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#1
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Homemade U-lock rack support
Hello all,
A couple of months ago, I wrote a message about making a very simple U-lock support on the rack, but without the pictures, it was quite useless. I eventually remembered about this, so here is one: https://tanguy.ortolo.eu/tmp/rack+u-lock.jpg. U-lock usually come with a support to be mounted somewhere on the bicycle frame. Most of these supports, however, will not withstand the torque from the lock weight, and will break after a couple of years. You are then left with a lock with no support. Well, here is a homemade support that uses the rack, with many advantages: - it uses very simple material: a PVC tube and some tape; - it takes 10 minutes to make; - it does not have to withstand any significant torque and should therefore last many years; - it is easy to use: open the lock, raise the rack clamp, insert the lock into the tube, then close it; - it can stabilize some of the rack load you put over it! There are a few drawbacks, of course: - it is incompatible with panniers (you have to put the lock somewhere else, though you can keep the support where it is); - it is not exactly beautiful, due to using some tape to hold it; - you have to remove the load from the rack to free the lock (but when you are locking your bicycle, you usually do not want to leave your load on your rack for people to steal it). Just to explain, the tape in this support is just here to keep it in place, and it will not withstand any significant constraint. The lock weight is directly transmitted to the rack, on four stable points. Not all racks can be equiped this way though. -- Tanguy |
#2
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Homemade U-lock rack support
On 8/13/2018 11:03 AM, Tanguy Ortolo wrote:
Hello all, A couple of months ago, I wrote a message about making a very simple U-lock support on the rack, but without the pictures, it was quite useless. I eventually remembered about this, so here is one: https://tanguy.ortolo.eu/tmp/rack+u-lock.jpg. U-lock usually come with a support to be mounted somewhere on the bicycle frame. Most of these supports, however, will not withstand the torque from the lock weight, and will break after a couple of years. You are then left with a lock with no support. Well, here is a homemade support that uses the rack, with many advantages: - it uses very simple material: a PVC tube and some tape; - it takes 10 minutes to make; - it does not have to withstand any significant torque and should therefore last many years; - it is easy to use: open the lock, raise the rack clamp, insert the lock into the tube, then close it; - it can stabilize some of the rack load you put over it! There are a few drawbacks, of course: - it is incompatible with panniers (you have to put the lock somewhere else, though you can keep the support where it is); - it is not exactly beautiful, due to using some tape to hold it; - you have to remove the load from the rack to free the lock (but when you are locking your bicycle, you usually do not want to leave your load on your rack for people to steal it). Just to explain, the tape in this support is just here to keep it in place, and it will not withstand any significant constraint. The lock weight is directly transmitted to the rack, on four stable points. Not all racks can be equiped this way though. Nice. If the appearance was bothersome, you could use a black tube held in place with black zip ties. -- - Frank Krygowski |
#3
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Homemade U-lock rack support
Frank Krygowski, 2018-08-13 17:11+0200:
Nice. If the appearance was bothersome, you could use a black tube held in place with black zip ties. Black tube, yes, if I can find some, but I only ever saw white tube in hardware stores. Black zip ties, no, bad idea, as they let the tube slide on the sides. I would rather use some black tape. -- Tanguy |
#4
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Homemade U-lock rack support
On 2018-08-13 08:27, Tanguy Ortolo wrote:
Frank Krygowski, 2018-08-13 17:11+0200: Nice. If the appearance was bothersome, you could use a black tube held in place with black zip ties. Black tube, yes, if I can find some, but I only ever saw white tube in hardware stores. Black zip ties, no, bad idea, as they let the tube slide on the sides. I would rather use some black tape. Zip ties are also bad in terms of reliability. It seems UV rays embrittle them and then they just fall off. A while ago I chased and stopped an MTB rider whose rear brake hose had come loose because of that and was chafing on the rear wheel. Luckily I always have a snippet of wire in my tool kit. Zip ties, too, but those only for temporary fixes. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
#5
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Homemade U-lock rack support
On Mon, 13 Aug 2018 10:29:44 -0700, Joerg
wrote: On 2018-08-13 08:27, Tanguy Ortolo wrote: Frank Krygowski, 2018-08-13 17:11+0200: Nice. If the appearance was bothersome, you could use a black tube held in place with black zip ties. Black tube, yes, if I can find some, but I only ever saw white tube in hardware stores. Black zip ties, no, bad idea, as they let the tube slide on the sides. I would rather use some black tape. Zip ties are also bad in terms of reliability. It seems UV rays embrittle them and then they just fall off. A while ago I chased and stopped an MTB rider whose rear brake hose had come loose because of that and was chafing on the rear wheel. Luckily I always have a snippet of wire in my tool kit. Zip ties, too, but those only for temporary fixes. You can buy UV resistant zip ties. They're loaded with carbon black that blocks UV. However, not all such zip ties are equally resistant to UV. Some of the cheap junk has much less than the recommended 2% carbon black. After having an antenna installation fall apart in about a year due to crumbling zip ties, I bought some that are genuine Polyamide 6.6 UV resistant per ASTM D-4066PA411. No problems so far after about 5 years: https://www.hellermanntyton.us/bundling-securing/cable-ties/standard-cable-ties-special-materials/ https://www.hellermanntyton.us/resources/materials https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2016/03/not-all-uv-rated-cable-ties-have-long-lifespans-on-solar-projects/ -- Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558 |
#6
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Homemade U-lock rack support
