...9.17...Friday Favorites...that Bicycle Basket...

...I know I already said that the basket was my favorite part of the Mountain Bike-to-Commuter Bike conversion...so I thought I'd show you the basket in operation...haha...

...most days...I stop at our mailbox across the street on my way home from my daily ride...and you can see that there's still a lot of room in the basket even though there was a lot of mail this day...

~Have a lovely day!

...9.8...Bike Conversion Project...Before and After...

...this is the before photo that I've been posting with each change...because I didn't really take a true good before photo...

All the changes:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16
Day 17

...this is another one before many of the modifications...just the seat here I think...that's the old straight handlebars and basket...

...and here she is today...

...I really do like it a LOT!!!...it's been a fairly long process...but it was truly a labor of love...and I'm really happy with how it all turned out...

~Have a lovely day!

...9.7...Mountain Bike--Commuter Bike Conversion...Day 17...

...Before...

Previous Changes:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16
...so the project continues with just one more little tiny thing...

...I brought the bike inside to sit on my sofa and crochet a little bit of padding around the prongs that hold the basket in place as that seemed to be where the 'rattling' was coming from...and that worked...

...the finished 'pads'...

...I did them in white so that they'd kind of blend in with the basket...I didn't really want a pop of colour there...

...and the prongs still fit and 'work'...holding the basket securely...and noiselessly to its bracket...

...but as I rode the bike a couple more times another annoying little rattle-y sound surfaced...and that was only because I broke my nice glass water bottle...which didn't rattle because it had a sleek neoprene cover...

...but...unfortunately...on a super hot 98° F day (37° C)...I put it into the freezer to 'chill' for an hour or so before my ride...and I was walking across the kitchen to open the freezer door and take it out when I heard it EXPLODE...arghhhh...I loved that water bottle...

...oh well...lucky to have another unbreakable one...

...so I took the little wire basket-prong thing-y that holds the water bottle off the bike...and knit another long-ish tube of the rainbow yarn...

...and then just slipped it around the bottle holder...

...I think that will work...

...and just screwed it back onto the bike frame...

...and slipped the stainless steel water bottle in place...happy that it still fits...

...so that's pretty much it...

...the Mountain Bike is converted...

~Have a lovely day!

...9.6...Mountain Bike--Commuter Bike Conversion...Day 16...

...Before...

Previous Changes:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15

...so this part...I had kind of forgotten about...when I painted the basket white...I removed the black foam padding that protects the handlebars and the fork where the basket rests against them...it also keeps it from making a lot of racket while you're riding...

...anywhoo...they were just black foam tubes...and I could have painted them white as well I guess...but I thought it would look much neater if it had rainbow coloured pads that matched my seat cover...

...so...I just knit some strips in that leftover yarn...I thought about knitting a tube (which would have taken a lot longer)...but decided that a strip sewn in place would be tighter...and...I had no way of getting a tube onto the fork portion of the basket rack...I guess I could have crocheted around the posts though...

...here they are stitched in place...they are so CUTE!...

...and they look cute with the basket too...

...and on the bike...you can see the new reflector bracket didn't even have to be moved...so YAY!...not sure how reflective it will be under the basket...but it really doesn't matter as I don't ride after dark...

...the basket fits perfectly onto the rack...I'm glad because I actually thought about it making it too tight when I was adding the weaving...

...and I thought I'd show you the ingenious way that the basket 'attaches' to the bracket...

...you just lift the handles and slide it into place...they would probably be in the lifted position anyway if you had the basket off the bike...haha...

...and when you lower the handles...the prongs grasp onto the bracket...genius!...

...the Bike Conversion Project is pretty much OVER...but I found that the basket rattles quite a bit more than the old plastic strapped one...and since I'm using my daily bike ride to get out of the house and enjoy a bit of nature it can be quite annoying...so...I'm going to have to come up with something to fix that...and at some point (when I find or make one)...I'll be adding a chain guard...not that I really-really need one...I just like the looks of them on Commuter Bikes...and then I won't have to strap my pants leg down for cool weather riding...

~Have a lovely day!

...9.4...Mountain Bike--Commuter Bike Conversion...Day 15...

...Before...

Previous Changes:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14

...the Bike Conversion Project is actually nearing its close...as I finish up the top of the basket...

...for the cording for the top weaving portion...I just took a couple of strips of the plastic and tied it to the top of a chair...and twisted it until it was pretty tight...it's amazingly strong like this...you can't hardly pull it in half and break it...

...and then like the overlapping top portion...when I ran out of a strip...I just added a new strip and kept twisting and weaving...

...and finally the basket was well and truly finished...

...and I couldn't be happier with it...see how the twisted plarn makes a nice tight finished top to the basket...I think it looks better than another wide strip would have...

...I think it's perfect...exactly what I was hoping for...

~Have a lovely day!

...9.3...Mountain Bike--Commuter Bike Conversion...Day 14...

...Before...

Previous Changes:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13

...so first up before I do the thinner cord weaving around the very top of the sides...I thought it would be easier to do the 'tape' wrapping over the very top bar before all the space was taken up with the cord weaving...

...and so for this pliable somewhat stretchy tape...I'm just going to use strips of the plastic bags without laminating them...

...but folding two strips together to make a nice neat 'tape'...

...and then just wrapping that over and around each of the top slots...I turned under and hand stitched all of the tabs over the bar first...

...and I staggered the strips...so when I run out of a stip...I just slip another piece in...and continue wrapping...

...I think it really does provide a nice finished look to the top of the basket...

~Have a lovely day!

...9.2...Mountain Bike--Commuter Bike Conversion...Day 13...

...Before...

Previous Changes:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12

...there was just a little bit more of trickiness when I turned the corner from the bottom and started up the sides...as the very corner (4 of them)...no longer have a metal bar in between...

...it's easy enough to manage...but you have to be careful...to look back at the previous bar to see if you're over or under...because it changes at each corner...

...and I couldn't be more pleased with how it's turning out...it's exactly what I was hoping for...

...now at the very top of the old basket...there are about 4 rows woven with a much thinner 'string'...so I'll have to come up with something to replicate that...but it will actually work out really well to tighten everything up at the end...and there's also some sort of tape wrapped around the very top bar...

~Have a lovely day1

...9.1...Mountain Bike--Commuter Bike Conversion...Day 12...

...Before...

Previous Changes:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11

...so now...back to the basket...my favorite new part...

...I had a little bit of trouble figuring it out...I actually know how to weave...haha...but I had to take the existing metal bars into consideration...and after a couple of re-dos...I've decided to treat one strip and one bar as one warp...and weave my weft over and under both...

...so that's the bottom done...fairly impermeable to small objects...I'm really pleased with the way it's turning out and the white plastic strips...

~Have a lovely day!

...8.31...Mountain Bike--Commuter Bike Conversion...Day 11...

...Before...

Previous Changes:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10

...so...one of the things that happened when I installed the new fenders is that my front reflector no longer fit...it attached to the front head tube and it hung just a little bit too low with the fenders attached...no worries I thought......I'd just bend it...well...not as bendable as I'd thought...haha...

...but I still have a spool of this bendable strapping leftover from the attic project in West Virginia...it's quite bendable...you've seen me use it to make a tesselating Goldfish cookie cutter...

...so...I just folded it double and tucked under the ends...crimped them with pliers...

...and because the holes lined up...I can actually move it up and down using the different holes...which may come in handy when I put the new basket on...

~Have a lovely day!