BikeHacks

Make Bottle Openers From Old Cogs

Great DIY project over at Blue Collar Mountain Biking for making a bottle opener from a cog and a bit of chain. Just gotta get an old cog and cut it up. Full directions on the site, with pics, when you follow the link.

Alternatively, if you're not a handy-person, you can just buy one in a pretty color.

Solo Cyclewear

Until recently I had owned only one cycling jersey in my entire life.  If I scrunch my brow and think hard, my brain tells me I probably purchased it in 1997.  For some reason I never got in to cycling jerseys.  As a commuter, I began to rely on a vest to store my stuff, and I just wear a button up shirt or jacket as appropriate over the top of the vest when I ride. 

The kind folks at Solo doubled the size of my jersey wardrobe by generously sending along the following jersey.

I had never heard of Solo before but their site features a pretty impressive looking line up. I can already tell that this jersey is leaps and bounds ahead of the one I purchased last century.  For one it has a strip of that tacky fabric on the bottom to keep it from riding up on you. 

It features the three pocket design in the back . . .

. . . and one pocket has the cool addition of a zipper!

I will spare readers an image of me wearing it, but you can see a rather serious looking gentleman sporting the same jersey by clicking here. 

I have not had the opportunity to ride in the jersey yet, but the one thing the Solo site references that gets me excited is the following claim:

Constructed from Nuovotec polyester; a proprietary polyester blend created for Solo Cycle Clothing, that has superior breathability, wicking, anti-bacterial properties and is super soft against the skin.

The anti-bacterial note gets me excited because that is one of the benefits of merino wool that I very much enjoy.  I have no idea what a "good" price for a jersey is, but I can tell you that I am willing to pay more for clothing that I know is going to perform well.  This Solo jersey is priced at $139 and I will leave it to readers with more experience in this clothing category to comment.

Also I need a bit of help from readers out there - I have no clue what the jersey is advertising.  If anyone could comment to let me know what I am a billboard for when I ride in it that would be great.  When I do get a chance to ride in it I will follow up with a review post. 

Damaged Tire? Zip Ties to the Rescue!

Being huge fan of zip ties, it made me smile when reader Nico contacted us with a zip tie hack for a flat tire he came up with in a pinch.  His hack is reminiscent of the first option featured in our Eight Solutions for Riding a Bike in the Snow post.  If you have come up with creative hacks to deal with somewhat strange mechanical or repair circumstances you have encountered while far from help, let us know so we can feature on the site for all to enjoy.  Take it away Nico!

 

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Last Saturday I was out for a ride with my bike club when I had a flat. No big deal, we can fix that quickly and keep going. But I must have not noticed it right away and damaged my tire, because 5 minutes later my new tube burst loudly. We stopped again and saw what the problem was. The bead was getting dettached from the tire [photo 1 below] and the tube was getting pinched [photo 2 below]. Nobody had an extra tire. We had to fix it any way we could.

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The first thing we did is use some patches on the inside of the tire  to try to keep the tube in place.

It didn't look like enough to me so I asked if anyone had some duct tape (I'm a huge fan of duct tape). Nobody did. Just a little electrical tape and some zip ties. We wrap the tape around the tire to keep it from bulging out and set off. This didn't work well; we had to stop a few minutes later because it looked like the tube was going to burst again. We were still 10 miles away from home.

It was then when one of the guys had a moment of genius. Zip ties! Why didn't we think of that first? That would keep the tire in place.

 

We put two zip ties covering the damaged part of the tire, cut them down, and I loosened my rear break so that the ties could move freely. It worked surprisingly well. I had no rear brake and my rear tire was inflated only about half way, but it got me home and I have a feeling that it could have taken me much further.

From now on I'll always carry a handful of zip ties and a pocket knife with me!

Child Transport Bike Hack

I have a great deal of admiration for those who transport others on their bike.  The responsibility involved kind of blows my mind.  I sometimes damage groceries when riding home from the store so the thought of transporting a living thing makes me nervous. 

Reader Max, from France, sent along a great hack he has employed to turn his bike into a triple transporter.  The seat on the back is standard issue, however the top tube seat is a bit of ingenuity.  Max noted that he could not mount a seat directly on top of the tube due to the fact that some of his cables are routed along the top of the tube.  But with a bit of creativity and some wood and bolts, he came up with a hack that both works and looks great. 

One cool looking triple ride - Très Bien!

DIY Front Cargo Rack for Bike

Reader Jim sent us a great front rack hack (say that three times fast) that involves a hacked milk crate. The full Flickr set with annotations can be found here, and Jim's blog is over here. Thanks Jim!

13 Ways To Get Bike Grease Out Of Clothes

[RECYCLED POST] - fits in well with the recent Leg Shield theme

If you’re anything like me, it’s a rare day of bike commuting that doesn’t add a small dot of road grime or bike grease on your khaki pants, white shirt, etc. Grease is tough to remove, but not impossible. You can definitely salvage your threads without settling for a grease spot for the next 20 wash cycles. The following techniques vary wildly in both materials used and toxicity. I’ll say upfront that grease busting dishwashing liquid has worked for me, as has “Shout” brand prewash junk. Be wary of letting any stuff sit on the grease for too long, or next you’ll be dealing with a new stain or discoloration on your clothes (experience talking here). Onward.

