Building a theft-resistant headlight.
Nov. 21st, 2009 10:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sara posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
bicyclesI live in the bicycle theft capital of western North America, and I spend a lot of time in the local public library, which is pretty much the bicycle theft capital of the known universe, and our household has, as a result, dropped a fairly significant chunk of change on bike lights over the years.
I have no solution for the problem of taillights being ripped off, and have settled for just buying whatever's cheapest (this thing where one is supposed to remove the light from the bike every time one goes somewhere seems like it's fine for people who bike to one place and then go into an office, but for people who're running errands on bikes and have to carry our stuff into shops with us? Complete nuisance.)
However, I've put together three of these flashlight-and-hose-clamp contraptions in the last couple of years, and have yet to lose one. Even if I did, total cost is only about $4.
You'll want two hose clamps, an aluminum-bodied LED flashlight (one with a rubber gasket between the lens and body is best), some duct tape, and some sort of shim -- here I've salvaged a couple of plastic thingies from a reflector, but a trimmed piece of inner tube would also work. Tools-wise, you will need a screwdriver and scissors, and if your hose clamp has a really long end on it, you may also want a metal snips and a file so you can trim it down.
The clamp that goes on your stem or handlebars should be covered with duct tape to reduce the likelihood that it'll scratch your bike. The other clamp goes around the flashlight; if I have some reflective tape around, I've also been known to apply that (no such thing as too much reflective tape!)
Because the tandem has a freakishly long stem and I'd rather keep the handlebars uncluttered, this light is mounted to the stem. On the other bikes, we've mounted them above the handlebars. You can also see here how I've shimmed around the stem. All this duct tape and shimming keeps the light from rattling around when you ride and reduces your chance of scratching up your bike.
And here's one showing about what it looks like from behind -- easy to operate with gloves on, doesn't rattle, and when you need to change out the batteries, you can just tip them out.
Wald sells a flashlight holder that permits easy removal of the flashlight. It looks like a nice simple little gadget, if you want to take a flashlight headlight with you, and again, the cost of these plus a flashlight is much, much lower than specialty bike headlights.
I have no solution for the problem of taillights being ripped off, and have settled for just buying whatever's cheapest (this thing where one is supposed to remove the light from the bike every time one goes somewhere seems like it's fine for people who bike to one place and then go into an office, but for people who're running errands on bikes and have to carry our stuff into shops with us? Complete nuisance.)
However, I've put together three of these flashlight-and-hose-clamp contraptions in the last couple of years, and have yet to lose one. Even if I did, total cost is only about $4.
You'll want two hose clamps, an aluminum-bodied LED flashlight (one with a rubber gasket between the lens and body is best), some duct tape, and some sort of shim -- here I've salvaged a couple of plastic thingies from a reflector, but a trimmed piece of inner tube would also work. Tools-wise, you will need a screwdriver and scissors, and if your hose clamp has a really long end on it, you may also want a metal snips and a file so you can trim it down.
The clamp that goes on your stem or handlebars should be covered with duct tape to reduce the likelihood that it'll scratch your bike. The other clamp goes around the flashlight; if I have some reflective tape around, I've also been known to apply that (no such thing as too much reflective tape!)
Because the tandem has a freakishly long stem and I'd rather keep the handlebars uncluttered, this light is mounted to the stem. On the other bikes, we've mounted them above the handlebars. You can also see here how I've shimmed around the stem. All this duct tape and shimming keeps the light from rattling around when you ride and reduces your chance of scratching up your bike.
And here's one showing about what it looks like from behind -- easy to operate with gloves on, doesn't rattle, and when you need to change out the batteries, you can just tip them out.
Wald sells a flashlight holder that permits easy removal of the flashlight. It looks like a nice simple little gadget, if you want to take a flashlight headlight with you, and again, the cost of these plus a flashlight is much, much lower than specialty bike headlights.
