Rear Lighting Solutions?

Thargor

Ive bought a good few of these kinds of rear lights now from Ebay to try and get one that fits:



And every single one of them the attachment bit is way too small for the upright I want to attach them to and I end up giving them away to friends, there's literally nowhere on the back of my bike I could put it, that attachment bit needs to be 2 or 3 times bigger.

What are the other options for mounting or is there any clever DIY solution I might not have thought of? I have one strapped to the back with cable ties for safety because its dark when Im coming home but it looks crap and it rattles when I go over bumps, someone has to have come across this problem before? The most annoying thing is that sellers always show the light and never the attachment bit in their sales. I dont want to break the bank either please, thanks.

LastGasp

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=42472

These come with a selection of clamps, are very bright and well loved by Boardsies. On a recent spin with 4 bikes, there were 7 Smart 1/2 watts in evidence !

short circuit

Have you tried them on the seat stays

AstraMonti

It's not wide enough to go on the seatpost? Alternatively you can get a saddle bag that has opening for a light, but the light must with a "clip" like the Smart ones.

LastGasp

Thargor wrote: »

Ive bought a good few of these kinds of rear lights now from Ebay to try and get one that fits:



And every single one of them the attachment bit is way too small for the upright I want to attach them to and I end up giving them away to friends, there's literally nowhere on the back of my bike I could put it, that attachment bit needs to be 2 or 3 times bigger.

What are the other options for mounting or is there any clever DIY solution I might not have thought of? I have one strapped to the back with cable ties for safety because its dark when Im coming home but it looks crap and it rattles when I go over bumps, someone has to have come across this problem before? The most annoying thing is that sellers always show the light and never the attachment bit in their sales. I dont want to break the bank either please, thanks.

What are you trying to attach to ? They normally go on the seatpost, or stay. The picture you posted looks like it would fit on a normal seatpost, so I wonder is your bike particularly unusual ?

Thargor

I can put them on the seat stays but then its crooked when you look at it from the rear and it looks sh1t, the seatpost is very thick alright, thats where I currently have it with cable ties but I hate it the way it is, the bike is a Carrera Subway Hybrid. Is there no other system for attaching these things besides that plastic ring and screw because I know if thats how its done it'll be too small?

Morgan

Thargor wrote: »

I can put them on the seat stays but then its crooked when you look at it from the rear and it looks sh1t, the seatpost is very thick alright, thats where I currently have it with cable ties but I hate it the way it is, the bike is a Carrera Subway Hybrid. Is there no other system for attaching these things besides that plastic ring and screw because I know if thats how its done it'll be too small?

From the picture above it looks like it can be angled up or down so it shouldn't be crooked.

Pretty much any light will fit on a seat-tube - you've just managed to find one that won't.

short circuit

From the Halfords website .. the carrera subway comes with

Seatpost: KALLOY ALLOY 31.6mm

This would be a pretty much standard size ... I have my 0.5 watt rear mounted on the same size. You will have to get rid of the rubber spacers and use the plastic band directly on the seatpost.

LastGasp

Just thinking.... The Smart Lights (at least my one did) come with 2 seperate clamps, like the one in the picture, but one is small for seat stays, and the other is big for seatposts. Is there any chance you've inadvertently left the big one in the box, and thrown it in the bin without realising it ?

Thargor

I think the problem might be my seatpost is all the way down, ie when I say seatpost I mean the part of the frame that the seatpost juts out of, so its a bit wider than a seatpost, I have to keep the seatpost all the way down because even having it up a little bit is too much, by too much I mean it pinches my scrotum :P

All the way down its perfect, apart from the problem of mounting a rear light that is.

DirkVoodoo

How tall are you and what size bike did you get?

blorg

That light is the "new" Smart 1/2 watt, unless you have been particularly unlucky on eBay you should have a mount with the light that will go onto your seatpost fine.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=42479

blorg

Thargor wrote: »

I think the problem might be my seatpost is all the way down, ie when I say seatpost I mean the part of the frame that the seatpost juts out of, so its a bit wider than a seatpost, I have to keep the seatpost all the way down because even having it up a little bit is too much, by too much I mean it pinches my scrotum :P

All the way down its perfect, apart from the problem of mounting a rear light that is.

Right, OK, that is your problem then, your frame is too big for you.

These lights are designed to be mounted on the seat POST not the seat TUBE.

I'd go with a saddlebag with a clip.

Seatstays also a good option although not as visible a location.

Thargor

Its a 22" frame and Im 5' 10". It fits me like a glove, definitely no complaints there, I rode a MB that was too small for me for years and its still a great feeling to sit on the right sized bike every morning, I just need the saddle all the way down, just as an experiment there I pulled the saddle up and tried attaching 2 different real lights to the bar, both were too small. Im going to go with the light LastGasp posted as it has a selection of clamps and see what happens, I suppose I could push the saddle up a few mm to fit it in.

