Bike Modifications
This area of the web site contains articles on modifications to your bike and solutions to some common problems found with some bikes. There are also some articles on the long trips made in modifying a bike to get it just right.
Fix for bent panniers - Are your panniers bending in towards your spokes. To save changing the backing boards (I am naturally lazy), when I was fitting some mudguards I came up with this idea.
Handle Bar Bag fitted under Aero Bars - Aero bars were initially designed for cycle touring long before they were used for triathlons. On my last tour on the mountain bike, I kept getting a back ache and would lean forward and rest my elbows on the handlebar grips. I thought to myself that my next bike is going to be fitted with aero bars. However, the aero bars I purchased mounted in exactly the same spot as the handlebar bag mountings.
Friction Shifters on a modern bicycle - Nowadays most bicycles come with shifters that are indexed, so that one click on the lever mechanism equates to one change in gear. This is a good idea for someone new to riding a bike with 27 gears, but the cable tension constantly needs adjustment to keep the indexed gear lever in line with the cogs on the rear cluster and front chain rings. Old Fashioned friction shifters never need adjusting.
More Water Bottles - Ever needed to get more water bottles on your bike, but didn't have the cage mounting holes in your frame?
A Fix for Broken Mirror Mounts - Yes we all do it sometimes! We break our bike mirrors. I'm not talking about the mirror itself, I'm talking about the plastic clip or clamp that holds it securely to your handlebars.
The long trip in modifying my Mongoose Randonneur to suit what I wanted.
Modding the Mongoose Randonneur Part 1 - Why pull a brand new bike apart? I switched from touring on a heavy mountain bike to a light weight tourer. But why did I pull the entire brand new bike apart? This article should explain my rationale and give you some guidelines if you ever decide to do it.
Modding the Mongoose Randonneur Part 2 - Part Two continues on from Part One of this epic journey.
Modding the Mongoose Part 3 - The idea behind buying the Mongoose Randonneur was to have a light weight road touring bike. Somewhere along the way I started to make modifications to change it into something more capable of heavily loaded touring.
