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Cyo, Nashbar Rack, and night riding in the fog


Spent more time today wrenching on bikes than actually riding. Did some maintenance on my Monocog, Li's Homegrown, the Cross Check, and my Inbred.

Put 2.7's on the Inbred, which makes it feel like I'm riding on pillows! Not sure what real application that configuration has, but it is fun. I suppose it would be good for sand and deep snow.

Put the new Nashbar mini front rack on the Cross Check. Only $12, so I couldn't resist. The platform is about the size of a six pack and will hold about 15 pounds. I found an old portable DVD bag that I sliced, diced, and zip tied to the rack. It'll hold 4 or 5 travel guidebooks (as I found out during my night time testing).

The rack also serves as a great mounting point for the B&M Cyo. It puts the light low and forward, great for bringing out detail on the trail/road. The low mounting point was awesome for my short night ride in the fog. I pulled out a Cree R2 flashlight and handheld it up near my helmet during the ride for comparison sake. Crappy! Just like high beams on a car while in fog.

The two lights appeared to be putting out similar amounts of light, but who really knows since the beam patterns are so different. The beam pattern of the Cyo seems great for the road, not so great for twisty trail. I also had my Superflash on for rear visibility. It appeared to work well even in the fog. A Jeep that was probably a third of a mile back flashed its high beams to figure out what I was, then gave me a nice wide berth while passing. Yay!

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