BikeHacks

High Heel Bicycle Cleat

The Internet is amazing, it seems there is no end to it. I discovered a new blog entitled Chicks and Bikes and the subtitle is, "Nuthing but pix." Be warned that if you visit, many of the pictures are NSFW. One of the pictures on the site shows what appears to be a high heeled shoe with a bike cleat.

Now that's some high fashion I can respect! 

Photo Credit to "Captain Crank" over at Chicks and Bikes

DIY Bike Rain Gear

Sidebar to start the day, when did Top Gun become such a crappy movie?  Savaged by a wicked cold recently, I took a giant shot of some nasty tasting cherry NyQuil and I flipped on my TV at exactly the time the movie was starting.  Back when I first saw the movie 27 years ago (wow, 27 years) I could not understand why it did not take home an Oscar.   

Was it just the NyQuil that made the movie cornie, hokey, clichéd, and poorly acted?  And Kenny Loggins?  Really?  You had macho metal bands galore in the 1980s with guitarists that could shred and in a movie with macho jet pilots . . .  Kenny Loggins?  Note to readers, if you ever want to remember a movie fondly, don't watch it after drinking cherry NyQuil.  Now on to business . . .

Reader Michael, of pencil sharpener fame, sent along a simple hack for keeping your pants dry during a rain storm.

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When riding in the rain I often found it difficult to prevent my pants from getting wet. To solve this problem I used two pieces of garbage bag cut to suitable size, then glued them with velcro. It becomes a convenient pants cover for wearing during a raining day. Use a clothespin to fix the pants cover to the pocket of the pants. When used with rain boot it protects my pants from getting wet fairly well even in heavy rain.

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Travel

I have spent more time away from home than at home in the past three months and biking has been on my mind a lot.  I miss my commutes when away from home and have spent some time day dreaming about what it would be like to take a bike with me everywhere.  I have seen quite a few bike share programs during my travels which is cool, but I have to admit that I have never used such a service to date. 

With travel on the brain I thought I would point back to a few posts that deal with bikes and travel.  And to all those who have posted comments or sent us emails in the past few months, apologies for some delays and thanks for your patience as my access to the interweb has not always been consistent.  

Bike Luggage - Helium bike case from Biknd

West Coast Train Travel - Amtrak is Bike Friendly

Rent your bike to a traveler - Spinlister

And one other thing I have thought about a great deal while traveling, I cannot believe that for most of my life I traveled without merino wool t-shirts.  They make travel SOOOO much easier.  I can pack a whole lot lighter (they don't stink up easily and if you do need to hand wash they dry over night) and the comfort is so superior to cotton it is amazing. 

Is a T-Shirt Worth $60?

Holy Light Colored Merino Wool!

 

Powder - Not Just for Inside

During a particularly long stretch of rainy days I found that the shoes I ride in were beginning to stink a bit.  You might know the smell, the wet fabric/mildewy type of smell.  As covered in a previous post, one strategy I have used is to stuff my shoes with newspaper after a wet ride to help speed up the drying process.  You can also use a rubber band to wrap the shoe with newspaper. 

Whether it rains or not, I also make it a habit to put baby powder in my shoes. When powdering the inside recently I had an idea, why not powder the outside as well?

It's not like I'm going to wear my shoes to the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance or anything, and I figured the powder would just disappear after a few days.  After one ride to work they looked like this -

And a couple of days later my shoes were back to normal.

And maybe it's just my optimism, but I don't think they smell as bad anymore either =)

Wrinkle Free Suit Bike Commute

One common question I get from people who find out I ride my bike to work is, "What about your clothing?"  I actually must present myself as a professional person during normal business hours, but you would never know it if you saw me on my bike. I never ride in my business clothing.  I will save my thoughts on clothing transport for a future entry, but reader Brian sent along his hack for transporting clothing without all the wrinkles.  Take it away Brian . . . 

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I live in a very hot, humid climate (Eastern North Carolina), but I wear a sport coat or suit jacket for my job.  From May to September, wearing the coat during my daily commute is pretty much out of the question. 

