March 08, 2009
Novara Fusion Update
The internets work in mysterious ways. Since my last post on my new bicycle, interesting things have been afoot. Steve Gluckman, the Brand Manager for Novara, dropped me a line about my blog post. I'm still not 100% sure what Brand Manager means, but it seems to be a corporate liase-type thing with the ability to send neat toys to customers in the mail to fix problems with bicycles.
Steve sent me a SRAM Flak Jacket, which is a interesting cable-enclosing system designed to "keep crud out." The system includes a pair of steel cables (for front and rear brakes), a long run of cable housing, and assorted flanges for the cable. The flanges are like typical cable ferrules, but they have long thin tips that stick through the cable stops on the frame. A solid plastic shield fits over both these new ferrules' tips at the top and bottom of the cable run, keeping out water and other junk (the wire cable runs inside the tube). I'm sure that no cable brake system can ever be 100% watertight, but I think that with the Fusion's fenders, there is minimal possibility for water to get into the Flak Jacket (or similar sealed cable brake system).
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| The installed system... |
It's been kind of an interesting experience for me. This blog is down to about 600 unique visitors per day (not even a C-list blog), but somehow I've ranked pretty high on a google search for the Novara Fusion. What has been more interesting is REI -- I got an email only a couple of days after making the blog post, so REI must have some folks scouring the interwebs for information on their products. I've got to say that I'm pretty impressed with REI's response -- there is no legal disclaimer in their email saying that I'm not allowed to repeat what I'm told, no NDA to sign, nada. A free cable kit to try to fix things is never a bad thing, either. My hope is that REI offers the kit to everyone that owns a Fusion, as it could save quite a few irate customers, and maybe even a life.
Hi jojo -
I have never figured this out for certain. My girlfriend rides a Raleigh bike that also came with a generator hub and the same brand headlight. Her headlight actually has a light sensor in it. One setting is 'off', the next setting is 'on when it is dark out/auto', and the last click over is 'on all the time.'
I suspect that our Novara's have a cheaper version of the same headlight and that the manufacturer just keeps all three positions of the switch on ours, even though ours lacks the 'auto' light sensor. It probably lowers the manufacturing cost. On the plus side, you can shop around for the more expensive light and it will work as a drop-in replacement.
Hope that helps!
Reid
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Previous Trips...
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Hiking Mount Whitney, 2007 
Spring Break in West Virginia, 2005
New Year's in Paris, 2003-2004
Coming to America, 2003
Protesting in Berlin, 2003
Prague Bier-Tour, 2002
Dresden, 2002
Recent Reading
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Close to the Machine
Ellen Ullman is one of those authors that somehow avoided my radar. Until now...
Close to the Machine is less a book than a collection of loosely related personal anecdotes from Ellen's time as a very rare thing -- a successful female bisexual independent computer programming consultant.
In the course of her work and relationship life, she learns hard lessons about programming, running a business, being lonely, and loving the wrong people. I found it particularly poignant being a crypto-nerd with difficult times in relationships and a more-or-less NDA'd, secret work life.
This book is a must-read for anyone into running their own business, programming, or anyone dating a person that is a business-a-holic or programmer.
Rated 
by reid
on November 23, 2009
by reid
on November 23, 2009
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The Long Trip Home
I had the joy of dining with the author in Florida. We went to a little Brazilian BBQ where he spoke with our waitstaff in (what I can only assume was) flawless Portugese.
Brian Wyllie spent 1969-1971 living in Brazil working for the Peace Corps. His recent book outlines his trip back to the United States via Bolivia, Peru, and the Carribean chain, by way of bus, train, and sailboat. The format comes spattered with observations from the modern day, and makes me think, "this must be what John McPhee's journal looks like."
The trip sounded like a fantastic one, but I was left wanting more detail...where did the gun (being snuck through customs in a variety of places, no doubt) come from? And how did Geneve's hair smell? Alas, we'll have to wait for another book to find the answers.
Rated 
by reid
on April 16, 2009
by reid
on April 16, 2009
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The Curve of Binding Energy
John McPhee follows famous physicist Ted Taylor in this piece that was -- and probably still -- ahead of its time.
Originally published in 1973, McPhee outlined the coming security and environmental issues surrounding the plutonium enrichment processes. For the most part, though, McPhee invites the reader to draw his or her own conclusions, although he does point out the ease with which any number of people could obtain the material (though not necessarily the manufacturing prowess) to make an atomic weapon.
The question still sits in my mind after reading -- are we being too paranoid, or not paranoid enough?
Rated by reid
on October 01, 2007
by reid
on October 01, 2007
Hi,
Posted by: jojo on October 5, 2009 07:42 AMThanks for this review. I just got a fusion and wanted to know about the switches for the front light. There is an off switch, which shows no light when the front wheel is moving. The 2nd and 3rd positions are virtually the same: The front light comes on and the circular white blinkies flash on and off. What's the difference btw the 2nd and third positions on the front light switch?