I can’t see that copper being strong enough. I also wonder what will happen in a UPD when the handle hits the ground?
that looks nice, however having built a handlebar using the same copper tubing I can tell you it won’t fair well against hitting the ground from a UPD. I could even pull hard on mine while riding and bend them
I hope you have better luck with yours
Hi @aj1500, so most of the handle bar is based on the white handlebar extender from Mad4One. The only copper is 1/2" tubes which go inside the handlebar extender and that which connects up to the copper assembly I made which connects to the bike handlebar stem that joins to the seat post. The only thing I would do differently with this is to secure the copper pipes better than simply friction fitting them into the handlebar extender. But I won’t likely do that at this point as I am expecting a better saddle to come in the mail soon. At that point I am most likely going to drill holes in the handlebar extender and mount it directly to the saddle via m4 bolts underneath.
Dawosn
UPD? Who does that anymore? Ha ha kidding. No, the handlebar is mostly made out of the handlebar extender from Mad4One, so I expect it would perfrom just as well in the event of a UPD. (I had a few today on my ride to the office). The copper is reinforced by the tin soldering joins - I seriously doubt any issues will happen with that.
Dawson
Oh, yes, here is a wee update on my ride in to work this morning, but first the picture:
So, it felt weird free-mouting with that handlebar in front of me, and riding was not too bad, I felt pretty stable, even tried to ride with two hands a few times, but for very short intervals … that feels like I am going to have some learning to do on that. Now, the only main problems I see with this setup are that the handlebar extender wants to creep off of the copper pipes fitted inside, and that my brake hose is too short to get the brake handel any closer to the front of the handlebar extender.
Dawson
PS, thanks again @DavidTennant, my son for the handlebar extender!
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I went to HomeDepot yesterday and bought some 3/4” conduit. At the store I started the bend with a conduit bender since I didn’t want to buy one🤣 Anyways, the bend wasn’t enough but it was a start. I then tried using a 2x4 scrap with a hole in the end to bend some more, but that didn’t work too well, couldn’t get it to bend the metal hardly at all. What worked nicely was opening the vice up just a little wider than the pipe and putting the pipe in the opening of the vice and pulling/pushing the end of the pipe until it bent. This basically made a hundred small kinks but got the job done. Then I put a screwdriver into the vice next to the conduit and put a very large kink on each end to make the ends parallel rather than teardrop shaped so that I could mount them to the handle bolts on a standard saddle. Then I whittled down a wood dowel to fit into the ends so that they wouldn’t get crushed by the bolts holding it onto the saddle. I got M6x40mm bolts to reach through the tubes and have good engagement in the saddle, only needed 35mm but couldn’t find any, these bolts were almost $1 each! Crazy prices these days. I found an old leather belt and an old inner tube and wrapped it in that for now, I’ll find something more proper eventually, but this feels good after about 7 miles of riding so far. No upds yet but it feels solid, hopefully it lasts.
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I want that thing to look like a unicorn horn. All rainbow and shit.
Looks good!
Metal conduit is a good inexpensive source of handle material. I’ve made several out of 1/2" conduit that is easier to bend then 3/4". I get the best bends if I do it in the winter, I fill the conduit with water and freeze it solid. Then find something to round to bend it around. The ice prevents kinking.
Here is one on my Nightfox. I should add some handlebar tape on it but with the tennis ball bumper it will never hit the ground.
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Hey Jim, show him the pulley bending mandrell you have used, I like how as always you adapt things we all have lying around for your use. Thanks!
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I’ll try something like that next time around, those bends of yours look nice! I could probably fill the conduit and put it in the freezer to get the ice during summer, since I don’t want to wait and will probably be making another of these this summer.
In warmer weather I’d be concerned about the ice starting to melt before the bending was complete.
The other option is to compact sand into the tube to prevent kinking during bending (then remove after bending). The sand trick is better then nothing but I find it does not work as well as ice.
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Thanks Jim, Very resourceful, I have been using wet sand but freezing adds more structure to keep it from a collapse.
I can probably get at least ten minutes in an air conditioned basement before melting too much, which should be long enough that I would only need a few cycles of freeze bend freeze bend before being complete.
I think I’d use sand and also heat it up with a torch. You can get zinc poisoning however if you breathe in the fumes from heated galvanized material, so I would want to do it outdoors and with a strong fan, (maybe a leaf blower), or alternate air source.
Ohhh so that’s the smell I smelled when cutting it… I couldn’t quite place it and I guess it’s because I didn’t know what hot zinc smelled like(or cold for that matter). I was only using a hack saw but it got pretty hot anyways. I’ll use some oil next time to keep the heat down and maybe splash some water on it occasionally. Thanks for the insight!
You should be ok working with a saw, but zinc poisoning is something I’ve seen warnings about when using a torch or welding. Symptoms are flu-like and it doesn’t present the same level of risk as say lead poisoning.
Adjusts in/out up/down. Can be flipped in either direction and can be easily disassembled. Fits into existing KH T handle sleeve. Very light. Parts cost less than $25 not counting KH T handle bracket and sleeve.
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Looks nice, would you be so kind to supply a parts list?
I’m planning to do one like this soon, but mimicking the style of the Qu-Ax one. Parts are slowly on their way from AliExpress