Author Topic: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges  (Read 42415 times)

LEE

Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« on: 05 June, 2013, 10:32:01 am »
This is how I affix my rear light because I strongly believe rear lights are best fitted so their beam shines (more or less) horizontally, into car-drivers' eyes rather than cyclists' eyes.





It uses a P-Clip (with the rubber insert), a standard Cateye bracket and a plastic block (I had loads left over from building some flat-pack furniture).  The blocks are pre-drilled, strong and light.  I wrapped it in black tape.

It's rock-solid but can be tweaked up/down or left/right easily. Without the plastic block the light hits the seat stay before I can get it horizontal, although this is a Cateye 600 issue that wouldn't affect other lights I imagine.

Some Star-washers, to dig into the plastic block, may make it even more solid.

I may turn the P-Clip over to get the light more in line with the seat stay.
Now I'm happy with the way this has worked I think I may stack another light on the same seat stay.  (I just like having 2 rear lights, flashing on different patterns).

The close-up photos make the setup appear more obtrusive than it is in reality.

Trull

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #1 on: 11 June, 2013, 07:07:48 am »
Neat and sturdy looking, nice one.

The only thing I'd add would be a black cable tie to stop the light from pinging upwards out of the clip in bracket. This can be slid forwards to release, but keeps it secure during 50+mph bouncy descents!

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #2 on: 11 June, 2013, 07:15:43 am »
Nice.
Now I need someone to show me their bodge to fix their toplight to the back of a flat plate rack that offers no fixings other than those you choose to carve yourself. :-\

Edit: upon fetching the steed from the shed this morning, I thought, hmm, let's just get that light out and look at it again. I've been tripping over it for months, but of course, its nowhere to be seen now....

LEE

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #3 on: 11 June, 2013, 04:06:22 pm »
Surely a rear rack with a plate is a perfect option for fixing a light to.

Plus drilling holes in things is fun.

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #4 on: 12 June, 2013, 08:20:35 pm »
Surely a rear rack with a plate is a perfect option for fixing a light to.

Plus drilling holes in things is fun.
Yeah but this plate is horizontal and I want a vertical one. I'm feeling old man peevish at the idea of having coughed up for a rack and then having to bodge it!

LEE

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #5 on: 12 June, 2013, 10:30:47 pm »
All my rear lights have been bodged to fit.

Here's another cateye bodge using an innertube and cateye clamp.

It's been secure for 6 years like that (but you can tweak it up/down with a bit of a twist if it needs aligning).



Cateye seem to have a bracket for most things.

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #6 on: 12 June, 2013, 11:06:31 pm »
For those not inclined to do their own bodging, SJS do a good range of brackets.

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #7 on: 15 June, 2013, 10:23:00 am »

LEE

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #8 on: 18 June, 2013, 02:18:58 pm »
SJSC come in for a bit of a beating sometimes "the bloody prices they charge" but I've always found them incredibly useful for that niche "pingphuket"  (pronounced "ping-foo-kay" ) that you need.


Kim

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #9 on: 18 June, 2013, 02:32:18 pm »
Absolutely.  If they didn't charge enough to make their niche widget repository viable, they'd be just another Wiggle.

And for some items they're relatively cheap.  Short cranks, for example.

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #10 on: 18 June, 2013, 11:23:19 pm »
My rear light bodge seems to draw comment on group rides fairly regularly...




Oaky

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #11 on: 19 June, 2013, 09:41:55 am »
My rear light bodge seems to draw comment on group rides fairly regularly...



I see nothing wrong with using lightweight racing corks in light brackets!


You are in a maze of twisty flat droves, all alike.

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #12 on: 06 August, 2013, 10:28:05 am »
For those not inclined to do their own bodging, SJS do a good range of brackets.

Thanks for that link.
I now have an official b&m bracket from sjs, and only had to bodge it with a hacksaw to make it fit!

Cudzoziemiec

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #13 on: 09 August, 2013, 12:22:26 pm »
My rear light bodge seems to draw comment on group rides fairly regularly...


My rear light is currently zip-tied to the metal plate on my Carradice saddlebag, as the loop Carradice provide for this purpose just leaves it dangling its dazzle to the ground. It's working ok (remains to be seen what will happen if/when I need to replace the batteries mid-ride, but I do have two lights on this bike) but I have several times considered attaching it via a cork, so I could get the angle better. I've even collected two corks for this purpose, one from some New Year's champagne, one a more cylindrical cork. One day I might use one or both or perhaps get some re-usable cable ties instead...
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

LEE

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #14 on: 09 August, 2013, 01:57:28 pm »
My completed rear light "array".

