Bike Mounted Broom Rack

Reader Ryan, he of bike fishing rod holder and bike shovel holder fame, came up with another great rack hack.   Is there anything a rack can't do? =)

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Plumbing and sewing are not directly related to cycling but when a greenway trail needs sweeping, both skills can come in handy. After the success of my bicycle mounted shovel rack, I decided there were some sections of that same greenway that could use a good sweeping to remove gravel and bits of broken glass.

I played with several design ideas before deciding that PVC was my best solution. I used some 1" thinwall PVC welded (glued) with general purpose PVC solvent. You'll notice I used elbows at the base of each vertical to keep the broomsticks from falling through. This is not some brilliant design element, I just did not have any 1" endcaps in my garage and it wasn't worth a trip to the hardware store at 7PM last night to pick some up.

The push broom head is stored in a bag that I sewed from some scrap fabric I had laying around the house. The head is in a 3-sided compartment with a sleeve sewed into one edge that slides down over the broom handle. The PVC sections are held to the bike with some elastic straps closed with hook-loop fasteners. I used what I had laying around my garage but even if you had to buy everything this setup only requires about $5 worth of parts. I'm still playing with the posibility of adding a dustpan to further enhance this setup.

I hope that some of these cleanup projects inspire others to fix the hazards they face on local roads or trails. As Nobel prize winning author Albert Schweitzer once said, "Example is not the main thing in influencing others.  It is the only thing."

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Comments

[Craig]

Actually the ells are better than caps on the ends,in case water gets in there.

[Jay]

Gosh, beautiful improvisation. And I love how the extension of the pipe which holds the broom handles also doubles as a mount to keep the top-heavy brooms upright with just a pair of velcro straps. Brilliant.

But sewing? Really? An improvised solution is not supposed to have such a well-tailored solution... I had to use a pun.

Ryan, I hope you don't mind me asking, but would you mention what kind of tires you are using? I'm still in the trenches trudging through tire specifications and the reflecting sidewall of your tires caught my eye.

[Leo Horishny]

Very nice hack, durn you! I can't count the times riding on a commute where I wish I'd had a broom handy, what with cities not bothering to sweep roads regularly anymore. :-( Now I don't have an excuse to not do something like this!

As for the tires, my guess is they're Schwalbe Marathons.

[Ryan]

Sorry to take so long to acknowledge the comments section here. Thanks for the positive words.

Jay, I'm not at home with that bike right now but I believe they are Schwalbe Marathons (as Leo guessed) and I have many happy [and largely flat-free] miles on them so no complaints.