BikeHacks

MICHELIN Gift Card Contest - The Winner

For some reason people were not as stoked about winning $100 as they were a $20 bike light.  We got far more entries for our Bike Brightz contest than our MICHELIN contest.  Perhaps because the Bike Brightz contest was in the winter and the MICHELIN contest was in the summer when people were out riding their bikes.

Regardless, we got some good entries and the winner modified a picture that I actually took.    Trevor from Rochester, NY mixed my love of the camping hammock and the MICHELIN man to create the following.

 

Nice work Trevor, you are the winner of a $100 American Express gift card.  We have more products that we are reviewing and will have stuff to give away in the future so stay tuned for more chances to win some swag.  Thanks to MICHELIN for sponsoring the contest  . . . I have been riding on with MICHELIN Pro tires on my road bike for several years now and love them. 

DIY Bike Repair Stand

Reader Steve from Montreal sent along a great tutorial on how he built his own bike repair stand from spare parts in his garage. Steve is also to be commended because his first language is French and he wrote the following in English.  Take it away Steve . . .

As you see, I made the stand with two triangles, a used old fork, two small clamps from the dollar store, a small metal rod and two radio antenna.

A bike will sit in the stand multiple ways - this is one way.

And another . . .

The antenna (both  sides) prevent the bike from falling to one side or the other. I used old antenna from the 80's. They made them stronger back in the day.

To support the bike in the center, I used a PVC pipe.  Don't cut it in a half, I would recommend "less than a half" for stable support under the bike. If you cut in half, the bike will stand only on the side of the piece of PVC and will put pressure on the cables that pass under the crank.

I still have problem with this part. The fork moves left and right and is not entirely stable.  I used a clamp from a reflector light. Maybe I will make a hole in the wooden base that fits the fork.  This way I gain 1/2 inch of wood to support the weight.

For the metal rod, the image speaks for itself.

To hold the fork, I simply used two small clamps, replace the spring inside (to release the tension) by a bolt (to prevent the clamps crushing when you replace the screw).  The clamps stay firmly open. The duck tape is optional.  A simple tie-rap is enough to fix the clamp on the fork.

Awesome Steve!  As a reminder, we also did a post on "bomb proof" bike stands that has proven to be a fairly common hit on our site - you can find it here.  And we even featured a gravity defying "stand" that you can find here.

 

Bike Hacking a Marriage Proposal

Reader Darryl contacted us and passed along what I think is one of the greatest bike hacks ever.  He stated that it was not exactly a hack, but I get to differ.  No need for me to spoil the story so I'll let him tell it himself . . . congrats man!  Text and photos credited to Darryl.

Not exactly a bike hack, but I just got engaged, and instead of an engagement ring, I gave my fiance an engagement bike. She's not too into jewelry, or spending lots on each other, and she needed a bike (had a loaner that she needed to return). When I proposed, I gave her a jewelry box; inside was a drawing of a hand wearing a tiny bike in place of a ring.

We went to the local bike shop and picked out her bike (a Trek Allant), and she loves it!

Freaking awesome story if you ask me . . . and it provides a built in reason to ride bikes together on an anniversary!  Do you have some heart touching bike stories?  Feel free to share with us.

Know Your Wheels

My guess is that the vast majority of people that own a bike purchased it as a complete package either off of the showroom floor or used via a resource like Craigslist.  While there is nothing wrong with this, there is also some satisfaction to be found in researching the parts of a bike and putting your own together, or modifying your existing whip.

Reader TxRecievable sent along a great link to an article on Wheel Building.  Every bike I have purchased has been a complete package, but I have had to replace one wheel due to an accident.  A minivan performed an illegal u-turn right in front of me and fortunately I only suffered a few bruises and some lost skin, but my wheel suffered fatal damage and needed to be replaced.

Tx clued us in to a great article on wheel building posted on CommuterCycles.com.  Hubs, rims, spokes, and nipples are all covered along with the process. If you are thinking of replacing a wheel the article will help you to make an informed decision.

Picture Credit to CommuterCycles.com

If reades have advice regarding resources related to bikes feel free to share.  The number one resource is of course Sheldon Brown, however there might be other good stuff out there too =)

Cable Bike Lock Fail - What Lies Beneath?

