Tong Family

Well, I haven’t ridden my bike outside in over 18 months and with all this electronic gear, it is a mountain of work to get it running again, so here are some notes on getting:

• Pinarello Dogma F8 (our review). This is the frameset and it’s the easiest to get working, just pump up the ties to 80 psi and you are good to go. Also, make sure the disc brakes aren’t rubbing, but the rest is more complicated
• Garmin Varia RTL515 Radar, Garmin UT800 and Out-Front Mount (our review)OK, this is pretty simple, you open up the USB C connectors and connect them to power. When you press the power button (there is only one on each), you will see a small Blue LED flash and this tells you it is looking for the bike computer. These things are pretty cool, with the right computer, it forms a “Lighting Network” which can be managed from the computer. The Out Front Mount is very cool, it let’s you have the UT800 underneath and a mount for a Hammerhead or any Garmin compatible system. I couldn’t get this firmware updated because I couldn’t get my Garmin 520 Plus to pair to it. You can also use the Garmin Express application to do this with a USB connection to your PC or Mac.
• Garmin 520 Plus. This one I had some trouble with because the Bluetooth just doesn’t work. I had a lot of trouble before with this and the solution was to get rid of lots of the Bluetooth devices on my phone (I have literally 30 devices) and then load the Garmin Connect application and then choose connect on the Garmin computer and in Garmin Connect application. Note that you can also do an installation of the Edge 520 Plus software with Garmin Express. I’ve lost my Garmin 1030, so this 520 Plus must be tethered to your phone to download firmware or you can use your PC.
• Stages Power Meter DUAL R9200. (our review)This has two 2032 batteries on each side of the crank. With the left crank, you turn it clockwise (this is for version 1 of the Power Meter) and on the drive side, you unscrew two Philips screws and pop them in. If it is working a small LED will be flashing. You can do a firmware update from the Stages phone application. Note that I got the dual arm power meter even though its not clear it makes that much difference, but it is cool.

Shimano Dii 11-Speed Shifting

Shimano DII 11-speed Derailleur. This one is a little cranky. You plug the two-prong power adapter in and it should light shortly on the SM-BCR2 charger and it will take 2-5 hours to charge. There is a single button at the bottom the the EW-111. If you hold for 2 seconds, it will flash green and red and is in pairing. You then load the Shimano Edge application (not the Edge Ride), but the Edge and, it will connect via Bluetooth LE and update the system with new firmware. You can check the charge levels, by holding any of the shifting controls for 0.5 seconds and the lights will blink at the SM-EW90 Junction box: a) solid green for two seconds 100%, blink green five times means 50%, red for two seconds is 25% and five red blinks means 0%.

Where I got into trouble is the button at the bottom is very time-sensitive: 0.5 seconds pressed enters Bluetooth LE connection, 2 seconds or more is adjustment mode and 5 seconds is rear derailleur crash protection reset.

I use synchro shift, so if you press the button twice, you change the shift mode. I got into trouble doing this by the way. Every time you double press it will move to a new mode. Synchro shift means that the system itself decides when you shift between the small and big ring. Very useful because they you will never be cross shifted, it makes the right decision for you.

• Green and red for two seconds: manual shift
• Gren and red blink twice: semi synchro shift
• Green and red three times: full synchro shift (what works for me)

In my case, I had unintentionally set the thing into manual shift mode, so two double presses and I got back to full syncrho shift that way. Pretty confusing since you have to time the click times on that button. Basically keep the click time short.

Lumos Ultra helmet and Firefly lights

This is the newest thing that I have not used much is the new Lumos Ultra helmet. This has an integrated light in it and also let’s you see turn signals much higher up. Connecting it is a little complicated. You download the Phone application from them and then press and hold the button on the rear and it will blink orange. But it works pretty well, plus you can use their Apple Watch application which can sense when you stick your hand out or up or shake it (for left, right and stop). This actually works pretty well, but you need to have your phone connected to the Lumos lights and then turn on the watch application.

There is a Remote control that comes with it that is handlebar mounted and which has an accelerometer so that you have an automatic brake light. The pairing for this one works this way press both the left and right simultaneously and then it will pair with the helme. This let’s you manually hit left or right too

The Firefly is a magnetic mounted light that you can put in any array that you like. What makes the most sense is to get their Rear mount which fits on the rails of your saddle and then they point backwards. They don’t really have a mount for the front mount them on your handle bars, but I think the fork mount for the front and then the rear mount makes the most sense. They are held on with simple rubber bands.

The Lumos application first let’s you pair the devices and then you have a nice interface to drag and drop the location of the Fireflies which work great. But the full configuration would be two front mounted on the forks and then two rear mounted with turn signaling turned on. They use the standard, hold the power button for three seconds and it will go into “breathing mode where the red lights go slowly brighter and darker”

They have an ocean of different lighting patterns which gives you very high visibility.