Reviews

Cycling stuff

My opinion on various bits and things that I use with my Brompton bike.

Lights

CATEye volt

PROS: Decent charging times and battery life, pretty strong light and various patterns. Uses standard mini USB charging cables.

CONS: Really too big for mounting on the handle bars, it can get on the way of the wheel when folding.

Blaze light

PROS: Pedestrians do notice when a bike is approaching, and will walk back and not cross without looking. Accidents are avoided!

CONS: Not really visible unless it's quite dark, uses its own unique USB connector to charge, long charging times from empty (4h+!), not cheap.

Clothing

LUMO Herne Hill cycling jacket

PROS: It's long on the back, so the chances of exposing your "cheeks" are greatly diminished. It doesn't look ridiculous, but fairly stylish. People don't know it's a "cycling jacket" until you tell them. Nice material.

CONS: So many!

  • The LED strip makes the collar flap really stiff and annoying--while the other side is relaxed.
  • Also the LED flashing patterns feel really primitive. They could be way smoother while still visible and being less annoying to the wearer.
  • The battery can feel quite bulky if you put things in the pocket (which is what pockets are for, last time I checked)
  • It's not waterproof, just a little bit water resistant (despite what the literature says). Meaning if it rains more than a little, you'll get that annoying damp clothes feeling.
  • Also, I don't know why the pocket on the back doesn't have a zip but has a magnet, and the other pockets have zip but no magnets, resulting on the flaps always being looking towards the outside, and looking really silly.
  • The elastic on the sleeves can get a bit too tight some times, making it uncomfortable. Specially if you're trying to look at your watch in your wrist.
  • Their advertising states you can wear this on a range of 5 to 20 degrees, but...

    • ... there's no way you can wear this when it's 5 degrees outside. Even when wearing 'normal clothes' underneath (there's just no space to wear the normal clothes). This jacket is too thin for 5 degrees.
    • ... there's no way you can wear this when it's 20 degrees outside. It just gets unbearably hot when you're cycling, and you can't really even roll the sleeves up because of the elastic wrists. This jacket is too thick for 20 degrees.
I feel like all these are errors that could be fixed in a "V2" release. I do like the jacket, but sometimes I get super irritated by it!