2 P-clips, 2 plastic connector blocks (to move lights away from seat stay) and 2 Cateye brackets (plus some M5 bolts/nuts)



They are slightly out of synch on flash mode, this gives a rather eye-catching effect as they slip in and out of synch with each other.

Check out the rear view.

You can see the benefit of aligning them horizontally as I move from "Motorist's view" to "Cyclist's view" and back again.

It's fairly representative of real world.  They are VERY bright at low level and not so if you are close behind, at cyclists height.  On "steady mode" they wouldn't be distracting at all to a cyclist close behind.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/CAVPux99-xA&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/CAVPux99-xA&rel=1</a>

robgul

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #15 on: 16 August, 2013, 06:33:49 am »
My rear light bodge seems to draw comment on group rides fairly regularly...



Dare I say it but more elegant solution can be found at  www.beewee.org.uk  under the Briefings tab on th LH side.

Rob

vorsprung

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #16 on: 16 August, 2013, 11:07:02 am »
RH side, b&m seculite plus attached with a p clip and a shoe plate

http://audaxing.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/bm-rear-light-bodge-up

LH side, backup light uses metal putty to give the Roubaix stays a circular cross section

http://audaxing.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/fettling-for-pbp/

Trull

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #17 on: 06 October, 2013, 08:19:12 pm »
Just got busy in the garage to fab up this little beauty:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/torcuill/10116289815/in/photostream/

And here it is disassembled:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/torcuill/10116339756/in/photostream/

I drilled two holes in the blackburn rack and this allows me to hold the Topline as well as a Cateye on a hebie angled bracket.

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #18 on: 09 September, 2014, 09:33:14 am »


This is how I mount my B&M TopLight without the rear rack. Just some aluminium strip which has been bent, drilled and filed to fit around the stays and brake caliper.

I've just made a similar bracket to attach to the bottom of a new style Carradice Bagman. Pics to follow.

Graeme

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #19 on: 13 December, 2014, 07:38:37 pm »


This is how I mount my B&M TopLight without the rear rack. Just some aluminium strip which has been bent, drilled and filed to fit around the stays and brake caliper.

I've just made a similar bracket to attach to the bottom of a new style Carradice Bagman. Pics to follow.

Would love to see the extra pics.

Paul

  • L'enfer, c'est les autos.
Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #20 on: 14 December, 2014, 01:35:36 pm »
My own solution, as modelled on the workenback:



1" dowel screwed to rear guard: one screw into the centre, and a smaller screw into the side (to prevent the lighthouse effect).

Since then I have moved it up the guard to a point much closer to the stays, which seems to have eliminated any flex.
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mmmmartin

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #21 on: 15 December, 2014, 02:07:45 pm »
SJSC come in for a bit of a beating sometimes "the bloody prices they charge" but I've always found them incredibly useful
Agreed, they are very helpful and you can ask them for advice, which is not what you can say for Wiggle. Their prices are pretty much similar to everyone else on the interwebs now anyway.
Besides, it wouldn't be audacious if success were guaranteed.

LEE

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #22 on: 15 December, 2014, 03:45:30 pm »


This is how I mount my B&M TopLight without the rear rack. Just some aluminium strip which has been bent, drilled and filed to fit around the stays and brake caliper.

I've just made a similar bracket to attach to the bottom of a new style Carradice Bagman. Pics to follow.

Interesting.  I was thinking along the same lines except fitting a dowel between the two "legs".  So in effect 2 metal strips, bolted to the carrier bosses, with the free ends screwed into a handlebar-sized dowel for a Cateye LED holder.  The dowel could be a piece of old alloy seat-tube.

My one concern would be that the leverage of a light bouncing up/down may cause it all to slip down.  In theory some star washers on the carrier bosses could lock it all down pretty tightly (and force the left-hand one to self-tighten).
Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

Kim

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Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #23 on: 15 December, 2014, 03:49:31 pm »
How about the Brompton rear light bracket for non-rack models, that mounts on the calliper bolt and provides standard 80mm mounting holes?  Avoids the rotation issue.

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brompton-bracket-for-rear-lamp-l-e-versions-no-rack-prod13674/

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #24 on: 18 December, 2014, 01:56:49 pm »

Would love to see the extra pics.

Very similar setup to my last one, you can just about see what I've done here:



The light is far enough back and low enough that it is never obscured by the bag, even allowing for any droop or sag. Being a dynamo light and a bit of aluminium, it's not very heavy, so I've never had any problems with it slipping/dropping over time. Might not work well for battery lights though, where a cable tie or two to the bagman might be needed to hold it all in place.