BikeHacks

DIY Bike Flasher

Reader Mike sent along a creative hack for repurposing this thing, which prior to him contacting me I had no idea existed. I must say that I am proud that I did not know it existed. 

 

Take it away Mike . . . .

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I used one of those silly "flashing mouth" LED things (like this). They consist of four LEDs, two batteries and a power button, all wired to flash at a seizure-inducing frequency and packaged into a rubber case that you're supposed to put in your mouth so people thing you've eaten a rainbow. They lend themselves to hackery because they have a simple on/off, whereas many flashing-LED toys (like bouncy balls, yo-yos) tend to have gravity-operated switches or auto-off timers that never stop before the effect wears out its welcome.

I bolted a metal bracket to a stack of about ten of those transparent CD-shaped plastic things you often get with a spindle of real CDs, sandwiched between two black CD-shaped plastic things you often get with a spindle of real CDs. Note: "real" CDs light up passably well, though not as brightly as the clear plastic because the light can't bounce around as much inside the stack (though presumably you'd get clearer color separation). I placed the flasher at an angle so I could use fewer discs, but it could be mounted vertically too. I then trimmed away some excess rubber and hot-glued the flasher to the edge of the CD stack, piling up a wedge of glue so the flasher can recline comfortably, and the button is easy to reach.

When switched on, each LED hits the edge of a couple of CDs and lights it up. The effect is surprisingly bright, particularly when viewed straight-on (or from "sitting in a car" level). Anyway, I hastily tied it to my bike rack and it survived its maiden voyage to work: concept proven. And since the flasher was designed to sit in one's mouth, I assume that it's spit-proof and therefore waterproof, so I won't mind if it gets a little soggy.

When the batteries die, I'll either open up the flasher and replace them (like 5hockwave2 does here), swap the whole flasher out for a fresh one (I have a couple), or bypass the little on-board batts and wire it to one of the other other electrical items I've got cooking, perhaps it can sit between a pair of turn signals?

Of course this should only be considered supplementary blingification and should by no means replace "real" reflective bike additions or lighting. But it's certainly better than nothing, and is a far preferable to putting that goofy LED contraption in a place reserved for bacon.

 

Welded, Vise Mount Truing Stand Using Removable Dial Indicator on Magnetic Base

Wheel truing has beguiled me in the past.  The only way I will ever get comfortable with it is possibly getting some wheels to practice on.  I tried to true one of my wheels once without having practiced, and it was never quite the same.

Reader Pedorro obviously takes his wheel truing seriously, and the following hack he submitted proves it.

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Construction time: 10 minutes using Metal Devil blade

tools: stick welder, circ saw with metal cutting blade (recommend Morse Metal Devil about $50)

Materials:

dial indicator on magnetic base, can be purchased from Harbor Freight for about $40

http://www.harborfreight.com/multipositional-magnetic-base-with-fine-adjustment-5645.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-inch-travel-machinists-dial-indicator-623.html

~16" of 1-1/2" x 3/8" steel bar
~16" of 2"x2"x1/4" steel angle

Use circ saw to cut dropout in one end of steel bar (no need to be precise, but make it at least as wide as your largest axle) and then cut other end at 45 degree angle.

Weld 45 degree cut end of steel bar to steel angle about 5" from one end.

Mount angle in vise, clamp wheel into dropout with qr or nuts, clamp mag base to angle, position dial indicator for horizontal or radial truing.

45 degree angle on bar puts wheel over bench and puts dial indicator in convenient spot for using spoke wrench.

The picture says it all.  It works on all sizes of wheels, you just move the dial indicator, you can put the dial on both sides of the rim, you can use the mag holder arm for radial truing or make a wide roller for that,  you can even true disc rotors.  The dial indicator takes all the guesswork out of lateral truing, it's really easy to get the rim within 0.01" in a couple passes.

UPS Moose Mitts

Winter finally feels like it has arrived in the northeast and keeping your hands warm in cold temps can be a challenge.  The delivery riders in NYC are prolific when it comes to bike hacks and these UPS bag moose mitts are evidence of creative genius at work.  Another example of a great hand warming hack that incorporates plastic cartons can be seen here. If you have hacks for hand warmth, feel free to send them our way . . . oh, and Happy New Year!

