[patineto]

First I confess I post this on Ride Monkey first but hopefully you guys find it helpfull too.

I keep seeing old tubes and chunks of rubber and foam wrap around with zip tyes, but personally I'm prone to have a little more attencion to detail than that, i like my bikes to work perfectlly even to the level of their protective shieilding, here are some of my attemps as a example, but will be great to see everybodys work to improve in the data base of options and alteratives available...

Also please do NoT start with the typical..."Man you have way to much time in your hands" coments, to justified mediocrity...

Lets Start with a "little To Radial" aproach..

When I got my Giant Dh, the bike was in exelent cosmetic and structural shape and I want to keep it that way, I did Notice a lot of chainslap on the seat and chain stay, so i when to town with a old Ritchey WCS tyre..

actually the sistem kind of sucks,,,
don't take me wrong the chain is totally quiet and for sure does not hit on anything, but doing the "Corset" lacing takes for ever and even wrost It collect mud like is no tomorrow, making it very dificult to wash and sonner or later scratching the surface you are trying to protect

yeah i when a litle to far and almost cover the whole frame, this is my version of a "Shuttle guard'

the end result of experiment #I

how to make it...
actually is really easy perforate holes about every 20mm with a punch.

and do it and do it until you are done

actually after I found the "Mud Flaw" I took it apart , got some Neoprene and velcro and saw it togheter with the tyre making the Biggest "lizard skin" you ever saw, works really well even if becomes a little to bulky and you can take it out in seconds,,
yeah i know is being done, sometimes I just like to have fun and make stuff my self..

now lets go for more ussable wraps and guards

Vulcanize Tape,, you can get this product at a good marine supply store, is as expensive as is Nice and strong
here is a basic example

also for the seat stays I use some 3M scothcal 2.0 tape and above that cut some small piramidal shape (Optimal and most recognizible shape) made of 3M scoth light tape that you can get in 6 diferent colors, to improve safety at night ...
that is in case you don't ride Ilegal trails at night, if that is the case you don't want this tape..

For My Nicolai i use the same Vulcanize sistem for the bottom layer but I when one step farder and i made my own shield out of a thermoplastic composite material compose (sorry for the redundancy) of Carbon & fibreglass and some kind of bonding egent that is not quemically catalize but sensitive to heat

This Sistem is the S^^T, is super dupper strong, i also made on for the left chainstay, since i keep hitting the heal of my shoe with the subframe thanks to the massive 165mm rear end on the M-pire..

someday I will also finish a "shuttle" guard for the down tube, but I confess I try it two times and never came exactlly right so i abandon the project for a day when i have a little more paccience..
So far for the down tube and bottom of the toptube i'm just ussing 2.0 tape with some stickers i like on top for pure decoration

Now for the Recycle of useless materials..

I think we all agree on the fact the Innertube tyre protectors suck big time, in fact i found all the ones i have on my friendlly bike store trash can..

I love this meterial is translucent kind of yellow but pretty, but sadlly I only found one of them so i got to warp only two bikes with it...

this material can strech a lot so you can actually cover square shapes like on the chain stays of my Cameleon

I also wrap My Little Balfa, with the rest of the protector.

A few days ago when I got my other balfa i use the most recognize type of tyre liner,, the famous "Mister Tuffy"

the whole idea is to start as close as you can to the weld on the chainstay, so you have room for ziptyes, tape or the safety wire to hold the start of the wrap in place, only friction is necesary, the way i did it,,, i cut 3 small holes and tread a pair of ziptyes to it plus some safety wire as good measurement

is like wraping tape on a road bike handlebar

but since the plastic is not glue you can keep "rolling it" to make it tighter and tighter and some how conform better to the shape you are wraping.

this material is totally bombproof and as long as you wrap the other end in the same way is not coming undone, no mater what...
think about it,, No expose Ziptyes cutting you fingers when you are washing or working on the bike, no grease getting into it and also and looks as nice and finish as you chris king headset

Please don't think I'm "Clean Nazi" like the guy on "MonK" i like mud and crashing as much as the next guy if not more.

but I also believe a well protected and taking care machine is going to last longer and be a lot less prone to suffer from reliavility problems

well Now is you turn to show your own aproach, if you have the time please explain the reason why you did it that way and the technics use, so we can learn more about it.

 

[Zonk0u]

That CANT be comfortable when you nut the top tube.

 

[patineto]

That CANT be comfortable when you nut the top tube.

well unless you are a big bear in seach of a tree..

 

[patineto]

I just took some detail Pictures of the Nicolai Seatstay Carbon/Glass protectors

the bike is hanging from the rack so please acomodate for that in your viewing..

Right "seatstay"

the left one,,, this gaurds were handmade ussing a heatgun and some gloves to conform them to the complex shapes of the frame , so they are not totally perfect but for sure better than most.

view of the two stays,,
I glue them over a rap of Vulcanize tape using silicone and some zipties at the ends as backups.

the materail is pretty strong,and light, but not provide much cushion like you will need for a chainstay and will get "Fluffy" if you crash on it like any other piece made of composites,, yes even kevlar

 

[finchy]

quick question... what was the point of putting a guard on the top tube of the giant?

 

[SHIVER ME TIMBERS]

lizard skins.......gee that must add like 2 pounds

 

[patineto]

quick question... what was the point of putting a guard on the top tube of the giant?

Actually Nothing.... like I state on the first posting....

I just got carried away since i was having so much fun and still have about two feet left of my favorite tyre with out a place to put it...

actually i used to rest my butt on the toptube of my bikes on really long cross country rides, but one thing is for sure the Giant Dh is no cross country bike at all,,, well unless you are actually jumping from one Country to another one...

 

[scabrider]

pretty cool...

 

[patineto]

lizard skins.......gee that must add like 2 pounds

Actually the complete WSC tyre on the Giant including the whole casing and bead was about 420grams after being cut i don't think more than 300grams,, give or take a few grams for the black cord, i don't think the whole set of guides is more than a pound...
actually that black monster is about 46 pound, so one or two more does not really make much diference..

but as i mension before,, it did collect mud like crazy, so it can get much heavier than 2 pound, but then again almost any frame collect mud...

on the other hand the carbon guards on the Nicolai are about 25grams each, for the amount of frame protection they provide are far better than the neoprene lizard skin, that is so prone to carry water when gets wet...

I think will be better if you try to see the positive, as oppose to criticize from the side lines, maybe show us your "home work" so we can see there you are coming from...

 

[RTM]

The zip tied tube or lizard skin is all I've ever needed. They're plain and common, but they work. But I'm all for customizing bikes and making them unique. If you enjoy it, have at it.