In rough order of toxicity (and for the record, I wouldn’t touch those last three, but maybe your neck is redder than mine)…

1. Sprinkle cornstarch on freshly greased clothes. Let it soak up the grease for a while, then shake it out, slop some dishwashing liquid on there and wash as usual

2. On fresh grease: a dot of laundry detergent, rub, wash as usual

3. On set grease: sprinkle some baby powder, let it set a while, shake out, wash as usual

4. Rub some Dawn dishwashing detergent into the spot, then wash

5. Make a paste of Ajax dish soap and baking powder, then rub into the stain using an old toothbrush. Let it sit for about 5 minutes before washing as usual

6. Dribble a little bit of your shampoo (brand agnostic) on the stain, rub and wash as usual

7. Use Simple Green on stains, wash as usual

8. Throw some PineSol or Simple Green in with your laundry

9. Use Goo-Gone on stains, wash as usual

10. Get the stain out with Goof-Off, then get out the Goof-Off residue with Goop hand cleaner before washing as usual

11. Use oven cleaner on the stain, wash as usual

12. Use tire cleaner on the stain, wash as usual

13. Use brake parts cleaner on the stain, wash as usual

BONUS SOLUTION (only works in the northern hemisphere during the winter months)

1. Find some doll clothes that have been discarded by a thrift store. Don’t buy them, you must find them in the trash. (I’m not sure why this is important…something about lingering sorrow).

2. Once you’ve got the clothes, rend them. If you don’t know how to rend clothes, re-read the Old Testament, preferably King James Version, until you receive understanding.

3. Got the rent clothes? Refashion these textiles into a circle than cannot be broken. In a pinch, that sideways figure eight infinity thingy will do, too. Use your imagination–this is more art than science, people. Stay with me here, the hard part is coming up.

4. Using the thumb and forefinger of your left hand pull your greased garment cleanly through the circle that cannot be broken. With a single motion, as you pull the garment through the circle, fling it into the washing machine, closing the door before any excess cleaning power can escape (this technique simply does not work with hand washing, sorry). Wash as usual.

5. This technique should remove any grease present, as well as provide a lasting preternatual shield that prevents all future stains as well. Let me know if it doesn’t work for you.

Leg Shield Giveaway

Grease - it can be your friend or your enemy.  We all love grease when it makes our chain or other bikes parts operate smoothly, but we hate grease when it gets on our "good" clothing.  I actually don't ride in "good" clothing.  I keep my "good" clothing at work and change when I get there.  And for the most part I could really care less about how dirty or greasy my riding clothing gets.  I guess the exception is a rather expensive rain jacket I own, but grease has besmirched said jacket and I just kind of shrugged and got over it.

By most accounts I am not normal.  For example, I never wear matching socks and the first thing I did when a new bike was given to me was scratch it.   Most normal people do care about grease getting on their clothing and if you are such a person, a company out there is on your side.  The fine folks at BikeLegStrap.com are on a mission to keep your pants clean and grease free.  They have created the Leg Shield and want to give one away to a Bike Hacks reader to review. 

Rather than a random giveaway like we recently did with sunglasses, we want readers to share their experience with grease.  Readers are encouraged to send along anything creative that pertains to the struggle with grease that we can post.  This could include, but is not limited to:

• Pictures of dirty bike parts
• Pictures of grease stained clothing
• Poetry
• A story
• A rant
• A video

Submissions will be posted on Bike Hacks for all to enjoy.  Be as creative as you like and send your submission to bikehacks.com (at) gmail.com (include your name and city, state, or province).  The deadline to submit is May 21st, 2012 and the winner will be given a Leg Shield to review for Bike Hacks. 

 

 

Shlacks - Slack Hacks Post 1

We are always happy to receive hacks from readers and Will from Chico, CA recently contacted us with some "Shlacks" he has created.  This is post 1 because Will hints that he has more to share in the future.  If readers have ideas to submit, our in box is always open.

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Hi, I’m Will from Chico, CA (home of Paul Components). I’m a cyclist, but I’m also pretty lazy (a contradiction, I know). I’m also very cheap, and cycling can be a very expensive hobby/sport/way-of-life, so I’m always trying to do hacks on the cheap and lazy. I call them Shlacks (Slack Hacks). I’ll showcase some practical hacks (some featured on this very site), and work my way up to more cringe-inducing Shlacks.

Helmet lights: I have the front one mounted in inspiration of a previous hack, with those ubiquitous LiveStrong-like bands. I put one facing back, and attached some red photographic gel to simulate a rear light (leaving a hole for the heat to escape). Eventually, I want to set up two of these lights on either side, fore and aft, to simulate a car (so drivers might show me a bit of respect...).

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For some lower headlights--for more light coverage on dark roads--I used standard reflector attachments that come with many bikes.

I originally had them attached to the front fork so they would project a wider range of light, but they kept breaking off for various reasons. So, I disassembled the attachments and attached the main body directly to the bottom fork braze on. I then stuck in some free lights I’d gotten from my local HFT.

Utility Cart Bike Trailer Hack

It can be a challenge to ride a bike while attempting to transport things.  One experience I had this past winter was riding with a pizza box cradled between my left hand and bicep for five miles.  It was a Sicilian pie too so my arm was shaking quite a bit at the end of the trip.  Originally I thought I would be able to strap the box to my rack, but the box ended up being a lot larger than I anticipated. 

Reader Dave wanted a way to help transport things and came up with a simple and brilliant utility cart hack.  Dave wrote -

I used a normal steel frame foldable laundry cart that I purchased for $15-20 and attached it with a standard  Bungee cord.  I used a Bungee cause it gives it the flex it needs especially when you make turns or go over bumps.  It actually works perfect for groceries.

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Do you haul things in a non-standard way?  Let us know so we can post.

Bike Chainring Cooking Stove Hack

Collaborations between companies seem to be more and more common and reader juozapas might have come up with an idea to help kitchen appliance and bike companies market the next trendy kitchen appliance.  For more photos related to the hack below check out juozapas' flickr account.

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I bought an old camper van (VW LT 28 - built in 1981) and the cooking stove inside was without a grill. So I built them from a bicycle chainring. I took them from an old Soviet(?) bicycles "Desna".