First post, and building bits

[giglet]

Hi! I've had a bike since I was a teen (which was a few decades ago), but didn't use it much and eventually gave it to a friend gathering bikes for "Bikes Not Bombs". But one day this summer, I couldn't face getting on the bus to go to work, and pulled out a bike abandoned by a former housemate, walked to the corner gas station to pump up the tires, and set off.

It felt wonderful. It felt even more wonderful once I got a helmet and a wider seat. And then lights and a safety vest and a bungee cord to hold stuff on the rack. I've been biking to work about twice a week since then, and I'm hoping to keep going into the winter (here in Boston), although I expect to stop once snow covers the bike lanes. My philosophy is to get to work (and home) alive. Neither speed nor style is particularly important to me.

Money is kinda tight, however, so while I'd love to get a lot of things for the bike, I'm either living without or making it myself. The list changes every couple days, but the things I'd like include:

a chain guard (the chain ate my last pair of jeans yesterday)
fenders
a rear bike lever that doesn't require me to stretch really awkwardly to grab it.
a better front light mount. Mine broke the day I bought it. I've wired it on, but it's ugly.
panniers
one of those bags that hangs off the back of the seat
pump
spare tube and the knowledge to use it

Some of those things seem like I should be able to make them myself. Any words of wisdom?

Comments

[darkemeralds]

Wonderful "Return to Biking" story! Thank you for sharing it and joining in here.

Panniers: before I got a Dutch bike and baskets...

...I did some experimenting with making pannier-type arrangements out of found stuff.

If I were repeating the experiments (and you never know--I might), I think I'd go looking for falling-apart used panniers, and raid them for their hardware.

On the light mount: any reason not to use those little elastic-band LED lights? They're cheap, they're bright, and they don't run down the batteries very fast. I have one on my top tube near the handlebars and it makes a terrific visibility addition to the Dutch bike's built-in headlamp.

[giglet]

Oh, that's a classy pannier you made! How did it hold up?

I think I'm going to just make a new mount for my current lamp, but thanks!

[darkemeralds]

That briefcase pannier was less than perfect. It stayed on okay, but not stably enough that I wanted to trust my computer to it. The hooks just weren't hooky enough. That's why I say that if I were to re-do the experiment, I think the easiest way would be to get existing hooks specifically designed to clip to a rear rack and stay.