DIY Bicycle Pannier

I was browsing through old photos to for some inspiration and came across some pictures of a DIY pannier I made when I first started bicycling to and from work.  For the record, I’ve since ceased cycling to work due to the 13-15 miles (each way) and the fact that I adopted a dog who still likes it when I come home for lunch.  But, back then, I learned very quickly that a backpack was not sufficient for my needs.  It trapped heat, caused a lot of sweat build up and was uncomfortable even on a 2-3 mile ride, let alone the 8 miles to campus.

“Real” panniers are expensive though!  $80-90 for a high quality pannier is about average, though the prices can go sky high depending on features and customization.  I pondered a real messenger bag (not just a shoulder bag) but that still left something on my back.  Off to the thrift store!

I managed to find a small luggage piece that someone had donated to Goodwill and snatched it up for $3.00.  I had a bungee cord laying around and just had to buy a few eye-bolts to modify.  The beauty of this piece of luggage was that it doubled as a backpack, so when it wasn’t mounted to the bike I could carry it around easily.  Additionally, because it was a rolling piece of luggage, it had a stiff frame in the back so as to prevent it from folding up into the spokes of my rear wheel.  PERFECT!  Anyone who has priced panniers knows that a pannier this large does not come cheaply.  It’s not perfect, its not sexy, but damn it just worked how I needed.  Held both my chain lock as well as my U-lock perfectly, along with two spare tubes, my frame pump, chain tool, spoke wrench, patch kit, a full change of clothes, lunch, laptop and a few books if I needed; I could even manage to squish my helmet into it with everything if I didn’t want to have it hanging around.  No, it wasn’t light, but I didn’t need light, I needed sturdy and for < $5.00 I couldn’t complain.

 

 

Crescent Wrench to Adjustable Cone Wrench

Ever have the need for a cone wrench?  If you don’t know what one is, chances are slim that you’ve needed one, but I can attest to the fact that they’re quite useful for bicycle servicing.  Unfortunately, I’m a chea…. frugal person and also impatient.  This does however lead to improvisations that work out quite well, and while I can’t claim the genius idea that brought about this creation as my own, I can say that it worked beautifully and allowed me to adjust the cones on my wheel bearings in one evening allowing more cycling the following morning instead of paying the bike shop $30 or waiting a week for some random seller on Amazon to ship me the $13 cone wrench set.

Instead, a trip to Harbor Freight netted me a pack of 4 adjustable crescent wrenches for $8+tax.  10 minutes and a grinding wheel later, I had this beauty.  No, its not perfect.  No, its not Park Tools.  Yes, it is pure awesome drop forged into the shape of a ground-down crescent wrench – and yes it worked!

Bicycle Display and Organization

How often does this happen to you?  You have amassed a collection of five bicycles, and two of your roommates also have bikes to store in the garage.  The kicker is that you also have a full bench, riding lawn mower, three full-sized arcade machines and all of the other miscellaneous CRAP that seems to accumulate in the suburban garage.  Interestingly enough, rarely is a car part of that equation.  Think about that for a minute, the $300 lawn mower gets a nice sheltered spot in the garage but the $15k car sits in the driveway to get covered in snow, tree sap, bird crap and dust.  I digress…  At any rate, a trip to my favorite home improvement store netted me the solution to my problem.

Call me vain, call me a nerd, but don’t call me unorganized.  There are plenty of bike storage solutions, but I wanted easy access to any bike I chose, as well as a way to display the bikes in somewhat of a pleasing manner.  It only cost me $6 per rack, and two long screws driven into the studs yielded the perfect solution for me.

Going around the circle starting in the upper left corner we have the mid 80′s Schwinn World Sport I picked up at a thrift store for $15 with the original tires which had the nubs still on ‘em.  Next is the 1996 Giant Kronos which was my first “real” road bike that I practically stole from the bike shop*.  $100 in upgrades later and it’s easily my favorite bike.  Next on the list is what’s left of a department store bike that held me through my dorm dwelling years.  I still have hopes to fix it up and get it road worthy again, but full time work and other projects keep me from getting anywhere with it.  And finally, we have my trusty no-name mountain bike super commuter.

*Stealing is bad kids.  I actually use the term “stole” loosely to describe the fact that I nabbed the bike at an incredible deal.  I didn’t actually shoplift a bike!