Light mount DIY
 

Thursday night and freezing rain makes the snow a mess to ride or XC ski in. House bound, I decide to tackle a little project I've been thinking of since the summer.

The impetus for my idea is the nifty light mount Filzer put on my rear rack:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4732/...8bbd45e8_z.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4592/...b828b5cf_z.jpg

But the rack I'm using up front (also Filzer) has this mount instead:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4682/...c169e10b_z.jpg

So I decide to make a tubular mount using 1/2" PVC and a PVC coupler.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4595/...e16985c8_z.jpg

I glue the parts together and then trim the coupler so just an edge remained. I then reglue the left over coupler section to the others side and repeat the process. This edge is to retain the light mount in case it wants to slide off (as light mounts sometimes do). Satisfied, I measure and drill some mounting holes.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4601/...81bc8a8b_z.jpg

With some flat black paint the job is done. I want a two mount system so I can use a near/far light combo or set one for strobe while the other illuminates.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4634/...a0d941cf_z.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4689/...8c72a679_z.jpg

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4689/...c92f1764_z.jpg

Perhaps others have DIY light mount projects they have done as well on snowy rainy winter nights?

I use this on the handle bar. It looks good, is cheap and is really sturdy


https://www.ebay.com/itm/253146954751

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/vxYAA...ivw/s-l500.jpg

Clever! Mind if I steal your idea?

where there's a will, there's a way! good job! :thumb:

if you make another, longer/wider you'll be able to aim that light up a little

Steal away!

rumrunn6, That's a very good point to consider. I wanted to make mine as low profile as possible width wise so it wouldn't get hung up on something but clearance is important too. In this case all's well. Just bent the flange up a bit.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4647/...ac7d3614_z.jpg

I like it...I might add my own engineering I had to do to get my Nightrider headlight to mount to my Blackburn front-rack, and my Solas tail light to mount to me Tubus rear later today.

The one in the photo is my second one, the first one sat too high and stuff on top of the rack that overflowed to the rear pushed down on it.

It is a short piece of angle Aluminum cut with a hacksaw, a M4 bolt and nylock nut and a couple washers. The part of the light bracket that went around the seatpost was discarded.

Right on! Keep em coming.

We've now gone from snow to freezing rain to just plain cold rain :(

Headlight. Problem was the stock rubber band mount wasn't secure enough and needed a pipe to strap too (handlebars are full)...and the stock handlebar screw clamp interfered with my wheels and tires. So, I tore apart the stock mounting, reusing the slide....and built this with a cheap handlebar-watterbottle-mount and a tube.

This mount is tight enough to hold an adjustment in all kinds of weather....while allowing the light to be easily removed for charging off bike or use as a hand held flashlight

https://i.imgur.com/Ajb87bSl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/UYztCNwl.jpg


My rear light is a funny case. A mount IS MADE for racks for this light by Niterider: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018SVSK36/

And it works with my Tubus Cosmo...so what is the problem? The Solas 150 tail light is too big and droops into my 700x40 tires.....so I had to not only get the light mounted higher, but also further aft.


I found the mount worked upside down....and dug in my computer parts bin, found some plastic screw spacers, some 3" 6/32 screws and nuts....and TADA:

https://i.imgur.com/QIQtEu5l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lohZ44vl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/EjhGDvwl.jpg



And finally, as seen on the bike:

https://i.imgur.com/RVGtJsYl.jpg

my rear light hacks

https://i.imgur.com/qczi62Xl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3L675N8l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/A7ns9EHl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hVXgOO9l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/LhmwR4xl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/4VIsG1Yl.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8dEgi7hl.jpg

That handlebar light is a pretty useful idea actually :)

thanks, it really cuts down on the close passes & keeps ppl from cutting back over to the right too soon

Very very cool ideas just ugly. I know functionality is of the utmost importance but I think with a little spray paint is would have classed it up a touch and made it look better. Also hacking off the excess bolt would have been good.

that's my anti theft deterrent :innocent:

Good one! It would help with that

My contribution. 1/2'' copper from the plumbing stash.

[IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4703/...9e8cc31434.jpgUntitled by lebagman, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4653/...c9d9171f43.jpgUntitled by lebagman, on Flickr[/IMG]

Nice!

My Bike Friday Pocket Llama came with a front disc dynohub..

for the tail light I dug up a Zefal Mudguard from the LBS basement..

used the mudguard struts , and bent them curved, so as to wrap behind the rear of the seat tube water-bottle cage mount

for the B&M toplight Line, tail light..

Considered getting a King Cage modified, to mount a Schmidt tail light to it directly..

but the strut wire wrap around, one allows a nylon cage to go with my metal bottles..







....

Too cold to ride. Time to pass so...
2'' aluminum angle bracket

[IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4744/...dd49dc9374.jpgIMG_1339 by lebagman, on Flickr[/IMG]

The rack is a little off center in the picture, not bad in real life.

[IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4700/...80140eebba.jpgIMG_1342 by lebagman, on Flickr[/IMG]

I painted the back of the light red to match the decals on my bike. The white was kind of ugly.

[IMG]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4652/...a6a68c0c7a.jpgIMG_1341 by lebagman, on Flickr[/IMG]

Another winter weekend with monsoon rains had me revist my front rack light bar idea.
I like the round mount idea but wanted to cut down the rack a bit as I don't plan to carry panniers up front
So, I got out the hacksaw, drill, file and spray paint to wile away an hour or two.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4655/...0e54bc5a_z.jpg

I had a nice piece of plastic tubing from some aero bars I bought and I left prongs on the rack to slip it onto after drilling two holes.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4628/...9407d6c0_z.jpg

Smoothed off the cuts and recoated with BBQ flat black paint which is a colour match for the rack.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4630/...10636b07_z.jpg

and back on the bike. Now there is no issue with aiming the lights high enough and they can't fall off the end of the mounting pipe.
I used two zip ties to hold the pipe on until I figure out a more elegant solution.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4657/...7745ddf8_z.jpg

Can you tap the prongs to accept a bolt? Then you could drill a couple of holes in the round section and bolt it on.

Might as well share my own rear blinkie mount. It's a rear rack stay that already had the twist in it. I drilled a hole for the Bontrager rack blinkie mount, bent it about 90°, drilled a hole my seatpost binder bolt would slip through, and cut the excess off at about a 73° angle so it can't rotate either direction once the seatpost is in the frame. I used some rubber handlebar shims to keep it flopping from side to side.

http://i.imgur.com/54vLpB4.jpg

sounds like you had some fun working on it. got any plans to carry anything on that rack?

Simple, yet effective :)

I will carry my sleeping bag across it and the tent in a handlebar roll rests on that.

I go with a handle bar light and a helmet light for the front, but good ideas.