So, I made this rack so I can hang my coat and transport it without wrinkling.  It works with a Wald folding rear basket*, which I recommend in any case.  So, besides the basket, you'll need a floor lamp -- the cheap box-store variety that students tend to have in their dorms, and then throw out.  Something like this.   I found mine out at the curb on trash day -- thanks, neighbor! 

The only parts of the lamp you'll need are the pole itself and the threaded clamp that holds the pole to the base.  You'll also need a little extra sheet metal (I used the lid from a cookie jar), and some nylon zip ties.  I used a garment bag with handles that loop over the pole, and a strap (originally for holding the two handles together) that fits perfectly around the pole.

Once you've installed the base, you can screw the pole on or off in seconds.  The base doesn't interfere with the folding of the basket. 

Coming home in the evening, I'll often clip an extra blinky light to the top of the garment bag, or even (for full nerd effect) put a reflective vest over the garment bag.

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Skirt Guard Bike Hack Wanted

Typically we post hacks that we spot, come up with, or receive from readers, but occasionally readers contact us with a plea for help with a bike related issue.  Reader Mike contacted us with an issue I have zero experience/advice regarding, however I thought the broader community might be able to assist.  If readers have advice, feel free to comment and help Mike out.  And if people have hacks they want to pass along to us for posting, even better!  Take it away Mike . . . .

Anyone got a good skirt guard hack out there? I have a daughter that loves to wear skirts and ride her bike and we live in the USA.  Not much help from bike shops/online out there for this problem...

Fighting Grease and Grime on the Bike Commute

Bicycle commuting can be an ugly business at times. For example, after my bike had been left dormant for a few weeks while I traveled it rebelled against me and decided to lose the chain while shifting gears. Not only that, the chain doubled up on itself and it took both hands to get it back into normal position. The result? Two filthy, greasy hands.

You also never know what the streets are going to throw at you. From a puddle of antifreeze to a disgusting juice puddle left by a garbage truck, the muck you encounter can be brutal. If you have gunk on you or your bike that you want to get off and don't want touch it, or if you don't want to get your hands dirty while doing a repair, what can you do?

My solution is tie an old sock or rag to my frame. Got a sock that is wasting away in your drawer? Tie it loud and tie it proud!  Plus, a dirty, greasy, nasty old sock hanging from your frame tells people -

1) This dude or dudette is really serious about biking

2) I don’t want to get near that scary looking sock so I’m leaving that bike alone!

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If you have hacks for fighting grime, feel free to contact us!

Holy Light Colored Merino Wool!

I mentioned recently that I made a trip to Portland, and for me no trip to Portland would be complete without a visit to the icebreaker store on Burnside.  Since being introduced to merino wool shirts a few years back, I have worn one for every single bike commute.  The one thing that bummed me out was that the only merino wool t-shirts offered seemed to be dark colors.  This meant that I had to change into white cotton t-shirts when I got to work because a dark colored t-shirt will most often look awkward underneath a dress shirt.

When I walked into the icebreaker store last month I almost shouted "Yessss!" when I saw what I had been hoping for, a white t-shirt.  While the shirt was not shout out loud white-white, I was confident that it would do the job of meshing with a work shirt so I bought several of them.  I have been very pleased.  They definitely serve the same purpose as a white cotton t-shirt for work purposes.  The color is called ivory and the picture below shows a side-by-side comparison with a traditional white cotton shirt on the left and the ivory merino wool shirt on the right. 

As I covered in an earlier post, I definitely believe merino wool shirts are worth the money.  It costs more up front, but as far as performance is concerned they blow all other shirts I have worn away.  I can wear them a number of days before they need washing and they are not itchy at all.

I used to have a closet full of cotton and cotton blended t-shirts and I now only keep a few around for when I engage in dirty or greasy tasks and I don't care what happens to the shirt.  With the lighter color option, I can now wear merino wool all the time, on my commute and throughout the day.

