the larger hub, build the wheels again and replace the rim tape. On the other hand, if I just got a new rim, I need not strip the current wheel and keep it as a backup or sell it to someone who needs it. That’s what I decided and I am going to get a new rim and build a new wheel around the hub. Some pictures in the blog show the new stuff and I will post pictures once I get the wheel built.

The wheels are being built by TR bikes who have built my earlier wheels too and do a great job about it. They recently have tied up with a new wheel builder and I am expecting the build to be the best one can get.

Enjoy the component porn while I wait for the wheel (should be in within the week) and I will be posting more of my experiments with the lights and pedal power + charger in the weeks to come.

Update: I realized it is not easy to find the sub 60$ deal on the hub. It is actually sold by Niagara Cycle Works and they have an amazon shopfront. A direct link to the product is here. It says DH-3N71, but they shipped a DH-3N72. According to Peter White, there is no difference between the models (except the 8x which has an aluminum axle). If you are still waiting on a hub, run there to score the deal.

Some of you might know I am a avid film watcher. I enjoy good movies. Movies are a great art form, almost the most complex art form. It is so difficult to get it right since there are so many variables that affect the experience of watching a movie. It is no wonder good movies are hard to come by. Given that a lot of cost is involved in making a movie, there is a strong urge to make it profitable at the expense of one or more mediocre (or at the least, formulaic) mechanisms to make it easy for the audience to consume. A bunch of predictable gags, plot twists, mundane music etc…

Film festivals are an opportunity  for people to showcase experimental works or try different ideas and experiment with the audience. Sometimes they work and other times they fall flat on the face. And that is the risk of watching shows in festivals. I have had pretty bad experiences before and have suffered very substandard (pseudo art) and have been generally disappointed. So much so that I avoid watching unknown shows – Couple that with the fact that local festival movies are priced much higher (10 bucks a pop compared to a 7.50 for a regularly distributed show).

But I decided to watch a couple of shown in the recent Animation Nation. I needed to watch at least 2 to increase my chances of catching a good show. Well the outcome was neutral but I am happy that one of the shows was really spectacular and the other was bordering on down right crap (though it had some really awesome sequence that made it reasonable to sit through). So what were the shows:

Musashi: This was the first one I watched. The synopsis mentioned Great music, and ‘inventive’ animation. I should say that the music was great in bits, especially the traditional japanese bits. The rest was rubbish. The animation was superb during the Samurai sequences and utter crap in the rest of the movie. The bits that were great were handled by the same guy who did the O-ren Ishii sequence in Kill Bill, Vol 1. The style shows through. But apart from the 20 minutes of those sequence, dispersed in bits and pieces throughout the movie, the rest was absolutely annoying. If I can extract out those 20 minutes, I could watch that without any audio and just enjoy the beautiful animation. Overall, not recommended to spend time on the show though.

Mary and Max: This, on the other hand, was a brilliant show. Stop motion animation with a lot of attention to detail almost in the cadre of Aadvark Animation shows (recall Wallace and Gromit). The movie is great, a very gentle movie dealing with lonely people becoming pen pals. The voice acting was great especially Max (I found out it was Philip Seymour Hoffman), the music was brilliant, sets were nice and the story incredible. I guess makes me start looking for the next film festival Watch it if you get the chance.

I guess the gamble paid off this time though I should look to increase my chances by careful scrutiny next time.

Whenever I speak with people regarding my choice of commuting by bike, the consistent issue in discussion is risk. It is not a discussion but a statement to the effect “It is too dangerous on the roads.”. This always comes from people who do not bike at least not on roads. The reality I face and I make it a point to tell them is that it is silly to think it is dangerous. This has come up so often that now a days, my response is that of the road is not safe, it is because you as a driver are not keeping it safe.

It is an issue I dont think about much since I do not feel threatened when biking on the road. I feel pretty much integral part of the traffic. Rarely I get squeezed for space. I usually follow that with a fist pumping or if I can, I knock on the offending drivers window and ask him to give me space. Usually that results in driver apologizing (note this works in Singapore, I might not try that in some country where people are allowed to carry guns).

So I dont actively think about safety issues and since I do not bother with advocacy, I dont feel the need to raise the issue for others benefit either. But of late, when I went to the movies, I saw a traffic safety ad that bothered me much.

The reason why it pisses me off is not because they show reckless riding by the motor cyclist but because they do not point the finger at the truck. This is a classic fear mongering campaign which is effective in deterring people from motorbiking. The same attitude is extended towards cycling and cars are made out to be a safe habitat.

Well, I think the Traffic Police should balance the views and if they are threatening one section of the population, they should also produce videos and threaten the rest of the bunch too. As in this traffic safety ad.

My personal feel is that education about traffic safety should be more positive instead of showing death. Promoting gracious driving, stopping at the stop line, allowing pedestrians first etc.. should be the focus. I suppose that will slowly promote a gracious culture. Anyway, it anyone is interested in stats, I found the following from SPF site. Funnily, they mention that so many people died in a particular type of vehicle. I think It would be nice to know who was the other party involved in the accident. I that the reverse perspective will show a lot more cars / trucks involved in causing fatal accidents. That is the stat the police should be paying attention to. People how cause accidents and live to drive another day.

Anyway, do me a favor and pay attention when you are driving on the road.