Cat Eye Rear Light

Yesterday, Sunday 19th July 2020, I went as far as the Bike Studio in Salt Lake's AH block to fetch this Cat Eye rear light. I think it cost me about Rs 700 plus. I had also bought a Lizard Skins bar tape and the total price came to Rs 3495 or something like that. I will add the bar tape later when I instal it. 

The light came with a clip to attach it to a rear saddle bag as well as a small plastic pipe to add circumference to any pipe (seat stay for example) if it is found too narrow. I kept these two and the manual safely inside the packet and have decided to keep the box in the cupboard, if necessary later. In fact I plan to instal this on the bike only if I go for a night trip or in winter. As of now I have the Crivit gifted by Raja last year and the Omni is sitting in the cupboard.

This light uses two AAA batteries with a claimed run time of 200 hours. It has three modes. Stable, strobe and very fast strobe. The last mode consumes the least battery. 

This is better than USB chargeable because in India there are places and destinations where there is no electricity and I plan to go to those places precisely. A battery operated unit is far more practical therefore than USB chargeable units. 

My Nite Rider headlamp is USB rechargeable though. For those type of areas it may not be practical to carry. I had taken it to Darjeeling and used it in dense fog as a safety device. Not that too many drivers would have noticed its existence but at least I had some peace of mind. I think I charged it from my portable USB power bank.

Cat Eye is a very good brand of Japanese cycling accessories. I had two of their Velo cycling computers. I have sold one. The other is still there. They are excellent products. Let me see how long the Omni lasts me. I had a cheap Nite Rider but it came only with a clip. It slipped off my saddle bag and broke. Though it still works, I do not use it. The shell is broken. 

Taparia Allen Keys

I have two very useful T-handle Taparia hex keys (or Allen keys as some would call them, after the US company that made and popularised them first) of 4 and 5 mm and a complete set of Allen keys from Taparia but that is useless for all practical purposes (for me) because it's as per the British standard. 

There are two types of hex bolts in the market. One follows the British sizing system. The other follows the metric system. My Surly as well as the Merida uses the metric system. So the British system hex keys are useless for the cycles, except size 4 and 8. Because size 4 is practically same in both metric and British systems. So is size 8. 

The size 4 key is most used for all the fixtures like the bottle cages, the carrier (pannier rack) etc. Size 5 is necessary for the rim brake calliper adjustment (which I did yesterday - 16th July, 2020). Going to Chandni for buying the 5 mm wrench (I already had the 4 mm one) was quite an adventure. Ultimately it cost me Rs 80 but the market was so over crowded with mechanics. 

In case you don't know what Chandni Market is - it is a large wholesale type market for various hardware stores in the city. It supplies to the entire Eastern and North Eastern India. Almost all Calcutta mechanics and shops source their tools and hardware items from Chandni. There is hardly any hardware item that you will not find in Chandni. 

I had to walk down the final 100 meters or so to reach the shop from where I had earlier purchased the 4 mm key. This was due to a thick crowd of people buying all sorts of hardware and cheap electronic products (these days Chandni also houses a lot of cheap electronic spares shops selling all sorts of cables and switches etc). 

Reaching the shop with the bike seemed well nigh impossible with a fruit seller blocking the approach to the shop. In fact the entire road in front is full of squatter vendors who have just occupied the public space. I had to go past the shop. Get on the footpath and trace my way back through a 2 feet gap on the footpath left for pedestrians and shoppers. The shopkeeper sitting there wouldn't allow me in with the bike. I was extremely adamant. I told him either you beat me up or call the police but I will go through this space only and with my bike. You have to be very very nasty with me to stop me. Finally he relented quietly and I had my way. He himself is an illegal occupier.