I spent some time yesterday riding FM Bike to ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
gfish's house, a four-mile round trip, where he machined a widget for me. There was sawing, drilling, milling, hammering, and grinding involved. No, that's not dirty, unless you count little bits of metal.
And what was the nature of this widget? Ah, that's why I had to take my bike and not a bus. FM Bike has a basket attached to the handlebars via clamps. It really wants to rotate around the handlebars, which is annoying even in the best of circumstances because when I go over a big bump, my basket may mash my fender into my front tire. And if you want to carry much weight, say a backpack full of water and Burner gear, forget it. I needed a widget that I could slide onto the bolts holding the basket on and underneath the nearly horizontal part of the front fork that attaches the handlebars to the rest of the bike.
The widget is a piece of stainless steel with slots carefully milled in it, with bend in the shape of a shallow V hammered into the middle. All it took was that and two locking nuts and I can now bike my way to happiness. And may I say again how much I love living just down the hill from a hardware store?
You may ask why I didn't get a pannier bag to start with. Here you go:gfish's mad machining skillz. I'm rather less jealous of what he's spent on equipment and (barely enough) space to put it all, awesome though his shop is. Much gratitude to him! If he ever needs anything from the trans mafia, he has only to ask.
*If dolls can be girls, so can my bike.
gfish's house, a four-mile round trip, where he machined a widget for me. There was sawing, drilling, milling, hammering, and grinding involved. No, that's not dirty, unless you count little bits of metal.And what was the nature of this widget? Ah, that's why I had to take my bike and not a bus. FM Bike has a basket attached to the handlebars via clamps. It really wants to rotate around the handlebars, which is annoying even in the best of circumstances because when I go over a big bump, my basket may mash my fender into my front tire. And if you want to carry much weight, say a backpack full of water and Burner gear, forget it. I needed a widget that I could slide onto the bolts holding the basket on and underneath the nearly horizontal part of the front fork that attaches the handlebars to the rest of the bike.
The widget is a piece of stainless steel with slots carefully milled in it, with bend in the shape of a shallow V hammered into the middle. All it took was that and two locking nuts and I can now bike my way to happiness. And may I say again how much I love living just down the hill from a hardware store?
You may ask why I didn't get a pannier bag to start with. Here you go:
- Handlebar baskets are cheaper.
- You can get things into and out of a handlebar basket without dismounting.
- I put gnarly fenders on FM Bike before my basket. A pannier wouldn't have fit over the rear fender.
- Seeing as how FM bike is a hybrid mountain bike, I can't be sure slim fenders or indeed a pannier would have fit her* anyway.
gfish's mad machining skillz. I'm rather less jealous of what he's spent on equipment and (barely enough) space to put it all, awesome though his shop is. Much gratitude to him! If he ever needs anything from the trans mafia, he has only to ask.*If dolls can be girls, so can my bike.
