Getting Lit

Schmidt Edulx II (Image courtesy of Angry Catfish)

I'd been putting this off for far too long, this fixing of my Ti Muk II. It's getting on into the year and Winter is coming soon. I figured I'd better just pull the trigger on something and get it here before it was too late. 

Shopping for dynamo lighting is a weird experience. At least, here in the U.S. it is. You don't have a lot of choices, and when you find something interesting, the information you'd like to have about the product is pretty shallow. 

In my case, I needed to understand what length the leads were off the light head unit. The Ti Muk is a bit of an oddball in terms of dynamo lights. Usually this sort of thing would be going on a randonnuer bike, or maybe an "adventure hard tail" MTB. But with a fat bike, the little details matter, and things like leads need to be a bit longer, so that's one of the things I needed to understand. 

You also have to know if you are getting the mount for the light, because - it appears to me at any rate- some companies don't provide that and seem to give you a "better deal" on the light. Well, that does me no good, ya know.....because I'm not duct taping this thing on! 

I'm also sure some of the retailers are fine, but when many of the ones I saw pop up in my Google search are companies I've never heard of, that gives me pause as well. There were a couple of hits that were from places I knew of, so I went with those choices. Interestingly, one of those had such a wordy and - in my opinion - gruff stance on ordering, that I decided that maybe this was just not going to be a seamless experience. So, I bailed on that choice and took a look at a more local one, Angry Catfish out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. 

It's coming......whether we want it or not!

The order page had all the info I needed to make a decision, and so I went with Angry Catfish, (that name!), and I actually received a call after I placed the order from them. This was due to the fact that the site had indicated what I had ordered was in stock, but in reality, it was not. I was offered a no-hassle refund, or I could wait for them to order one in. 

Since what I had ordered was in a color I didn't really want, but ya know- it was in stock -only it wasn't. Anyway, that afforded me the chance to order the color I did want at no extra charge to me. Nice! 

So, I have to wait a bit, but at least this problem will get solved and I'll be back on the Ti Muk II just in time for Winter to arrive. As long as the new light install goes smoothly, I'll be good to go now. New drive train, new bottom bracket, new light, and heck.....some more new sealant! That should do me. 

I'll report back when I get the light and let you know- and see- how it goes.

Note: I have no affiliation with Angry Catfish and I paid full retail for the light.