6 Sep 2006
Fend for Yourself
Here’s a great way to sabotage political campaigns and keep the mud off your back at the same time. As it turns out, the material used to make those “Vote for Jethro ‘78!” signs in people’s front yards is good for all sorts of stuff, including making your own bicycle fenders. These fenders are light, cheap, and work really well. If you’re careful with how you cut your fenders out, you can even endorse your favorite candidate while you ride!
Technorati Tags: bicycle, bike, mud, cleanliness
Tags:Activism
Around election time, I always snag a couple of these signs. Hey, free DIY materials!
This design is pretty good in general, and great if you have a rack or ride in groups a lot, but you can make a simpler, cleaner looking version by just mountain-folding a length of sign (about 6 inches wide) and jamming it in between the two seatstays (the part of the frame that connects the top tube to the rear wheel axle). Zip-tie, tape, rubberband or whatever the end of the sign to your seat tube and you’re down. Looks sexy, lasts forever, and takes about 5 minutes from start to finish. One caution: this stuff is pretty tough - I now protect my bike frame where the plastic touches it, as I’ve had a fender rub its way through my paint job before!
Stealing political signs at election time is a felony in pretty much every state. In my state(Maryland), we had several teens arrested this past November when they stole election signs. Yeah, it sounds all cool being activist-like, but it’s better to ask for them after the election. People generally want them out of their yard, the candidates don’t care anymore, you’re keeping them out of the landfill and there is no risk of being no-neck Bubba’s new best pal in the big house.