Monday, December 30, 2013
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Bryton Rider 30 Disassembly
After some recent wet weather and one of the rubber buttons on the Rider 30 wearing through, my Bryton started producing a strange sound and was working intermitantly. Additionally some of the glue had given way with the top cover able to be partially lifted. Given that the product is now out of warrenty and a quick search of the net didn't produce any disassembly instructions, it was time to see inside the Rider 30.
Because the cover had already given a little I used a wide flat bladed tool (butter knife) to prise the cover section. It looks as if the cover was attached using an adhesive along the ridge of the lower body section. This exposed the screen and a little rubber wedge (not shown in picture).
Flipping the screen out of the lower body section exposes the circuit board, three screws hold the circuit board to the lower body, two on the lower and one on the right 3/4 of the way up (screws not shown). A small jewellers/electricians phillips screwdriver can remove the screws.
Finally flipping the circuit board, use care here as circuit boards shouldn't be directly handled, exposes the empty lower body section. On the backside of the circuit board you can see the battery and connector for your USB cable.
From here I removed all the moisture, removed small amounts of corrosion and gave the circuit board a clean with an evaporative product to leave no residue. I repaired the button using a malleable adhesive and plugged in the USB cable to see if the Bryton would work. Looks like the clean had done the trick. Take care in removing the USB cable at this point as the circuit board is not supported by the lower body section.
Putting the Rider 30 back together is just a reverse of the disassembly instructions, with the addition of applying some adhesive to the lower body section ridge before fitting the cover. Looks like this has worked in this case, good luck.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Keepit Real 100
The New England region has been
bursting with MTB enthusiasm of late and the inaugural Keepit Real 100 mountain
bike race would cap off a great 2013 for many of the cyclists in the region. Centaur
Events had teamed up with
the landowners surrounding Lake Keepit to bring to the area a unique MTB
challenge, with one of the aspects a ride across the Keepit Dam Wall.
Arriving at the Keepit State Park we
were greeted with the same warm weather they had been getting all week. We
found our camp spot, with a front row view overlooking the lake, then headed to
Registration to pick up our number plates and goodybag. The friendly Centaur
Events crew had us sorted in no time. Next on the cards, dinner, hydrate and a sleep
ready for tomorrow.
On the morning of the event it was still incredibly warm
and with a cloudless sky the sun had an instant bite when it rose.
Local
mountain bike guru David Harris was not only behind the mic but behind the
tools for Bicycle Central on Marsh and was super busy in the last hours before
race start. Gathering beneath the massive start/finish arch were many master of
enduro mountain biking this year, 2nd place at
WEMBO Andrew Lloyd, Croc Trophy rider Pete Selkrig, Shimano MTB Grand Prix
Series winner Catherine Wood, just to name a few.
It was a fast start for the 50km and
30km race with a 4km grassy double track loop to spread the field before
heading towards the Keepit Dam wall and unknown adventures. At the 3km mark the
lead bunch split, we were under pressure from the local road racing talent and
I slipped back, staying with a small bunch of local shop and road riders.
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| Photo: Centaur Events |
The Keepit Real course was a mixture of
short on-road sections, a whole heap of fire trail, and a mass of open grass
sections with just a few narrow single-track/cow-trail thrown into the mix. I
stuck with the bunch till we hit the first fire trail and single-track
sections, the group started to splinter. When I got to the furthest northwestern
section (~15km in) along the shores of the lake I was riding solo, the others
had slipped back due to the technical sections or mechanicals. Hundreds of
meters in front I could see another competitor, it could have been Selkrig, but
the grassy course was hard going and the competitor like a mirage on the horizon.
Have to admit the initial 30km was
challenging, not only with the grassy sections but many of the climbs were
super pinchy and when I ran out of gears I was hoping everyone else was too.
Counter that with the fast loose descents and blind sharp corners you had to be
on edge for the next obstacle.
The 30km mark saw another
turn-around point for the 50km entrants, and by all accounts the guys in front
of me were all strung out. A few quick glances back would confirm I no longer
had a bunch chasing me but just a few persistent riders a couple of hundred
meters back. I had burned through my first bottle of fluid; riding past our
campsite I was able to offloaded the empty bottle and stash the full one on the
bike.
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| Photo: Centaur Events |
The remaining 20km was different to
what we had already covered in that there weren’t any climbs or descents.
Initially it was a traverse along the lake foreshore before turning right and a
series of dirt roads that circumnavigated the State Park, some short
single-track and crossing a dry dam. From here we headed to the furthest point
on this side of the lake it was at this point I looked back and saw a fellow
rider just behind me. I waited just a bit so I didn’t have to ride the
remaining 10km solo.
With just a couple of hundred meters to
the finish I lead-out and kept applying pressure till my companion backed off and
over the finish line we went, crossing the line in fourth and placing third for
the Senior Male category. The shade and grass below the Bicycle Central on
Marsh tents were a welcome relief after a tough 50km.
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| Photo: Centaur Events |
Thanks to Centaur Events for putting on
a great challenging event in a unique location, we look forward to more events
from this team.