Velo Lumino TMAT stem switch is now available for 1-1/8" steerers
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somervillebikes
Sep 5, 2015, 5:58:59 PM9/5/15
to 650b
The public has spoken. When Tom and I made the TMAT stem switch, we made it for 1" steerers because the majority of steel builders use 1" steerers. We figured it would be easy to adapt the switch for use in a larger steerer, but not the other way around. We held off on fabricating an adapter until there was adequate demand, figuring most people would want to use the switch with 1" steerers. There was enough feedback from potential users who wanted to use the switch with 1-1/8" steerers for us to produce the adapter-- essentially a flanged sleeve with a shallow counterbore for the switch to seat in. It allows the TMAT switch to work perfectly with 1-1/8" steerers, and it looks as integrated as the switch itself. Headset preloading is achieved through the switch just like on 1" steerers. It's available along with the TMAT switch at velolumino.com. Also read this blog post.
Anton
rob perks
Sep 5, 2015, 7:17:38 PM9/5/15
to 650b
Anton,
As a potential customer (retail/wholesale) for the new size what is the real gain of adding the switch with modern LED lights? This is one of those things I want just because it is so darn cool, and the guys making it. That said I just leave my lights on all the time. I have found it really helps in around town traffic during the day as a be seen sort of thing. One thing though that I would like to do is have a switched secondary flood beam for certain situations. While I love the modern optics, there are times when I wish for just a bit more near and wide light while still having the long throw of the Luxos as a primary light.
I am not trying to sell these short, but as an engineer who tends to have my own marketing blinders on way too often, I really want to know how and why I would best be using these.
Peter Adler
Sep 5, 2015, 8:41:32 PM9/5/15
to 650b
I would think the big plus is to be able to shut the light off (as a power drain) when you're recharging a USB device.
Peter Adler
whose Luxos U has been dead for a month as a result of a snapped brake mounting bolt, and its absence is really freaking me out in
Berkeley, CA/USA
somervillebikes
Sep 5, 2015, 9:40:29 PM9/5/15
to 650b
Hey Rob,
Thanks for the nice words. One of the benefits of shutting your lights off, as Peter mentioned, is to divert 100% of the dyno's output to another device, such as a USB charger. Another benefit is to reduce vibration and/or drag when not needed. I don't mean to sound like a drag-weenie, but some people swear by the effects of long-term drag on super long randonnees. Others (myself included) can't feel drag but can feel the vibrations from a loaded dynamo in certain setups (my Shimano hub vibrates badly with a full load), so I prefer to keep the lights off unless needed. For me, an ideal setup would be unswitched daytime running lights that only consume a small fraction of the dyno's max output-- the load wouldn't be enough to cause noticeable vibrations (or drag, for those who swear they can feel it). Then coupled to these would be remotely switched headlights for when you want the full-on dyno load. Unfortunately, there is no setup like this that would be compatible with an external switch like the TMAT switch. The DRL circuitry designed into modern LED headlights is controlled by the circuit's own logic and can't be separated by a physical switch. So with the TMAT switch, you're turning off everything and turning on everything.
Anton
Hoffsta
Sep 6, 2015, 4:46:35 AM9/6/15
to 650b
Plus stealth...sometimes you just want to fly under the radar ;)
satanas
Sep 6, 2015, 10:29:43 AM9/6/15
to 650b
Thanks for making this available Anton. I'm likely to need both sizes at some point in the near future. :-)
Later,
Stephen
Johan Larsson
Sep 6, 2015, 12:58:20 PM9/6/15
to 650b
Is there an 1" version at all now?
Johan Larsson,
Sweden
Johan Larsson,
Sweden
somervillebikes
Sep 6, 2015, 7:23:08 PM9/6/15
to 650b
Johan,
I should clarify-- YES! There is only one version of the TMAT switch, and that is for 1" steerers, but now it can also be used with 1-1/8" steerers when you use the optional adaptor. The adaptor is essentially a shim with a flange which fills the gap between the switch and the larger steerer.
Anton
Fred Blasdel
Sep 7, 2015, 1:37:17 AM9/7/15
to somervillebikes, 650b
On Sat, Sep 5, 2015 at 2:58 PM, somervillebikes <atu...@gmail.com> wrote:
The public has spoken. When Tom and I made the TMAT stem switch, we made it for 1" steerers because the majority of steel builders use 1" steerers
Are there really more than a handful of builders regularly using 1" threadless steerers?
It was briefly commonplace as a transitional thing around the turn of the century, but now almost extinct and certainly never the majority. AFAIK the lightweight heat treated steerers that let you save weight over one still thick enough to thread are long out of production.
Even Richard Sachs switched entirely to 1.125" a few years ago
somervillebikes
Sep 7, 2015, 10:11:58 AM9/7/15
to 650b
Fred, maybe I should rephrase what I said-- the majority of steel builders of the type of bike that would likely use this component are building with 1" steerers. e.g., randonneuring bikes from MAP, Chapman, Lyon, Matchak, Harvey, Boulder, Herse, Weigle, etc. I can't imagine a Richard Sachs bike getting loaded up with rando-type components like racks, fenders and lighting so builders like Sachs didn't even register on my radar when thinking about whose bikes could use this switch.
To say 1" is extinct given the list of builders above is a bit extreme. Heck, even my production Rawland Stag has a 1" steerer.
The history of this switch is that I wanted one for my own bike with 1" steerer, and started designing one on my own. I ended up teaming up with Tom Matchak for the mechanical aspects and we ended up designing one that is so trivial to install into a completely stock setup, lacking the clunky DIY-widget nature of all the other switches that people were making, that we decided to build a bunch and offer them up.
Regardless of the market state of 1", It only makes sense to build it for 1" since it can be cleanly adapted for 1-1/8" as my photos above show, but the other way around would be impossible.
N. Llama
Nov 3, 2015, 1:01:26 PM11/3/15
to 650b
I want one even though I don't' have a bike for it yet... I know it's always hard to tell, but I'm crossing my fingers these will be around for a while so when I do get my dream rando built up I will be able to spec one of these!
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