A bike of bits...

[magnatom]

The other day my back mudguard decided to disconnect itself from the rest of my bike.

When I got home I had a good rummage for zip ties (the saviour of many a cyclist), none in the house. I had a look for string, all used up holding up plants!

So scrambling around I came up with a plan. So for the last couple of days my back mudguard has been held on with some ties created by cutting up some of my youngsters bibs! Lovely green ties they are!

Actually they are holding my mudguard quite well, but when I get a chance they will be replaced with zip ties (until I then get a new mudguard!)

So what cobbled together mods do you have on your bike?

 

[Aperitif]

I wear bib shorts - with no strings attached

Cocktail stick under the front Cateye to stop it rattling on its mount... no cherry though!

 

[rich p]

I wear bib shorts - with no strings attached

Cocktail stick under the front Cateye to stop it rattling on its mount... no cherry though!

You lost your cherry some time ago, I believe?

 

[fossyant]

4 bolts and a strengthening plate on my rear guard where the stays attach - the guard split from one side to the other... works a treat, and I even painted the metal plate and bolts black to match the guard...

Bits of tape under my cateye computers - same again - stops rattles.

 

[ChrisKH]

I think your propensity to fix things the way they weren't intended increases as you get older; I have a garage full of mostly small things I have saved 'just in case' and get a perverted sense of achievement and satisfaction when I can make do and repair things with what I have saved from years ago. More often than not the repair or substitution is better than the original fixing. Am I the only one? My brothers and sister live in the age of disposal; they would just as soon throw something away, even if working, just to get the latest model. I hate waste of that nature and only dispose of things if they really die. Even then I take them to bits and save what I think I can use...........

 

[Globalti]

I'm the same, I have a big bin full of bits of plastic and metal, which come in handy from time to time for repairing things. My best ever was repairing the swivel on a kitchen corner unit, which several kitchen fitters had told us would need replacing. In fact I sometimes boast to my wife that there isn't much in the house that we can't repair....

 

[dan_bo]

I've stiffened an ill- fitting replacement derailleur hanger using a bit of cheap pressed multi- spanner from a cheapo tool kit- i knew it would come in handy some day.

 

[Arch]

MY winter hack has a twist grip on it for the gears, which had lost it's rubber grippy bit (it was the only one we had lying around in the bits box with the right number of gears). So we mackled up a piece of bar tape. Gradually, the sticky tape lost it's stick, so I fixed it temporarily with a zip tie, and being me, this was still the solution a year later, until it started to slip. I meant to fix it for ages, but didn't, and one day, the bit of tape came off in my hand.

At which point I discovered that the plastic underneath was quite grippy enough anyway!

I'm not sure what the point of that story is... Except, I'm not averse to the odd bodge here and there!