Bright Bike Verdict is In…

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This past summer has been one for the books. 2800 miles of pedaling through some of the most fantastic country in the world; through countless mountain ranges, swamps forests, and arctic plains, both solo and with my girl, Angela. It has been truly a summer to remember. Having a source for powering the phones and ipods was more than just a luxury, as we both had phone commitments from time to time and the mental luxury of having music once in a while proved outstanding. In the past, I had always used a solar panel, of which I am a fan. However, when it is cloudy, as is often the case in Alaska and the Yukon, this is of extremely limited use. No sun=no power. Simple as that. Additionally, one must spend the time to roll out these panels and the connected devices for a length of time to really work; in full sun. This is just not always practical while living for weeks or months at a time on a bicycle.

I recently purchased a dyno hub for my Surly, and hoped that it would be the means to power USB devices. However, dyno hubs put out the wrong voltage and amperage for the USB standard, and therefore additional hardware is required to make this work. Enter the BrightBike Revolution. It is a small USB port with connected wiring that connects to the dyno hub and does all of the converting for your USB devices to live a happy life. It is small, light and reasonably priced: at 120 dollars, it is nearly half the cost of devices I had used previously, at half the weight to boot. Mine simply zip ties to the down tube and is waterproof and reliable. So reliable in fact, that after 2800 miles of pedaling through endless rain and mud throughout the summer, it never once failed me. If you have on the bike USB charging needs, check it out. http://www.brightbikelabs.com/products/bright-bike-revolution

The Revolution I

Sometime back, I purchased an overpriced piece of electronic gadgetry to transform Dyno Hub power into 5.5 Volt USB power to keep cell phone and Ipod charged while on long bicycle adventures. The item in question was called “The Plug”. It was made in Germany, was overpriced, and had the ridiculous design protocol that required it to become a permanent part of one’s bicycle. This was not OK.. I redesigned “The Plug” to fit in an external casing and could then be utilized anywhere or on any bike. It was, however, extremely heavy and bulky. A short while ago the guys at Bright Bike Labs sent me a product called the “Revolution “. It is a product they came up with to provide the same thing that The Plug offers.. at half the price and a quarter of the weight (after my conversion). I have now mounted it to the Ogre and have removed the supertanker known to me as The Plug. It is light, simple, and most importantly, it works!  I will be leaving next week on a 4000 + mile pedal through The Yukon, Alaska, and the Northwest Territories, and will be relying on the Bright Bike Revolution to provide me with a fully charged Ipod and Cell phone at all times. After some miles, I will be reposting on the Revolution for an update on it’s perfomance, so check back!

Revolution II Revolution I Revolution III

“The Plug II” Made Better

%22The Plug%22 Case

A while back, I posted a photo of an upgrade to the USB/Dyno Hub charger “The Plug”. It was a case made to allow use of “The Plug” without a complicated and permanent install on the bicycle. It allowed the freedom to swap from bike to bike. It was crudely made from copper, PVC, and silicone. I have now created an upgrade to the upgrade by creating an all copper version that has been sweated together with silver and then sanded to give it a smooth feel. It is a clean looking unit now, that is solid and functional. I will be selling these to anyone who may want one in order to help finance this blog and the adventures it contains.

If you are interested in one, please send me:

1. The Plug

2. The wiring

3. The proprietary star nut adapter to allow the wiring to pass thru the unit

4. The wiring fitting that came with your dyno hub

5. 40 bucks-includes shipping

6. Leave a message here or email me and we can work out the details.

$ 40.00 gets you the plug case with the plug installed and wired, plus return shipping.