Man Made DIY

Modern technology has made cycling a fantastic experience - you can plan and check routes with your smartphone, and bring along tiny digital still and video cameras to catalog your experience. I use the great EveryTrail app on my iPhone to calculate routes and speed, but keeping it connected to GPS is a huge battery drain. Wouldn't it be great if you could not have to worry about killing the batteries of these guys whilst on your ride?

Turns out - you can, and power lies in your own two feet. With a little DIY muscle flexing, you can build a USB generator that's 70% efficient in converting your pedals into the energy needed for powering and charging your devices.

IKEA.com dubs its Broder system, "sturdy storage that goes anywhere."

Looks like they're totally right. Mark and partner from Philadelphia created this super functional single-width unit that store two bikes, helmets, and all the cycling goodies that come with them.

"We needed a way to store our 2 bicycles inside. We are renting and wanted something that didn't screw into the walls or ceiling. We liked the look of the Stolman hack, but when we got to Ikea they had replaced the painted aluminum color Stolman system with a creamy off-white color that we didn't like. We went with the Broder instead and as a bonus this is a much cheaper system - the entire bike rack cost us about $20. You'll need: 1 x Broder long post (80.25" or 204cm), 1 x Broder height extension post and foot, and 2 x packages of Broder front facing brackets."

So, a total of $20 worth of IKEA goodies and some scrap dimensional lumber. Can't be… read more

I have no idea what this is, or how it actually works, but I don't care.

How's this for awesome? It doesn't even need… read more

Like all things with moving parts, bicycles need maintained, adjusted, and repaired. But to work on something whose very job is to move foward, you've gotta get it off the road and into the air in order to assess your good work.

So, here's a collection of DIY bike stands that you can trust to get your cycle at working height, and make sure it stays there.

Here's an option using 1/2" galvanized pipe

An adjustable portable… read more

Agreed:  there's plenty of expensive bicycling clothing out there, designed for aerodynamics and for staying out of the way while peddling. But many of us use our bikes for much more than recreation and racing...namely, from getting from one place to another. So, here are several ways to customize an existing pair of pants for maximum usefulness while cycling, but which you can still wear once you've arrived at your… read more