On 2018-08-13 11:34, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 13 Aug 2018 10:29:44 -0700, Joerg wrote: On 2018-08-13 08:27, Tanguy Ortolo wrote: Frank Krygowski, 2018-08-13 17:11+0200: Nice. If the appearance was bothersome, you could use a black tube held in place with black zip ties. Black tube, yes, if I can find some, but I only ever saw white tube in hardware stores. Black zip ties, no, bad idea, as they let the tube slide on the sides. I would rather use some black tape. Zip ties are also bad in terms of reliability. It seems UV rays embrittle them and then they just fall off. A while ago I chased and stopped an MTB rider whose rear brake hose had come loose because of that and was chafing on the rear wheel. Luckily I always have a snippet of wire in my tool kit. Zip ties, too, but those only for temporary fixes. You can buy UV resistant zip ties. They're loaded with carbon black that blocks UV. However, not all such zip ties are equally resistant to UV. Some of the cheap junk has much less than the recommended 2% carbon black. After having an antenna installation fall apart in about a year due to crumbling zip ties, I bought some that are genuine Polyamide 6.6 UV resistant per ASTM D-4066PA411. No problems so far after about 5 years: https://www.hellermanntyton.us/bundling-securing/cable-ties/standard-cable-ties-special-materials/ https://www.hellermanntyton.us/resources/materials https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2016/03/not-all-uv-rated-cable-ties-have-long-lifespans-on-solar-projects/ The one that popped was the stock tie from a high-Dollar Specialized MTB. I can't imagine them being cheap on zip ties. Metal is generally better. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
#7
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Homemade U-lock rack support
On 8/13/2018 1:29 PM, Joerg wrote:
On 2018-08-13 08:27, Tanguy Ortolo wrote: Frank Krygowski, 2018-08-13 17:11+0200: Nice. If the appearance was bothersome, you could use a black tube held in place with black zip ties. Black tube, yes, if I can find some, but I only ever saw white tube in hardware stores. Black zip ties, no, bad idea, as they let the tube slide on the sides. I would rather use some black tape. Zip ties are also bad in terms of reliability. It seems UV rays embrittle them and then they just fall off. A while ago I chased and stopped an MTB rider whose rear brake hose had come loose because of that and was chafing on the rear wheel. Luckily I always have a snippet of wire in my tool kit. Zip ties, too, but those only for temporary fixes. Hmm. Well, I suppose that failure is possible, but: My wife has some wire baskets filled with flowers hanging from a steel balcony railing that I fabricated long ago. I attached those baskets using black zip ties at least three years ago, IIRC. Those are in full sun for about half the day. They're still fine. I suppose I could pass out helmets to people sitting in the patio below the balcony... -- - Frank Krygowski |
#8
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Homemade U-lock rack support
On 2018-08-13 19:10, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 8/13/2018 1:29 PM, Joerg wrote: On 2018-08-13 08:27, Tanguy Ortolo wrote: Frank Krygowski, 2018-08-13 17:11+0200: Nice. If the appearance was bothersome, you could use a black tube held in place with black zip ties. Black tube, yes, if I can find some, but I only ever saw white tube in hardware stores. Black zip ties, no, bad idea, as they let the tube slide on the sides. I would rather use some black tape. Zip ties are also bad in terms of reliability. It seems UV rays embrittle them and then they just fall off. A while ago I chased and stopped an MTB rider whose rear brake hose had come loose because of that and was chafing on the rear wheel. Luckily I always have a snippet of wire in my tool kit. Zip ties, too, but those only for temporary fixes. Hmm. Well, I suppose that failure is possible, but: My wife has some wire baskets filled with flowers hanging from a steel balcony railing that I fabricated long ago. I attached those baskets using black zip ties at least three years ago, IIRC. Those are in full sun for about half the day. They're still fine. I suppose I could pass out helmets to people sitting in the patio below the balcony... If your sun is like the California sun I sure would consider that after three years. I used to zip-tie sprinkler risers to rebar that I pounded into the ground, to prevent them from tilting and looking ugly. All of them, literally all of them, snapped and fell off after several years. Now it's all wire and nothing falls off. Sometimes the older methods are still best. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ |
#9
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Homemade U-lock rack support
On Monday, August 13, 2018 at 7:10:51 PM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 8/13/2018 1:29 PM, Joerg wrote: On 2018-08-13 08:27, Tanguy Ortolo wrote: Frank Krygowski, 2018-08-13 17:11+0200: Nice. If the appearance was bothersome, you could use a black tube held in place with black zip ties. Black tube, yes, if I can find some, but I only ever saw white tube in hardware stores. Black zip ties, no, bad idea, as they let the tube slide on the sides. I would rather use some black tape. Zip ties are also bad in terms of reliability. It seems UV rays embrittle them and then they just fall off. A while ago I chased and stopped an MTB rider whose rear brake hose had come loose because of that and was chafing on the rear wheel. Luckily I always have a snippet of wire in my tool kit. Zip ties, too, but those only for temporary fixes. Hmm. Well, I suppose that failure is possible, but: My wife has some wire baskets filled with flowers hanging from a steel balcony railing that I fabricated long ago. I attached those baskets using black zip ties at least three years ago, IIRC. Those are in full sun for about half the day. They're still fine. I suppose I could pass out helmets to people sitting in the patio below the balcony... -- - Frank Krygowski The idea is to run a telephone like behind you. Then if you have any problems you can call for help even when you're out of cell phone contact. |
#10
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Homemade U-lock rack support
On 14/08/18 01:27, Tanguy Ortolo wrote:
Frank Krygowski, 2018-08-13 17:11+0200: Nice. If the appearance was bothersome, you could use a black tube held in place with black zip ties. Black tube, yes, if I can find some, but I only ever saw white tube in hardware stores. Try looking in the electrical section. There should be grey and orange as well. Make your choice and pick up a can of black spray paint as well. Problem solved. Alternatively, check out old style cheapo bicycle pumps, buy a black one and cut off top and bottom to length desired. |
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