Thursday, December 31, 2009

Padlock to secure cargo bike bag

My New Cycle Truck cargo bike has a giant pizza delivery bag modified to sit on the front rack. This bag is very well suited to this purpose, and it was quite inexpensive, but I put some work into it so that it would strap securely onto the rack, and I would hate to see it stolen. I also don't want to have to remove it all the time - it's nice to be able to ride to a grocery store and leave the bag on the bike.

So to deter theft, I installed two grommets in the bag, and got a combination padlock with a fairly long shackle. To steal the bag now, A thief would have to cut out the grommets, destroy the padlock, or remove the rack. But I can still remove the bag pretty quickly.











Saturday, December 26, 2009

New Cycle Truck cargo bike action pics

Over the past year, I have been collecting snapshots of my New Cycle Truck cargo bike while loaded with various bulky cargos. I posted a few of these on my cargo bike webpage. See them here:
http://james.architectureburger.com/cycle/cargo.html#loaded
The photos are at the bottom of the page, so they might take a while to load after the other content has loaded.
A sample:

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Quick fix for sagging Acorn Boxy Bag - Corrugated Plastic Stiffener

Quick fix for sagging Acorn Boxy Bag: I had found that the front pocket of my Boxy Bag was pulling down on the front of the map sleeve/bag top and making it sag in the middle:



So I cut an appropriately sized rectangle out of corrugated plastic ("stratocore"), covered the edges with gaffer's tape (reinforced electrical tape) so that the sharp edges of the plastic would not abrade the bag, and inserted into the front pocket behind my spare tube and tools:



And thus, the bag substantially holds its shape now. As an added bonus, if I ever need some tape for a roadside fix, I could peel the gaffer's tape off the stiffener and reuse it. With stiffener in place:

Saturday, October 31, 2009

P-clamp cyclocomputer mount

The skewed position of the computer on the Mary handlebar had me somewhat miffed, so I modified James' ingenious hack. While not as resourceful as James', I am very pleased with the result. The parts are from the local hardware store, and the steps are simple:

1. A large 1" p-clamp around the fork, along with a machine screw, washers, and nut create a threaded stud - level with the ground and 90 to the bike.
2. A nylon spacer, washer, and nylon locknut are tightened to the machine screw to create a dowel stud. (A cap nut can be used for aesthetics. Then again all stainless hardware can be used, though my local hardware only has zinc-plated p-clamps)
3. A smaller p-clamp clamps to the nylon spacer and attaches to the computer mount as in James' set up.


Smaller p-clamp can be seen here.


Monday, August 31, 2009

Prototype Decaleur


Here is our first prototype decaleur. Constructed from 1/8" steel rod.


A length of lightweight aluminum bar stock reinforces the bag and closes the triangle.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Small handlebar bag rack

After a few hundred miles with an Acorn Boxy Bag, I am pleased to report that the small handlebar bag rack is working very well. Next project: decaleur!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Saddlebag Support


A saddlebag support for a large saddlebag. In this case, the Carradice Nelson Longflap. See more here:
http://www.appleblock.grrtt.com/saddlebag-support-panasonic.php