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Brendon wrote a few days ago about ways to “Ugly” your bike. Because I have to lock my commuter bike outside a great deal I have been practicing the art of deceit for some time. It’s not that my commuter bike is all that wonderful anyway, I only paid $100 for it. Actually, that brings up another hack.

When I moved to NYC I wanted a bike that would get the job done as far as commuting but not attract much attention. After a few days of looking on craigslist I found the perfect “mule.” It is a 1985 Peugeot that had been sitting in some closet, untouched for years. It had a thick coat of dust and flat tires when I went to pick it up and looked as if it had been ridden about 100 miles in it’s 20 year lifespan. Perfect! Old but “new” at the same time.

I decided to mix it up a bit and do a combination of “uglifying” techniques. The first thing I did however was to wrap most of the frame with Saran Wrap. This is a good hack because some day you just may want to take the disguise off and this will ensure that it comes off easily.

After wrapping the frame in plastic wrap, I used a mixture of inner tubes and duct tape. I put tubes where my lock commonly rests on the frame when I chain up and duct tape on various portions of the frame.

The inner tubes are secured with zip ties. Then I moved on to the fenders which you also can see in the picture. Now this is where I do have a bone to pick with the Make Magazine article Brendon pointed to on uglifying your ride. It states:

“A can of spray paint is a good start but choose wisely. Black is out. We’re talking ugly here, not cool. Think orange.”

I happen to believe that orange is beautiful so it’s the perfect match. The majority of the population probably thinks my orange spray painted fenders are ugly while they make me smile. Bonus for me. Here is a picture of the whole ride.

I also have peppered it with stickers and even some stuff I have found on the road like this air freshener. Nothing says irony like a car air freshener on a bike.

Kinda related posts

• Security: Padlocking your Quick Release (1)
• 8+ Ways To Ugly Your Bike (4)
• You Say You Want A Velorution (3)
• HowTo: Make Your Own Fenders (2)
• How To Make Wooden Fenders (0)

Filed Under: modification