The AsSALT - Follow Up Post #2

A few weeks back I published a post on the challenge that salt on roads poses in the winter.  I encouraged readers to submit their own hacks for keeping their whips corrosion free and our first submission focused on Plasti Dip as a possible solution.  Reader Chuck rides in Wisconsin during the winter and sent along his own advice on fighting the corrosive combination of CaCl_2, MgCl_{2, and} KCl found on roads. 

The combination of Upper-case and Lower-case letters and subscript numbers above came from a couple of quick Google searches on "road salt."  The search made me dizzy and scared.  Dizzy because chemical diagrams and shorthand make my head spin.  Scared because I am pretty sure the "salt" we throw all over the place is super bad for the environment.  I don't claim to understand most of what I stumbled upon, however the "salt" appears to be a combination of  . . . long sounding words that are hard to pronounce and likely kills stuff. 

I definitely don't belong in the lane that deals with chemical compositions, but if readers out there wish to comment, I would love to read more.  Well, maybe that is overstated because I am sure whatever I read will depress me . . . anyway, take it away Chuck . . .

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For winter-proofing my ride for Wisconsin winter I use:

1-Change any fasteners that are not stainless steel to stainless and liberally coat the threads with anti seize.  

2-Coat the inside of all the frame tubes with Gibb's aerosol lubricant. This stuff is amazing!

3-If it is bare aluminum and can be easily removed, it gets painted with black enamel.

4-Rinse off with clean water often.

Collapsible Bike Repair Stand

Repair stands are a common search term on Bike Hacks and we have seen our fair share of sweet DIY submissions.  Ideas include bike stands that are:

• bombproof
• ceiling mounted
• pipe based
• fork based
• weight stand based - it will pump you up

One day I hope to brandish a flame that is mega hot to stick metal things together, something reader Ben has experience doing as described in the following write up.  Ben does the Flickr and can be found at thedidley's.  Take it away Ben . . .

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I finished this repair stand about 2 months ago. After I bought a welder, this was one of the first projects on the list. I had made a PVC stand about 4 years ago and it was not much better than leaning the bike up against a wall so I really wanted to make something worth using.

Another consideration was that I do all my projects in a storage shed (or outside it) and I wanted to be able to collapse the stand down to store flat. The parts include:

• 1 1/2" angle iron,
• 1 1/2" black pipe
• 3/4" square steel tubing
• 5/8" solid steel rod
• a floor flange for the black pipe
• a pair of welding vice grips.

The vice grips are mounted to the square tubing and the rod is sized to fit snugly inside the square tube. I use a towel or piece of foam to protect my bike when I clamp it in. I put a set screw on the square tubing using a weldable nut so that I could secure the bike at various angles. The floor flange is welded to the bottom of the stand and the black pipe threads into the flange. The way it's set up I can rotate the bike on the clamp post and on the vertical part of the stand (black pipe), so it's pretty easy to access just about any part of the bike.

All of the parts are available at the big box hardware stores. If you know someone who does metal work or has a farm, they probably have some angle iron or black pipe you could score. Metal bed frames are also a good source of angle iron. The project cost about $50 (using all new materials) so it's not as cheap as some of the PVC or hook type DIY stands, but its as sturdy as some of the $100+ stands out there.

Fridge Freezer Bike Basket Hack

It's cold outside where I live.  Not traditional Boston cold from what I hear, I have only lived here for about a year now, more Climate Change kind of cold.  I hear that temperatures around freezing here are pretty mild when compared to years gone by.  It is winter however and reader Matthew submitted a chilly hack.  Enjoy.

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I have had a bike rack in the shed for a while so all I needed was a basket to go with it. The inspiration for making a basket came from similar storage hacks on your site.

The basket was constructed using two old fridge freezer drawers and connecting them together. I only had to remove one wire section from the deeper drawer using a hacksaw and using a bit of force they were joined together to create a basket.

An old seat post clamp was used to clamp the basket to the bike rack. Additionally a couple of nuts of bolts and a few cable ties were used to complete the fixings. The finishing touches were rear reflectors and lights on the rear of the basket.

