RoadJerk

Just made this today as a 3 hour pet project:









Material is very thin .508mm/.020in acrylic for durability and weight savings, attached with a few strips of packing tape but mostly velcro on the inside for valve stem access/easy removal. Dished to perfection, and then painted to make the coolest kids on the block pee their pants. Oh, and a notch for a lock/cable. Surprisingly the acrylic does not deflect or bend at top speed, even though its so thin, it maintains the proper dish.

I did this mostly for fun so I don't want to hear uppity haters lecturing me on how tacky it is or how it probably won't provide any aerodynamic advantage bla bla bla btw 111th post! whoohoo!

Post your own!

striknein

I think it looks great. Where did you get the material?

Sebster

yeah seriously, great job!
wanna post a tutorial?

RoadJerk

Thanks! =)

Locally owned and operated art supply store called Roark (right next to USC's campus in DTLA).

You can find acrylic/plexiglas pretty much at any art supply place, I think. It just depends on how specific you want to get with the thickness. I would not suggest using stuff called "snap glass" though, its a lot stiffer, and breaks instead of flexing if you're not careful.

RoadJerk

Unfortunately I didn't take pictures during construction, but I can easily make plans for it when I get the time.

It's really pretty simple. You will need two sheets of acrylic at least about 2'x2' (available at most art supply stores), and something to make a compass out of. Most compasses cant cover a 1 ft radius. I used an extra strip of acrylic and punched two holes exactly the right distance from center of hub to inside of rim (varies depending on your wheel, of course, but for most low profile 700c rims it will be ~29.7 cm. Then you take an exacto blade or boxcutter, stick it through one hole and pin it securely to the center of your acrylic sheet. That's the center of your wheel. Then take a permanent pen, awl, sharp object (or anything that leaves a mark on a completely smooth surface) and stick it in the other hole, and applying constant tension toward the outside of the circle, use the compass to trace a circle of the proper diameter. Cut this out however you see fit. My acrylic sheets were thin enough to cut with heavy duty scissors easily - it is very hard to cut a smooth curve on acrylic with a boxcutter/exacto. Also make sure you mark your center point for later reference.

Next, take a boxcutter/exacto and a straghtedge, and cut a slit from center point to edge of the circle (the "pac man"). Next, measure the diameter of your hub spindle on the outside of the spokes. You may need to make one cover with a slightly larger hole in the center to get it around the cog. It can still be much smaller than the diameter of the cog, though, and you should be able to squeeze it on without much difficulty.

If your material is thin enough, you don't need to do anything more before attaching to wheel (besides decorating!). When you press it to the spokes, it should dish itself to the right cone, and the "pac man" edge you cut should over lap slightly. Just make sure it overlaps with the right edge on top depending on rotation of the wheel (so air goes past it rather than penetrating). You may need some packing tape to seal it off on the inside. If your making it out of thicker material, you will have to cut a small triangular sliver from center to edge to fit the proper dish.

Clif

We do that for polo.
Seems unfun in the wind.

gilmatic

That looks ****in dope. I'd get one with a Wu symbol. I'd donate a few bucks for a detailed video tutorial so I can do one for the summer.

FastJake

Looks super cool. So those little strips of velcro are enough to hold it in place? (Plus some tape)

hairnet

Making these is pretty straight forward, you just have to take your time to make it look clean.

Roadjerk, do you play polo? I know there are some people in DTLA that play and groups that participate in tournaments.

EpicSchwinn

Major props for this one! Looks good '

What did materials run you for this?

RoadJerk

Clif: I was really worried about that, especially since the material seems so flimsy at first when you pick it up in the sheet. But the spokes are close enough to hold it stiff. It was windy all day today while I was testing it out. I even rode at an angle to the wind on purpose, but I didn't even really feel the gust at all. Maybe I haven't ridden on it enough to really tell the difference, but to me it seems to not have any affect aerodynamics at all. In the back of my mind I'd like to think it does something good for aerodynamics, but at least it doesn't seem to affect it negatively (or suddenly explode while you're riding XD).

Gilmatic: If I get the time to make a video I'll attempt it. I'm certainly going to make plans for it and attach them in a reply to this thread (give me a day or two).

FastJake: Yeah you just have to tape one side. I put a 1in strip of self-adhesive velcro between every other spoke. It was a bit awkward aligning it so that the strips dont interfere with the valve stem or the pacman fold. I'll include a diagram of how I arranged them in the plans I'm going to make.

hairnet: I've never played. If I get some time over the summer I might check it out. I havent been to many bike-related events lately

EpicSchwinn: The two sheets of acrylic cost me about 10 bucks, about 6 dollars on spray paint and clear coat (you dont really need to prime acrylic, but it may help. Just know that the more layers of paint you add the more weight you're adding (think of how much a spray can weighs before use and then empty; i proabably almost used the whole can for both discs, you really need to cover acrylic thoroughly if its a dark color to hide the transparency of the acrylic). Everything else are common tools that you'd probably have around or know someone (like an Arch major =D) has. So in total probably less than 20 bucks. Or you could just leave it unpainted and save cost, labor, and trip out everyone who sees it.

So yeah, I would say the experiment is a success. We will see how long this invention lasts.

P.S. I want to see someone make a spin-art one while its turning on a frame! That would be hella sickkkkk brahhhh

vandalarchitect

Looks great. Nice plug for having friendly arch majors around. Are you one yourself or just have friends?

FWIW, Your friendly arch major would definitely have all the necessary tools. Most likely know the best place to get acrylic as well (most campus bookstores will have what you need).

RoadJerk

I am the one I speak of

Butthash

Funny that you post this, I made one today for my polo project build out of cardboard to hold me off until I can get up and about enough to get some nice corrugated plastic or something (and up and about enough to ride and play polo for that matter).
I was putting a swirly design on it, but I messed up pretty hard. It's a toss up between the hypno swirl, the face with its tounge out on the cover of the hitchhiker's guide books, generic aerojoke, or random other round things that pop into my head from time to time.

It's a really fun project. I would only really recommend using it in a game though, cause on windy days I wouldn't be surprised if they knock you right over.

I haven't rode or played polo yet, unfortunately though...soon enough though...

Clif

Elections signs are good for polo, and can usually be had for free. I don't have a wheel cover yet but i'm gonna make one tonight because someone is giving me plastic for it. I have yet to break a spoke but everyone who has played for while has broken some or are missing them. One guy has 48h chukkers that are dented and bent.