JonBailey

I bought a cheap plastic tool box at Walmart and had to drill a few custom holes in it. Black zip ties, small, mount the box securely to the stock rear carrier. The Schwinn rubber taillight is mounted on the box rear as shown using drilled holes in the rear top compartment with zip ties also. The mini bungee holds the light from flopping around. a pair of matching Fifty Strong plastic water bottles were also purchased at Walmart. One holds my water and the other my USB music speaker. Thankfully, Pacific Cycle provided mounting points for two separate bottle cages on-the all-aluminum frame. You have to be careful with the aluminum frame not to over-tighten screws. Being a former automobile mechanic by trade and having death-grip hands, I used a 3/8"-drive socket and stripped one of the screws holding the rear rack to the frame. I had to use thread tape to make a snugger fit of the threads. I may have to eventually replace the chrome-finish hex-head screw with longer one and put a nut and lock washer on the other end. Note the two aftermarket 36-spoke wheels ordered from Pacific Cycle to replace the stock 24-spoke aluminum wheels that were busting spokes a lot on the rough streets of Lawton, Oklahoma. The aftermarket aluminum wheels are two-tone black and silver. Cool! Goes with stock black paint scheme nicely. No more busted spokes after over a month on spartan Oklahoma covered-wagon roads. A young Lawton policeman stopped me the other day for wearing my music headset white on the street. In this conservative boring rough little Okie town, joggers and pedestrians aren't even supposed to be sporting headphones while on the street wear rubber meets asphalt (or potholes). In my custom trunk are all the tools and supplies I need for fixing any flat tire and doing minor fixes on the streets. This is a 13" long tool box and my Bell pump fits perfectly inside along with a 15 mm combination wrench, a Bell tool kit with carry pouch and tire lever, a spare tube pre-filled with Slime, a CO2 inflator, a couple bungee cords, cable crimp caps, extra valve caps, valve stem remover, extra rim liner, pliers, latex gloves, a coupe plastic store bags to protect seat and grips when bike is turned over on the dirty ground and a rag. At least Lawton, Oklahoma doesn't have the pesky goat heads that Boise, Idaho had by the Greenbelt. There is, however, a dead coon (road kill) by the train tracks I ride past every morning that is now stinking badly. I saw an armadillo on 38th street south of the RR crossing last week. I have to pedal my bike in the gutter often as there is seldom a bike lane or even a sidewalk in this town.

Milton Keynes

Pictures would be nice.

DrIsotope

That post is an adventure. It gives my naturally editorial nature the jitters.

MattTheHat 

I think it's a link.

-Matt

bakerjw

Not just a link, but a cross posting link.

livedarklions

What's the question?

Otherwise I think this is a ramble and I have no idea what your point is.

livedarklions

I think it's an outtake from On the Road: The Next Generation.

BF as cutting-room floor.

cb400bill

Merged threads.

MattTheHat 

I see words like tool box, pump, CO2 inflator and bungies. Tools and what not too. Sounds heavy and rattly, but depending on what you're doing might be great. We need pics.


-Matt

JonBailey

There is no question. It's show and tell. I want to know what people think about the custom trunk I made to carry my tools.
I am inspiring others with my idea here. Goodness.

Please learn to read.

JonBailey

You cannot see the embedded picture above?

JonBailey

Please go to the top to see the OP of this thread.

MattTheHat 

Yes, now that you've fixed the link I can see the pic.

That looks pretty clean, I like it. If the stuff inside bounces around you can add a small towel or something similar for packing.

-Matt

JonBailey

It probably weighs no more than seven pounds. The extra weight pales next the inconvenience of being stranded with a flat tire five miles away from home. It's a cheap plastic toolbox strapped onto the rear carrier with plastic zip ties and nothing more. It's much cheaper than these rack-top bags which often don't fit well. Using plastic supermarket bags, latex gloves, plastic Baggies, rags, etc. as filler materials inside the box dampens the road noise of rattling tools quite well. For example, my spare C02 cartridges are wrapped in the latex gloves to keep them quiet. Note my bluetooth USB-rechargeable music speaker inside one of the two water cages. I'm not allowed to wear headphones while on the streets of my town. Note how I have my taillight strapped to the tool box. The little bungee holds it firmly. Holes were drilled in the plastic tool box for securing with zip ties.

BobbyG

It may not be the most conventional approach, but you obviously put a lot of thought into it, and the execution is nice. I like posts like this. It sparks ideas and inspires projects. Thanks for sharing!

-------------------------

"I saw an armadillo riding a bike by 38th Street
Pedallin' through the street by McMahon Park
He was lookin' for a place called Mutti's German Restaurant
Gonna get a big dish of Rinderroulade

Aaoooo!
Armadillos of Lawton
Aaooo!"

MattTheHat 

Throw some lunch in there and you're ready to ride all day!

As far as your comment about headphones, I'm not sure how the police think they can tell you not to wear headphones. That sounds like nothing more than harassment to me. I'm not a fan of people playing music on their phones and Bluetooth speakers. Maybe it's just me.

-Matt

livedarklions

Well, when I first responded this was in general cycling, but only about half of your post has anything to do with the bike, the rest is about Lawton, dead animals, bumps, headphones, police and a bunch of other stuff. I had no idea we were supposed to be focusing on some bike adaptations. Also, the photo wasn't attached to the OP when I responded.

Looks swell. Mazel tov.

Please learn to write. Paragraph breaks and topic sentences might be a good place to start.

livedarklions

This is the reason the cops think they can do that in Lawton, OK, because they can:

Lawton Code of Ordinances:

MattTheHat 

I'd actually Googled it and hadn't found an ordinance. Thanks.

As for the ordinance itself. What an...interesting...world in which we live.


-Matt

shelbyfv

Most folks are able to carry what they need for flats and bike repair in a small saddle pack. Nevertheless, I can see the box being useful for lunch and adult beverage, maybe a jacket.

Milton Keynes

I carry what I need in a small underseat bag, but some times it would be nice to have a bit more storage room. With that tool box, you should have enough room for tools, spare tubes, your wallet, and a sandwich.

Personally, though, if I were to do that, instead of zip tying and bungee'ing the taillight as it is, I'd have somehow just bolted it to the side of the toolbox which would make it easier to open the lid.

Milton Keynes

I will say that it's not something I'm ever likely to do myself, but your installation looks good. Better than duct-taping a cardboard box to your rack.

I actually did something similar to our popup camper. On the hitch, next to the battery box, I installed a small plastic toolbox I bought cheap in order to hold bungees, gorilla tape, and a few other odds & ends. But rather than zip tie it, I drilled holes in the bottom of the toolbox and bolted it to the hitch.

JonBailey

Please provide more conventional approach to carrying spare tubes, tools, etc. on a bike that is as compact and elegant as possible. I'm thinking of designing a cleaner and more elegant mount for my taillight on the back of the box. My tool-toting solution is pretty cheap. I like a hard case for my tools anyway.

ksryder

I've typed and deleted about 7 responses. This thread is an adventure.

shelbyfv

This what I use. I think it is obviously more compact and elegant. I have tube, CO2, patches, multi tool, spare quick links, cleat bolts, a short bit of derailleur cable, zip ties, $, a handy wipe, emergency electrolyte and GU. The bags are available in larger sizes if you really need to carry extra valve caps, etc.