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.

Comments

[Bren]

I really like the fork-mounted lights. I would have a hard time not pointing them at people and saying PEW! PEW! PEW!