Guerilla Bike Rack

Intro: Guerilla Bike Rack

Tired of walking your bike past empty parking spots just looking for a rack to lock up your bike? Well now through a small re-appropriation of public space and a few junked bikes, you can be the difference you wish to see in your town.

STEP 1: Scoop Up a Couple Old Bikes

Step 1:
Find two old bike frames. Check the Craig's list free section, your local bike kitchen, friend's garages, drainage ditches, bushes, or wherever else free bike frames are to be had.

STEP 2: Cut Back Off of Frame

Step 2:
Using a hack saw, or if you are luckier than me, a metal cutting band saw, cut the top tube and the down tube of your frames where they connect to the seat tube. This leaves the rear fork triangle thingy. Find somebody that needs the front of the frame for their other sweet project.

STEP 3: Grind Frame Flush

Step 3:
Grind and brush the front of the seat tube so it's flush and clean for welding. The tube that the pedals go into needs to be cut down so the seat tube is flush all the way down. Grind and brush that too so there aren't any nasty burrs left over.

STEP 4: Scavenge Some Angle Iron

Step 4:
Find two length of angle iron that are no longer than the seat tube on either of your frames. The angle Iron should be large enough to fit around a sign post, about a two inch flange.

STEP 5: Create a Hinge

cut the middle third of one of the frames' seat tubes out. hold it back in place and shove the seat post down through the tube, holding in the middle third of tube while allowing it to rotate freely. This will be welded as in the picture, allowing the welded attachment to rotate.

STEP 6: Weld It Up

Weld the flanges to the seat tubes at a right angle, with the flange coming out to the left when looking from the top, with the fork between your legs, see the picture for clarification. This applies to both frames, so they line up when flipped. The flange welded to the frame with the hinge should span over the freely spinning section of tube and be welded on the ends. Now weld the free edge of the flange on the non-hinged frame to the middle section of the hinge on the other frame. this should be welded in line with the frame. You should now have two frames that are hinged at the connection, allowing the whole shebang to be wrapped around a sign post.

STEP 7: Weld on Flanges for Ultimate Lockage

weld some plate with a hole in it to the last free flange edge and to the opposing seat tube. The hole should be big enough to shove a sturdy pad-lock through.

STEP 8: Set Up Discreetly

And enjoy.

p.s. you may want to use a better lock, I doubt my high school locker masterlock will last long.

Comments

[onrust]

AWESOME! This rack is outside of BICAS in Tucson. bicas.org Killer post.

[br3ttb]

Awesome idea. just make sure it's not easy to pull the sign out of the ground :)

[escapefromyonkers]

nice use of part , may come in handy to build shelving and storage too,possible ny mounting the rear triangles to a wall . In ny are the frames are two thin, and would be cut too easy, same as any cable lock,hacksaw zip threw them. .
we just lock up to those sign poles, you have to make sure it is cemented in securely though. people set up traps, like like plugging up payphones and the return slot in the old days and sucking out the coins(yuck) check ther rigged pole for a bike that they can steal by pulling a pin out and lifting the pole off. Also if there are not signs securely on top , kids will stand on each others shoulders and lift the bike over the top, they will ,also will do it if there is too much slack in the chain or take off the signs in the bike is worth the work. 3 little kids like a circus act. .same with parking meters, i have heard people in the know, that will never lock up at a meter. i guess it is impossible to tell how tight the meter is threaded on. It may seem real secure ,but if they know a common street found device works like a wrench and applies torque, a tight meter will easily come off with a 6 foot extension. The original u locks were pried open by leverage by using the center piece of the he street closure or construction wood horses, it would just slide out at over 6 feet length of 4x6 of strong wood, pop a u lock in a second. The clear cheap ,old price 19cents round bic pens were the lock picks of the most $100 plus expensive locks with the cylinder pickproof// tumblers.
even some of the new nyc bike racks, that were bolted into the sidewalk were compromised in the first couple weeks,unknown to the unlucky bike owners.however the internet has been the best thing to fight bike theft, i am sure twitter and apps are around i don't know about yet. Passing info about weaknesses can be done in under a day, where in the old days it may take years before you found out there was a easy weakness in your lock. You may have been on your 3rd bike and still using the same krptolock that was the original problem. The smart thieves would leave the lock there, with the hasp inserted , so you would think you screwed up and didn't lock it properly, buy a new bike. lock up to the same pole, like when they steal your car battery and then your brand new battery the same week.
i saw a couple gps things at maker faire nyc that may be usable to follow bikes that are stolen. got to find a way to may bike theft a losing proposition.

[mischka]

I like the idea to upcycle a bike to a bike rack.