 

 

Bike Inner tube Shoe Patch Hack

I have always been one to try and stretch the life of product to the very end.  I laughed pretty hard at two Seinfeld quotes/comments about men and clothing.  I was able to find video of one, and text of the other.  I located the following quote via a Seinfeld site, it pertains to why there is no men's vintage underwear:

There is no vintage underwear of course, but it’s not because the guy couldn’t sell his underwear, it’s because men wear their underwear until it absolutely disintegrates. Men hang on to underwear until, until each individual underwear molecule is so strained it can barely retain the properties of a solid.

And there is this YouTube clip on Jerry talking about his approach to wearing t-shirts . . .

 

I have been wearing the same Shimano shoes for over 6 years now (an older version of these) and although they are pretty haggard looking, they still perform well and I ride in them daily.  Based on the fact that I am currently reading Garbage Land and feel guilty throwing anything away, I will likely try to keep riding in them until each individual shoe molecule is so strained it can barely retain the properties of a solid =)

Reader Kim wanted to squeeze more life out of some shoes and came up with a great hack incorporating an old inner tube.  All text and pictures below are credited to Kim.  She also has a question at the end and reader comments are welcome. 

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I bought these shoes 2 years ago for 4 seasons commuting. I love these shoes, and I successfully used them for commuting both in summer and winter. Canadian winter, that is.

Sadly though, this summer the toe plates dried and cracked, effectively making the shoes unusable. But these are otherwise in great shape, as they are made of high quality material. They could still be used for a few years if only I could change the toe plate with something tougher. Originally, this part of the shoe is made of a synthetic rubber/cloth hybrid. I don't know why Merrell went for this material only for this part of the shoe, as the other more conventional materials obviously were a better choice, at least on this shoe.



Well to be honest I don't really want to know why Merrell went this route, as I'm scared the answer would be along the line of “If if doesn't break, we won't sell enough shoes... so it has to break”. Well, I'm a proud hacker, so I don't adhere to this philosophy. I also can't stand the thought of sending to a landfill something that can still be used.

I brought the shoes to a shoemaker and asked him if he could replace the whole part. He tried, but could not unglue the piece from inside the sole without tearing the sole apart. Another disappointment.

So I had a brain storm session. If the toe cap cannot be replaced, then the next best thing would be to cover it with something... Leather would be good, but rubber even better... I need a strip of it... Inner tubes!

And so I took out an old inner tube that was beyond repair, and cut two strips out of it. The strips are large enough to cover the whole front of the shoe, including a good part of the sole.



I then cleaned them, along with the part of the shoe that they would cover, with alcohol. I took out my patch repair kit, and scratched the inside of the tube and the sole with the metal file/sand paper thingy. (how's this thing called anyways?) This will help the glue stick. I decided to use hot melt glue for the part where the inner tube covers the shoe, and rubber cement (again from my patch kit) to glue the tube directly on the sole. Hot glue is probably not the toughest glue to use in this application, but it's very easy to work with and can be reworked to make a good looking job. It's also flexible, which is a necessity in this application. I think the end result isn't so bad.



I used them a couple of times and it's been holding quite well. The lower part, glued with rubber cement, will probably last the remaining life of the shoes. I will be surprised if the hot melt glue lasts as long though. If it ever breaks again, I'll go shop for some more serious glue. Any recommendations?

 

Bike Part Clothing Storage Hacks

It is not unusal to see bike parts repurposed into furniture, this search on Bike Hacks reveals posts we have done on bike related tables, stools, chairs, and lamps.  One of my favorites from a previous post is this valve stem key rack -

 

When stumbling around the Internets I also came across various ways to integrate bike parts into cltohing storage solutions.  Via the French Bike Forum Pignon Fixe comes the follow clothing hanger, perhaps one of the most expensive out there.

As it turns out there is a company, Urbane Innovations, that is trying to make a business out of this concept -

Ranging from $20 to $40 a pop, this is a hack that I don't think "true" hackers would be able to afford.  This idea, credited to Massimo Brugnera, seems like it could be easily replicated by someone with some time on their hands.

And via core77 comes these hangers, created by a design student.

Being the hack that I am, my bike doubles as a clothing hanger =)

Creative uses for bicycle parts for posting on this site are always welcome.