💾 Archived View for quasivoid.net › gemlog › 2021-04-18-headlight.gmi captured on 2021-12-05 at 23:47:19. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2021-12-03)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
We're in the midst of spring in California and the temperatures are rapidly climbing. Soon, the night time temperatures will be warm enough that standing outside in a T-shirt will be as comfortable as being in your own bed. In anticipation for this, I bought a headlight for my road bike.
One of my friends recommended the Fenix BC30. It feels pretty bulletproof, and straight up takes two 18650 lithium ion cells for power, no strings attached, no 18650s in a proprietary enclosure nonsense. I purchased four cells so I could carry spares in my saddlebag for night rides when I am using the headlight at high power.
It also has a wireless remote. It's useful if you have flat handlebars and you can place the remote closer to where your hands are than the light is, or if the light is mounted to your helmet. I am not mounting my light to my helmet and I don't really have the space for it on drop bars, so it's not very useful to me. It's cool, though.
He told me which charger and which cells he uses in his BC30, and I chose the same. But, these cells come in protected and unprotected variants. The store which I bought them from does not make the difference glaringly obvious! Only the normal level of obvious, when you actually know what you are looking for. From the store I purchased my cells from, the listings for the protected and unprotected variants of the cell look exactly the same, save for the word "Protected" being omitted from the title of the unprotected cells.
Using unprotected cells wouldn't be a problem if I could keep them balanced. Unfortunately, my charger does not keep cells balanced, even though it can charge two at a time it only cares about getting them to a fully charged sate. The BC30 also does not automatically shut off when the cells get too low, meaning they are not protected from overdischarging. The latter issue is only a matter of discomfort, but the former is a hard no-go. With a heavy heart, I must wave goodbye to thirty dollars.
It's only the cost I'm gutted about. I don't intend to try any night riding until next weekend anyways.
Photo of the headlight, and my unprotected cells charging ):
My ride today took about the same time as I usually take, but I only went about half the distance I usually go. Sometimes, the weather gets tough. I'm not fully acclimated to the rising temperatures yet, but more than that, wind is hell.
If you are flying out on a tailwind and going 26mph without putting in much work for it, that is going to bite you in the ass as soon as you turn around. You will crawl home at 10mph, without any of the satisfaction of overcoming a hill.
