DIY: Front Rack Light Mount

After my first bike commute I had to come up with a different way of carrying all the crap I need to have with me on the bike in case of a breakdown, rain gear, spare tubes, cables and locks, and stuff needed for the office.  I decided to go with the handle bar bag my friend Cliff gave me last year however, that meant that I had to find a different way to mount my headlight.  If you want to see the steps to get this point, please click the (Read more >>) link.

A former work colleague and one time bike commuting buddy gave me this front rack from one of his bikes and I have had it on the Cross Check for a couple of years but never used it in the way it was intended to be used by putting a boxy, rando bag on it.  It has really just been an ornament.  

DIY Headlight Mount

One of the dilemmas that I was going to have to face going with a handle bar bag was where to mount my headlight because the way most of these lights mount, they are made to sit on the handlebars.  The ideal location would be on the non drive side fork blade and I have a light that would work but it's old and unreliable.  

My solution was to take an old reflector mount, make a few bends, and attach it to where the fender mounts to the fork.  This particular reflector mount also had a hinge so I cut a piece of carbon fiber from a busted seatpost to serve as the light mount and screwed it into the hole on the hinge.

After a test ride, having installed my new handle bar bag the one thing I noticed is that there was a little vibration on the fender so I glued a piece of rubber stripping underneath the bracket where it comes in contact with the fender and problem solved!