Author Topic: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges  (Read 42401 times)

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #50 on: 12 December, 2015, 04:20:16 pm »
Digger, from LFGSS (NOTP), and I, occasionally cross paths and pleasantries on parts of my commute.
One evening, not so long ago, he caught up with me on Wickham Road and before peeling off, advised me that my bag (back-up) light was positioned in such a way as would lend it to being spotted by someone in an aeroplane, rather than someone following me at street level.
I took his point. Once I am aero-prone, the light, which is attached to one of the buckle straps of my courier bag, is pointing skywards, and thus, next to useless.
Like so.


The light needs to be lower down on the bag.
Ideally, attached to the base of the bag.
Unfortunately, there is no hardware on the base of the bag to which I could attach my Leyzene KTV usb light.
I could (potentially) rivet some sort of strappage to the base, to which the light clip could be attached, but I was loathe to compromise the watertight integrity of the bag.
My day clothes travel in this bag and even though I've cycled through some torrential stuff, they've always remained dry - on which basis I was in no hurry to start making holes in the bag.
So, after some pondering, I figured that magnetic was the way to go.
One on the inside, one on the outside, and attached to the outside one, something which would embrace the clip of the KTV light.
One magnet / anchor point - not enough. What if the light catches on something? Bye-bye £12.00 worth of light :(
Two magnets - better. But still at risk if one anchor is caught, leaving just a single one deployed.
OK, so it is going to be 3 magnets arranged in, wait for it...... a triangle - a nice structurally sound shape.
Bisbell Magnets. If you order them as I did online onna Friday afternoon, RM will deliver them on Saturday morning. :thumbs:
14mm Ø x 5mm Neodymium magnets - these are seriously strong. You do not want one of these either side of your ears lobe, nostril or nipple.
To give you an idea of how strong, one magnet will support another through  the palm of my hand.
As I had a triangle in mind, I figured that tubular webbing might be a useful way of achieving the shape, and keeping of the magnets in place.
Sourcing tubular webbing of sufficiently large diameter to accommodate the 14mmØ magnets was a bit of an issue, but I finally managed to track down some 26mm wide webbing at Dick's Climbing Store in Bristol.
Again, next day delivery service. No choice / option on colour (I had hoped for unobtrusive black) but when red turned up, I figured that it would do inna warning triangle kinda way.

A bit of experimentation in Adobe Illustrator produced some printable triangles in a suitable size to use as a template.
Cuts in the webbing were made using a No.10 blade in a Swann-Morton handle. Curved blade, natch! - doesn't drag like a pointy one, y'see.
Cuts were cauterised using a creme-brulee blow torch.
Stitching was, alas, by hand as I haven't mastered the dark art of the sewing machine. Yet.
If there's a sewing machine wrangler out there willing to teach, I would be an eager student.
And thus, the magnetic triangles were manifest.

One on the outside of the bag, one on the inside, and you end up with something which looks like this:

Attach the lamp powered  by voles generally liberated from my employers USB ports and you get this:

One optimally positioned, highly directional, back-up lamp.
If I have one gripe, it is that I sooooooo wish I could use / had access to a sewing machine to make the thing about a million times tidier.

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #51 on: 12 December, 2015, 07:47:45 pm »
Magnets are a great idea for retaining the integrity of the bag. Couldn't you use a lanyard to one of the straps if losing the light is a worry?

Revisiting this thread reminded me of a rear light fitting solution I spotted on a bike at work - a 'Frog type' light fitted on the parallax rear hub.  :facepalm:
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is...

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #52 on: 12 December, 2015, 08:11:23 pm »
Look good, but wouldn't it be easier to mount the directional light on the bike, and put a fiber flare or similar on the bag?  Doesn't matter how well you align it on the bag, the bag itself will move about.

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #53 on: 13 December, 2015, 10:35:29 am »
Look good, but wouldn't it be easier to mount the directional light on the bike, and put a fiber flare or similar on the bag?  Doesn't matter how well you align it on the bag, the bag itself will move about.
There already is a directional light on the seat post - a Cat Eye LD 600 Tom_e.
This is a back-up light, and the fact that it moves around a bit I see as no bad thing, in the same way as a flashing light is more attractive to the eye than is a static one.
It has been in daily use for a couple of weeks now, with no indication of any attempts at bids for freedom, so I'm reasonably confident of the robustness of the fixing.


Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #54 on: 13 December, 2015, 03:02:49 pm »
My big bodge is on my fixed. I was carrying a Carradice Briefcase pannier on one side and an Altura Clothing Carrier on the other. Both of these panniers go back further than normal, so the rear light I had mounted on the back panel of the carrier was obscured. Hence, I cut down the platform from an old, broken rack, and attached that to extend the existing platform backwards, using jubilee clips.

The extension had no back plate for the light, so I had to put an aluminium plate onto that and attach angle brackets, so that I could remount the rear light.

Not sure how well you can see it, but here's the result:


mmmmartin

  • BPB 1/1: PBP 0/1
    • FNRttC
Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #55 on: 13 December, 2015, 09:50:12 pm »
Am awfully, awfully, impressed. Am the very Proud Owner of a Frister & Rossman pre-WW1 sewing machine bought for a tenner in a junk shop. Fiddled and poked and finally sort of understood how it works. Thoroughly recommended.
eg
http://ebay.eu/1O3HfaI
sort of thing
more fun than sewing by hand.
Besides, it wouldn't be audacious if success were guaranteed.

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #56 on: 13 December, 2015, 10:05:07 pm »
Am awfully, awfully, impressed. Am the very Proud Owner of a Frister & Rossman pre-WW1 sewing machine bought for a tenner in a junk shop. Fiddled and poked and finally sort of understood how it works. Thoroughly recommended.
eg
http://ebay.eu/1O3HfaI
sort of thing
more fun than sewing by hand.
Mechanised B@st@rd! :)

fruitcake

  • some kind of fruitcake
Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #57 on: 13 December, 2015, 10:30:13 pm »
Am the very Proud Owner of a Frister & Rossman pre-WW1 sewing machine bought for a tenner in a junk shop. Fiddled and poked and finally sort of understood how it works. Thoroughly recommended.

I'll second that. Old straight-stitch machines are great. The were made very, very strong, with all metal internals, and gear driven, and as a result could handle far thicker fabric than modern machines.

The thing that killed off their production was consumer desire for a choice of stitches, something available on inexpensive machines from the 1960s onwards, despite those modern machines being weaker, and by then the market was buying on technical specification, not build quality.

I'm still surprised that used pre-war machines sell for so little.

I used an old machine for the fastenings on the recent batch of trouser straps I made. Wonderfully smooth even sewing through four-ply suiting and velcro tape. The electric Toyota we have just would'nt have got through that. (It can sew zig zags though.)

vantage

  • As quick as a slug on crutches towing a snail whilst wading through a salt mine!
Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #58 on: 02 March, 2016, 05:28:07 pm »
I figure if I'm gonna do my Raleigh then I'm gonna do it properly. Soooooo, several broken Dremel cutting discs and worn sanding drums later and I finished it this afternoon. 3mm alloy plate. It could do with some chromed dome head nuts but for now I'm pretty pleased with myself  ;D

2016-03-02_05-03-42 by William McFadden, on Flickr

2016-03-02_05-04-31 by William McFadden, on Flickr
Bill

“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #59 on: 02 March, 2016, 10:06:55 pm »
Impressively neat.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #60 on: 02 March, 2016, 10:22:06 pm »
Indeed. Thinking of redoing my light mounts now.
Miles cycled 2014 = 3551.5 (Target 7300 :()
Miles cycled 2013 = 6141.4
Miles cycled 2012 = 4038.1

mmmmartin

  • BPB 1/1: PBP 0/1
    • FNRttC
Re: Rear Light Brackets and Bodges
« Reply #61 on: 29 December, 2016, 09:08:27 pm »
Good racks overhang the light bracket to provide this protection, so perhaps instead of re-positioning the light, the solution is to augment the rack.  The simplest approach that springs to mind is a bit of L-section with appropriate holes fitted between the light and the mounting plate.
Been thinking about this for some time, and acquired an L-shaped bit of metal. Will attempt to fit it, then return here with pix.
Besides, it wouldn't be audacious if success were guaranteed.