Commuting - Fixing a rear light to a rack

Recent talk of racks reminds me -

Has anyone come up with a neat and secure method of fixing a rear light to a Blackburn Rack? The supplied folded soft aluminium strip isn't ideal.

Richard

Hi Richard

Hi Richard
Sorry about the above error.
I use a topeak rack mule rack, it has a quick release reflector mount that works like a seat post clamp. It's really neat and works great, I removed the reflector and mounted my night rider tail light to the mount. Now I can easily change the lighting system from bike to bike or just remove it altogether. With no tools, and only takes about 1 minute to do.
Pete

Meccano strip and a screw into the light body.

Richard,
I went to a hardware store and bought a 1-1/4" wide x 1/8" thick x 3 feet long aluminum strip.
I cut two pieces, one about 3" long and one about 6" long. I drilled holes to mount the 6" piece to the 3" piece to form a "T". Then I drilled holes to mount my lights. Afterward I bent the 3" strip so the top of the "T" was facing the rear. It's kinda hard to see in this picture.
The two red lights are mounted to the 6" strip.
The clear light (strobe) is mounted on the cheap metal piece you mentioned. I'm replacing it this weekend.

Let me know if you need more details. Maybe I can make a drawing and post it.

http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/Raleigh1.jpg

Here is a simple drawing of how the light mount looks.
http://home.mindspring.com/~rhorne/lights.jpg

Is it possible to use a hose clamp and cable ties? I don't have a rack anymore, but I use the above combination to secure blinkies on my handlebars and on my seatpost.

If there is a tubular area with a large enough diameter, attach a small hose clamp to it. Loop several cable ties through both the clamp and the blinkie. A section of rubber cut from an old tire tube, used as a sleeve for the cable ties, will secure the blinkie snugly and prevent the hose clamp from cutting into the cable ties.

My Eclipse blinkie came with a very effective seatpost mounting, just a plastic hose-clip thing. They even threw in a spare to mount on another bike.

You can fit lights onto fenders. SKS even have metallic strips to make electrical connections. Some LED blinkies come in fender-fitting form. See Busch & Muller for good models.