[Frozenspokes]

After looking at the "recycle your chain" thread, I was struck by a bit of inspiration. But first some back story.

My 8 year old loves turtles. She asked for turtle toys for christmas. As you can imagine, there are only so many turtles in the toy dept. at Target, and she already had them all. So, the closest I could come was a plush tortoise Webkins. She was excited to get it, but I wanted to do something more.

So, back to re-purposing. I've had an ancient set of LX chainrings in my junk box for over a year now. They were off of a bike I literally rescued from a trash pile. The bike has since been parted out and the cranks are in use on my SS/FG roadie. The rings being old and well worn were of no use to me, but I'm not one to throw things (bike things at least) out willy nilly. So, I see the chain recycling thread, and an idea pops into my head. I'm not artist, but I am a bit handy with tools. The hack say comes out, the rings go in the vice, and the parts start getting cut. A few hours later, a few spare chain links and a bit of super glue, and here is the end result.

Far from "art", and not nearly as beautiful as the bowl made from chains, but hopefully servicable.

 

[exsyle]

Very creative! I like it.

 

[playdead]

awesome! I'm glad my "recycle your chain" thread brought you inspiration.

Kind of random, but my nickname is Turtle as well.

Happy New Years

 

[Ska]

Nice turtle! LOL

I posted this last year but here's what I did with some of my old parts while trying to entertain my 2 year old daughter. We had a hoot. She LOVED it ;-)

LOL

Eyes – Old 8 speed SRAM Attack twist shifters
Nose – Cinelli end cap
Mouth – Very old Syncros 22t chain ring
Right arm –Salsa seat post
Left arm – KORE flat bar
Buttons – Steer tube spacers (mix of carbon and aluminum)
Hands – Cheapo MEC gloves

It was fun.

 

[Frozenspokes]

I remember that snowman. I thought it was pretty cool too. How long did it last and how did your parts fare. Being. Out in the snow? I now have a chainring that would make a perfect mouth for your next build.

 

[Ska]

Well, the snowman didn't last too long as it was pretty mild. The parts were/are fine. They're still in the garage awaiting our next build

 

[rockxj]

I dont want to step on that turtle outch.

 

[Dion]

This is a no-brainer.

 

[slcrockymountainrider]

That's pretty sweet-the artwork, not the ninja. Although the ninja chainring thing would have been handy back when I was a kid and lost all my 'throwing stars' in the backyard.

Thanks for the idea. Funny thing this Thread was started as I spent a good part of the weekend going through boxes of old bike parts to pfilfer enough to create some trophies for an underground race later this summer. You just solved my 'what would make a sturdy base' problem as my intended use of old cassettes only yielded 1.5 total. Something along the lines of your creation would make a very nice base for the grand 1st place trophy: So far it's got an 8inch rotor and a star made from 5 complete chanlinks.

Rather than paying $60 for a USACycling membership, then $40 to race myself-as no one shows up anylonger (for a myriad of reasons)-and then having the lone pro (who also raced himself, with no competition) walk off with a payout and the rest left with a little, plastic medal or even better: a little plastic USACycling medal for winning the State Championship. A few of us are taking things into our own hands and doing it right. Which means creative trophies and a payout that anyone is capable of winning.

Thanks again. Now it's time to throw everything in the degreaser.

 

[slcrockymountainrider]

Well, no chainrings have made it into any of this yet. But I've made good use of all 3 rotor sizes, an old cassette and some Hayes/Marzocchi brake adaptors. The stars are simply 5 chainlinks. 2nd Place isn't done yet as the base I was intending to use isn't going to fit correctly with a 180mm rotor, but 1st and 3rd are complete minus a '2010' in numbering that I'll add along the bottom.

What everyone will be racing on- The Humdinger (now) Invitational's course schematics:

Miles and miles of down...

Yes, the numbering is aluminum mailbox numbers I found at the hardware store. They were just the right size, a bit chinsey and the metallic color looks good in person.

There will be a special DFL trophy I'll work on a bit later. A horrific, crass creation for the person who finishes Dead F#cking Last.

 

[Frozenspokes]

Nice work on those trophys. I would be proud to dislpay either of them in my home. Glad that I could be a small inspiration.