Some bike hacks are wonderful and work out great, others seem like a good idea but turn out to be a bust. Most of the stuff we post on this site is based upon success stories, however sometimes it is wise to learn from the mistakes of others. Reader Juoza, also responsible for a post on a strange seat post bike hack, created a rack from a metal shopping cart, but did not have the best results. He sent along the following text and pictures, which will perhaps cause some to think twice before using certain materials for rack hacks.
If you have learned from your mistakes, do feel free to share with us for the benefit of all. And while Juoza did not have success with turning a shopping cart into a basket, see this past Bike Hacks post on the possible benefit of turning a shopping cart into a trailer.
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I came up with this hack a few years ago because I really needed a strong front basket for carrying food and other things. I tried some smaller shopping baskets, but they weren't strong enough. I tried more than a few without success. So finally I decided to weld one for myself! :)
I choose a metal super-market shopping cart as donor for material. It turned out to be a mistake, at least for me, because the cart metal was covered with zinc and it was really hard to weld. It was also quite a heavy material. I'm not using it anymore, mostly because it was too heavy using it actually damaged my front wheel.
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"I choose a metal super-market shopping cart as donor for material."
I'm not accusing Juoza of acquiring his hack material — the 'donor' shopping cart — by less-than-legitimate means, but from a purely ethical standpoint standpoint, should we be promoting hacks using what could turn out to be purloined material?
-"BB"-
Posted by: Bicycle Bill | 06/15/2012 at 05:22 AM