I just spotted this on The Weather Network's FB page. It's an interesting hack....:

https://www.theweathernetwork.com/ne...le-hack/73586/

One could add a LED or something to brighten up the end.

How is that a hack? Man I am growing tired of that term. You add a pool noodle to a bike. That is not a hack. Someone got a little creative with a pool noodle. Personally, I feel like it does nothing safety wise. Just makes it look like you have a pool noodle stuck to the back of your bike.

i sometimes transport building materials by bike, wooden beams and the such, nobody will push you off the road when youre holding a 10ft wooden beam under your arm...

Makes me think of jousting in England during the Middle Ages, lol

No motorist wants his paint scratched or anything touching his car. When he passes you, he'll give himself clearance to avoid the pool noodle, or lumber or whatever is protruding.

Or, they pass the rider, and something catches the pool noodle, and takes the rider down at 35 or 40mph. No thanks.

Yeah, I could see that happening about once in every twenty million cars that pass you by. The noodle bends if something hits it, so you'd have to be ridiculously unlucky for something to actually catch onto it. OTOH, it would make you more visible to at least 9 out 10 cars that pass you by, so I think that's a decent tradeoff.

The one real disadvantage I see is annoying my fellow cyclists. If you're sharing crowded urban bike lanes, you'd become an awkward obstruction, possibly causing them to swerve out into traffic if they needed to get around you.

Get a sheet of foam rubber.

Cut it into the shape of a giant key.

Spray paint it metallic nickel or brass.

Stencil "Yale Scratchmaster" on the key.

Attach it to the back of the bike, key tip facing the car lane.

Add a breakaway or pull-away friction fitting if you're worried about getting snagged.

If a cop was trying to high five him while going past, it kind of negates the safety effect of the pool noodle since the car would have to be pretty close to complete a high five.

You've never heard of "the long arm of the law"?

Nah. Pedestrians on the sidewalk will really love me when I pull up onto the sidewalk to park my bike. Not to mention trying to park my bike in a place with racks.

Agreed. The term is overused, to make something marginally clever seem like it is far more useful than it actually is.

Well the term "hack," as used in electronics, means to make a device do something it wasn't originally intended for. Which in this case using a pool noodle in that manner is technically a hack, but yes, the word has now become way overused.

And is anyone else besides me amused at these websites which show "life hacks" which don't actually work?

Well, I can't comment or make any assumptions about your situation, but I don't think Warren Huska has any problems bending pool noodles.

More annoyed rather than amused.

Yes. I gave up on LifeHacker several years ago when they published an article suggesting that you use wine as a cleanser. Sipping wine while I wipe down the kitchen? Yes. Wiping down the kitchen with wine? Uh, no.

Two comments on the pool noodle:

1. Would that actually make drivers avoid you, or piss them off and be an attractive target?

2. The major bike routes where I live include bridges with sidewalks you share with pedestrians. It would be a real jerk move to have the pool noodle while crossing the bridge, because there's just not enough room. It would prevent bikes from passing you in the opposite direction and be smacking pedestrians constantly. I can't decide if it creates a worse situation than the clever "hack" of using laundry baskets as panniers recently.

Just bungee strapped to the rack.
Noodle bends.
Noodle swivels on rack
Noodle falls out of rack.

Not a lot of risk...

Hmmm...

Maybe car knocks noodle out of rack
Noodle helicopters forward and lands between the front spokes...
Cyclist goes tumbling.
Following car flattens cyclist.

Personally I don't worry about close passes as long as I'm not hit. Slowing down a bit is nice.

What I don't want would be cars doing dangerous avoidance maneuvers because they have troubles getting around some silly piece of foam sticking out into the road.

Trailer... yes, necessary.
Foam.... no.

We've discussed that more than a few times around A&S it seems. Much longer than that but I never liked the idea that if you got snagged you would get yanked, if it were sturdier than a foam pole, and that would probably damage something or somebody in a close pass if not soft.


I am very loud and make a really great horn sound. So far it works well and saves many verbal or other warnings.


I am working on two more actual horns as I only have a Saf-T-Horn with a D cell for one the three. I can still approximate the truck or train that always hits Wile E. Coyote even if the tunnel was painted to try and fool that Roadrunner.


You do have to have a mad skill.

Not a bad idea, but have others have posted, this only works if you're riding on a certain type of road. If you leave the road and ride on a path, you would have remove it. What about when coming to a stop light with a lot of cars in front of you ? You would have to stay back in the row of cars because you wouldn't be able to pass them on the right.

I got a t shirt from a charity ride that was sponsored by the Sheriffs office with a big sheriff logo on the back. I find when I wear that, I get a bit more respect from drivers.

Apparently everything is a "hack" these days. Something loose on your bike and you fix it with some tape? Congratulations, you just made a "hack"!