The AsSALT - Follow Up Post #1

A few readers responded to my The AsSALT Begins post from last week.  Reader Carl sent along an email with his unique solution to the fight against salt corrosion.  He coated his entire bike with Plasti Dip.  He no longer has the bike and is not sure if he can dig up pictures, but he was kind enough to offer the text below.  And for another example of a unique use of Plasti Dip, see this past bike hacks post.  And if readers have other ideas/solutions, send them along to us for posting. 

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Sold that bike to a buddy when I left the bay. It has since been stolen :(

He didn't double up on his locks. Don't think I have any pics of it... but here is a basic write-up . . .

During one of my yearly tear-downs, I decided I wanted to paint it. While I was shopping for paint, I noticed plast-dip [PD] was being sold in a spray can. So I bought 3 cans of the stuff.

I only pulled the bb because I was replacing it anyways, otherwise I would have just masked it off, cause I sealed around the bb afterwards with some brush-on PD. Anyways, I had a bare frame, so I went to town with the spray. Every nook and cranny, cranks and handlebars, seat post, everything got 3 coats, each coat while the last one was still tacky.

After I put it back together, I laid down a coat on the headset and using a razor cut a slit around the bottom of it so it could move freely. Same for the bb, except I masked around the axle, and I had ran out of spray so I used brush on. Used aforementioned razor to clear the teeth on the crank of PD. Pretty sure that's all there was to it. It was a helluva lot more durable than spray paint, looked cool too.

It lasted about 8 months before it started to peel off in places, and once a year hit it was all gone. A buddy of mine told me that was because of 2 things; I didn't scuff the surface of the paint, and I didn't use a solvent to rid the surface of dirt and oils. He said if I had done those things, it probably would have lasted twice as long. So if you do it right, it's a yearly treatment, but its cheap, pretty easy and doesn't care when your chain/u-lock smacks into it.

I'm planning on doing the same thing to my current bike this winter, but using spray on truck bed liner, since I moved inland and need toughness more than water proofing. We'll see how that goes, and if it works I'll be sure to get you pics of this one.

DIY Chain Tensioner

Dropping a chain stinks.  I hate that feeling when I go from having tension while pedaling to my legs spinning wildly.  Reader Christopher was having drop problems and came up with his own chain tensioner. 

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My single speed frankenbike would not stop dropping the chain with the old derailleur I was using as a tensioner so I took it upon myself to make one out of a rack support and a big ol' pulley wheel (14t).

It works a lot better than I thought it would, I figured it'd just collapse on the first rough mtn. ride, but its held up fine so far.

Shelf Bracket Bike Rack and Repair Stand

Bike racks and repair stands are among the most common search terms we see in our stats and reader Scott contacted us with yet another spin on this topic.  Take it away Scott . . .

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I don't mind spending money on my bike - if it makes sense, but I hate wasting it on over-engineered accessories that can be easily replaced by something simpler and just as functional.

I always wanted a work stand, but-

1] Don't have the room to store one, and

2] Don't have the budget for one anyways. 

Fast forward to my moving into a new house, and putting up shelves in the garage to store all my junk.  Staring me in the face are an extra pair of stamped steel shelf brackets, the one piece ones that are approx. 12" long.  Screwed into the studs of the wall at 16" on center, they are plenty sturdy enough to support my bike, so now I have a way to store it off the floor, as well as do service and adjustments - like cleaning/lubing the chain, adjusting the cables, etc.

As my bicycle is my baby, I couldn't bear to see it get scratched from metal-on-metal contact, so a well-used inner tube sacrificed itself to make grippy covers for the arms.  Soaked in some soapy water, they slid over the arms with just the right amount of resistance, and when dry locked onto the arms tightly.  Now the frame doesn't slide around and get scratched up, and it is much more stable when working on it.

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There are other shelf brackets out there, like the ones used in closets - they have a "u" drop at the ends to support a closet rod - or in our case, a top tube of a bike frame.  It also allows you to mount a shelf on top to hold your helmet and shoes, or cleaning supplies or tools.  Maybe next time...

Bike Sidecar - Part Deux

Back in July of 2011 reader Juan Pablo from Buenos Aires sent us a bunch of great photos of a bike sidecar he developed.  He has sought to improve his original idea and has a whole web page dedicated to his efforts.  Here is a sweet diagram he posted -

And the pictures of the final product are a thing of beauty.