Kellen sent along the following text and picture (I added the green arrow for emphasis):

This one was in Edmonton, AB.  I just found it entertaining that inside that bulky facade of impenetrability, it was only a small 1/4" cable providing the actual security.

It's obvious that this lock's bark is much bigger than it's bite.

Rotho Ice Review

Image credit goes to Rohto

A couple of weeks ago Bikehacks ran a post on active lifestyle products that can help make you more comfortable in the saddle or even in your office chair.  Depending on your line of work/lifestyle, eye strain and irritation may be part of daily life...even if you don't wear glasses or contacts.

I have been using eyedrops on and off for a few years now and have tried quite a few different brands...most recently I've been using Naphcon A.  For the past couple of weeks however, I have been using Rohto Ice eyedrops.  The product claim is that they "...relieve redness while also soothing itch, irritation and burn with an intense cooling sensation".  With relation to the cooling sensation, 'intense' may be a small understatement.

When I applied the drops for the first time, it was a little shocking to say the least because of the strong and immediate (intense) cooling sensation.  It can be a very strong sensation at first, seemingly depending on the level of irritation in your eyes.  The intensity quickly fades into a pleasant cool and moist feeling for your eyes.  I've gotten used to them now and look forward to the extra kick that these drops provide when they are first applied.

In addition to providing personal eye comfort, Rohto Ice eyedrops can also be used on unsuspecting inebriated friends...to help snap them back to reality, and provide a few laughs at their reaction to the intense cooling sensation.  For more information on Rohto's eyedrops, click here.

Look Mom, No Hands!

One time when riding a bicycle with no hands I fell and skinned the heck out of my knee.  It's safe to say the consequences of falling 260 feet into the ocean would have been far worse.  The following comes for dailyvsvidz.com.

Nik Wallenda, a seventh-generation high-wire daredevil, safely cycled more than 100 feet along a wire some 260 feet above the ocean on a bicycle without tires, without a safety net. He did it in the Bahamas, and Guinness will have to verify if he broke his own record.

 

Frozen Bike Seat Post Hack

Two of the most frustrating mechanical issues to me are stripped bolts and frozen parts.  I have bloodied many a knuckle and strained many a finger by working on part that suffered from one of these two ills.  Reader Michael had frozen bike seat post and came up with a great solution.  All italic text and pictures are credited to Michael:

Recently had a need to adjust the seat height on a bike and discovered that the post was seized good. Tried all the usual tricks -- penetrating oil, vice, etc. Even tried the last ditch vertical hack saw trick -- nothing working.

In the end, I left the old post in but cut it down to the frame. I went out, bought some scrap tubing ($5) with the same diameter as an old bike stem, cut it at the same angle as the wedge and used the long bolt from the stem to loosely connect the two.

This fit beautifully down the hollow of the old seat post. Adjusted the height of the stem sticking out, tightened it up just like you would a bike stem and the wedge and tube 'expanded' into the old post interior to create a nice tight interference fit.

Attached my seat to the top and everything works good as gold.

Maybe this is an old idea, I don't know. I certainly didn't find it on Google.

Rock on Michael!  Have you had a frozen bike part that needed hackin'?  Feel free to let us know.

DIY Tandem Bike - Theft Proof?

Reader Atom Smasher sent along the following text and photo . . . I certainly hope to make it to NZ one day, every time I see footage of New Zealand I am amazed by the natural beauty.

As seen in Newtown, Wellington NZ. There used to be two bikes regularly locked to that signpost; now there's just this one. As is common in Wellington, the bike is secured to a "cheater" sign-post (one that can easily be lifted up from the ground) with a dollar-store lock. At least in this case, I think, the bike belongs to the shop owners right where the bike is parked.

To me, the simple set up of this bike is a theft deterrant.  First, I cannot think of a time I have ever wanted to ride a tandem.  Second, looks like a pretty sketchy set up . . . just saying.

Electrical Tape Bike Fetish

Spotted this on the street the other day in Manhattan.  Someone definitely has a fetish for black electrical tape.  The mirrors are kind of a mystery to me because if you want to see what is behind you, the mirrors should be on the outside of the handlebars.  With this set up, it seems that rider would be looking at him or herself.

Not sure how comfortable this would be, but a hack it is.

A you a tape warrior, let us know.