Handlebar light mounting

[WillemT]

Does anyone have an idea as to where I can buy a decent mounting for a light??

The bikeshops can't get hold of loose ones...

[Racer X]

What sorta light?

[Johan Bornman]

You don't give us much to work with, but it sounds as if you've run out of dashboard space on your handlebars. Get a Minoura Space Grip or anyone of the similar gadgets that your bike shop should be able to get for you.

Alternatively, make yourself an extra space bar from some 25mm electrical conduit and tent pole clips you can buy at Sportsman's Warehouse nor similar camping shop. These clips work well on round handlebar tube and conduit, giving you endless combination and enough space to fit two lights, a HRM, a GPS, a speedo, a bell and small picture of your dog.

 

If you don't like the look of the white conduit, spraypaint it matt black. Most people who see mine want to know where I bought it.

 

 

[WillemT]

Custom build light with 3 cree Q5s.

Have one mounting but need some more for the next ones i'm starting to build...

here's a pic of the first one

 

[WillemT]

Well it's not that i ran out of space I just need a mounting to use on the lights i'm building, the mounting that i use now is a cateye one that works great, you can buy the bottom part but not the slider... But i'm looking for something simular...

 

 

 

[Weekend_Warrior]

Hey Johan post us a pic of your light mount.  You can include the small pic of your dog for us aswell.

[BMCfan]

Dont wanna hijack your thread NR, but i'm starting to look at buying some lights myself!

What price range are those lights of yours?

[WillemT]

the cost to build is about R600 to R800 for parts, housing and so on(haven't worked it out exactly. Got some batteries from USA for R150 for 12 AA(NiMH). The cree's gives very good light. I've done 64 km/h with it at night and on that same section I don't really go faster in daylight.

If you like to build stuff yourself it's lots of fun building your own light!!!

[Johan Bornman]

Hey Johan post us a pic of your light mount.  You can include the small pic of your dog for us aswell.

 

This photo is of the entire assembly, which includes the two lights and the tube which can be used to mount other bike stuff.

 

In this particular one I've only added one clamp and it is off-centre. This allows you to clamp it on the left of the stem, but with the dashboard then extending to the other side. I found that this shakes around too much on a mountain bike so I made another one with a clamp either side of the stem.

 

The clamp I found at a camping shop and is meant to attach at the end of a tent pole. It then clips in around any other pole of similar size. Luck has it that bike stems and tent poles are standard sizes. I love standards.

 

This particular clamp is actually two clamps installed back-to-back. I've put a dowel in between the two so that it can swivel.

 

 

 

This photo shows the clamp part only. 

 

You'll notice that the paint has chipped off, although I must admit that this assembly receives a lot of abuse and usually shares a box with cassettes and other nasties.

 

[Johan Bornman]

Night Rider, if I look at the light you built, I would mount it by attaching  it directly onto one of these tent pole clamps I pictured above. I'd figure out a way to make it swivel, whereas the clamp will give you all the tilt you need.

 

Is the light housed in a pice of aluminium tube? I see something black underneath but can't figure out what it is.

 

I want to come and learn from you how to make lights. Not that I need any but you never know when you'll be stuck in a place somewhere where you need to make powerful lights from a coulple of cellphone batteries, a piece of pipe and some plastic bits.

 

 

[WillemT]

The thing i'm worried about is that the clamp will tilt without me wanting to. half of my ride consits out of single track so it really needs to be tight. I'll quickly post a photo of the bottom of the light then you'll understand it...

[steven]

If its for a Cateye light we carry stocks which can be ordered by your Lbs and delivered to them.

 

rgds sm

www.coolheat.co.za

 

[Johan Bornman]

The thing i'm worried about is that the clamp will tilt without me wanting to. half of my ride consits out of single track so it really needs to be tight. I'll quickly post a photo of the bottom of the light then you'll understand it...

 

Aha, that was my problem as well until it struck me to pre-empt gravity. So the light now hangs from the clamp, in the forest of cables and computer wires. You can make it quite sticky on the handlebar by putting some insulation tape where the clamp goes. That way it stays in place.

 

 

[WillemT]

can't view the lights section from cat eye on the site, will try again later.

Johan here's a few pictures of the light. The housing is just a piece of aluminium tube. you'll see middle plate is thicker for the heat to get to the outside, it fits tight in the tube for the heat to get out better "hitte oordrag". the whole light is kept together by the screw that holds the light to the mounting, the one in the bottom picture. and the rest of the wires is just two toggle switches, a constant current driver and some control resistors for the dimming of the driver. The black toggle switch on the back is for dimming (high medium and low) and the other on for on and off. Very simple but works great at a good price.

 

I got the mounting of my cat eye halogen light wich is 6 or 7 years old...

night tider2008-08-24 09:03:17

[Johan Bornman]

OK, I see, it's just a tube like I thought.

 

This is what I would do.

 

1) I'll take another piece of alu tube, of the same diameter (about 18mm in dia and the same as the inside of my clamp) and cut it to about 40mm i length.

2) I'll then shape the one side of the tube so that it fits nicely and perperdicular onto your light housing. Like a pipe welder would do to make a T junction in a pipe.

3) I'll then drill and thread a hole in the light housing in the centre of where I want to mount the post I just made.  Say, a 4mm hole and thread.

4) I'll then slide this tube into (or over, depending on the diameter you could get) the clamps post and drill a hole in the centre of the clamp in line with the post.

5) I'll countersink the hole on the clamp's inside.

6) I'll insert a machine screw through the inside and into the light housing and loctite it.

 

 

This will give you some swivel capability and a neat, compact unit that will easily find a spot on the handlebar somewhere.

 

What do you think? Workable?

 

 

Johan Bornman2008-08-24 09:11:26

[WillemT]

It could work but i'm still worried that the light will move. It willl also take some time to get the alu tude nice and round to fit the housing. I was amaized the other night, I went for a ride and coming down a steep hill I hit a bump quite hard and the light tilted. It wasn't completely tightened but it wasn't lose... I have thought of  maybe making a mounting from alu, but it will be a little more difficult but not impossible. but it still needs some thinking...

Will be much easier if I can just buy a cat eye mounting with the slider!!!