DirkVoodoo

Frame must be too big, the saddle is down below the bars so? That's not right at all. I think my brother was on a 20" Trek 7.0 FX and he was about 6'0". I rode it when I was selling it and it was a pretty good fit but the saddle was down low enough.

blorg

Thargor wrote: »

Its a 22" frame and Im 5' 10". ... I just need the saddle all the way down

The frame is much too big for you. You may get on well with it; my GF rides a very similar setup with an inherited frame from her uncle, much too big a frame and the saddle right down as far as possible but she gets on with it well from years experience. Ultimately though this is not how bikes are designed, and lights are designed to go on the seatpost.

Your first step is accepting that you are abnormal and your frame is too big for you. Then we can help you.

LastGasp

Maybe you shuld get your setup checked. The size sounds about right for your height, but normally you would expect to have roughly 4-6" (or more) of the seatpost showing outside the seat tube for a correctly sized bike. It sounds a bit odd. Post us a pic of you on your steed and we'll dissect your position for you !

LastGasp

blorg wrote: »

The frame is much too big for you.

My Fixie is 23" and I'm 5'11" so sounds similar to the OP, and I've about 6-7" showing. Although mine is a traditional horizontal crossbar, so maybe they are measured differently. Maybe he just has very short legs, in proportion to the rest of him !

DirkVoodoo

Hybrid and road bike sizing is quite different.

As an example, Trek's sizing chart:

Height Mountain/Hybrid Size Road Size
<5'2" 13/14 43/47
5'3" 13/15 47/50
5'6" 16/18 50/52/54
5'9" 18/19 52/54/56
5'11" 19/21 54/56/58
6'2" 21/22 56/58/60
6'3" 22/25 58/60/62
6'4" 25 60/62


Which is pretty spot on, I reckon I would be 20" for a standard hybrid and I'm definitely 54cm in modern road bikes.

blorg

LastGasp wrote: »

My Fixie is 23" and I'm 5'11" so sounds similar to the OP, and I've about 6-7" showing. Although mine is a traditional horizontal crossbar, so maybe they are measured differently. Maybe he just has very short legs, in proportion to the rest of him !

I was going more on the saddle slammed down to the top tube to the extent that he can't even mount lights... my GF has exactly this setup and it is because her (very nice) frame is much too big for her.

Thargor

I raised it up an inch there and shot down to the bottom of the street and back, maybe it was a bit more comfortable, Ill leave it that way for my commute tomorrow and see. When I sit on it the tip of my toe can barely brush the ground if I stretch, thats the way it should be shouldnt it? Also I got my flatmate to measure me properly, Im 5' 11", I knew 5'9" was wrong, sorry. So 1 or 2 inches off. Is that a dealbreaker for getting the most out of the bike do you think? Ive kind of being looking for an excuse to get a decent roadbike now that Im cycling everywhere so much.

niceonetom

OP: I'm having trouble mounting my lights.

Boards: You need a new bike then.

DirkVoodoo

Thargor wrote: »

When I sit on it the tip of my toe can barely brush the ground if I stretch, thats the way it should be shouldnt it?

Nope, measure from where you sit to your foot position on the pedal at 6 O Clock, your knee should be nearly straight but still have some bend in it.

You should not be able to reach the ground from your saddle, maybe there are bikes where you can do this (I'm new to this) but certainly not for the Carrera.

I think you should really see a bikeshop about getting a proper fit, it should only take a few minutes for someone who knows what they are doing.

LastGasp

Thargor wrote: »

Ive kind of being looking for an excuse to get a decent roadbike now that Im cycling everywhere so much.

You never need an excuse on this forum to buy a new bike !

If you're 5'11" then you should be a better fit on the bike than we thought. It's still a bit big, but should be pretty ok.

Sit on the bike in your normal pedalling position. If you put your heel on the pedal at 6 o clock your leg should be pretty much straight. With the ball of your foot on the pedal in the 6 o clock position your leg should be slightly bent. After that you might need to look at your saddle position front to back, and the height of the handlebars too, in order to get the best position.

Turbulent Bill

AstraMonti wrote: »

Alternatively you can get a saddle bag that has opening for a light, but the light must with a "clip" like the Smart ones.

+1 on this. My saddlebag has an elastic loop at the back, and I've a Blackburn 3.0 mounted on this (secured with a safety pin). The bag provides some shock absorbtion and gets rid of rattles. It also moves the light from underneath the saddle, so it's much more visible from left and right.