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Light mount DIY

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Old 12-28-17 | 11:55 PM
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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:





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



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



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.



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.







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

Last edited by Happy Feet; 12-29-17 at 12:42 AM.
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Old 12-29-17 | 05:05 AM
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I use this on the handle bar. It looks good, is cheap and is really sturdy


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

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Old 12-29-17 | 06:15 AM
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Clever! Mind if I steal your idea?
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Old 12-29-17 | 08:34 AM
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where there's a will, there's a way! good job!

if you make another, longer/wider you'll be able to aim that light up a little
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Old 12-29-17 | 11:31 AM
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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.

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Old 12-29-17 | 11:46 AM
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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.
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Old 12-29-17 | 12:09 PM
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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.
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Old 12-29-17 | 12:20 PM
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Right on! Keep em coming.

We've now gone from snow to freezing rain to just plain cold rain
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Old 12-29-17 | 12:36 PM
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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






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:









And finally, as seen on the bike:

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Old 12-29-17 | 09:47 PM
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my rear light hacks














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Old 12-29-17 | 11:55 PM
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That handlebar light is a pretty useful idea actually
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Old 12-30-17 | 06:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Happy Feet
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
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Old 12-31-17 | 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
my rear light hacks













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.
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Old 12-31-17 | 04:14 PM
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Originally Posted by veganbikes
just ugly
that's my anti theft deterrent
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Old 01-01-18 | 11:17 AM
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Originally Posted by rumrunn6
that's my anti theft deterrent
Good one! It would help with that
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Old 01-10-18 | 05:54 PM
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My contribution. 1/2'' copper from the plumbing stash.

[IMG]Untitled by lebagman, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]Untitled by lebagman, on Flickr[/IMG]
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Old 01-11-18 | 02:13 AM
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Originally Posted by eom
My contribution. 1/2'' copper from the plumbing stash.
Nice!
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Old 01-11-18 | 01:40 PM
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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..







....
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Old 01-12-18 | 03:40 PM
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Too cold to ride. Time to pass so...
2'' aluminum angle bracket

[IMG]IMG_1339 by lebagman, on Flickr[/IMG]

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

[IMG]IMG_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]IMG_1341 by lebagman, on Flickr[/IMG]
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Old 01-28-18 | 11:09 PM
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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.



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.



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



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.


Last edited by Happy Feet; 01-28-18 at 11:13 PM.
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Old 01-29-18 | 07:38 AM
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Originally Posted by Happy Feet
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.

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.

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

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.
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.

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

Last edited by Darth_Firebolt; 01-29-18 at 07:47 AM.
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Old 01-29-18 | 07:53 AM
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sounds like you had some fun working on it. got any plans to carry anything on that rack?
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Old 01-29-18 | 09:33 AM
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Originally Posted by Darth_Firebolt
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.

https://i.imgur.com/54vLpB4.jpg
Simple, yet effective

Originally Posted by rumrunn6
sounds like you had some fun working on it. got any plans to carry anything on that rack?
I will carry my sleeping bag across it and the tent in a handlebar roll rests on that.
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Old 01-29-18 | 11:19 AM
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I go with a handle bar light and a helmet light for the front, but good ideas.
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