Tag: bikes

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Bike Light – Downtube – White LED Strip

I’ve previously posted about a bike light I made and while I am working on a more complex, programmable, and controllable set of lights, I needed something quick because it got pretty dark last week. I found this LED strip in the shop, which I think I got from the junk-pile at work. It may have been an under cabinet style light… I don’t know or remember, but I do know it has a Micro USB port and runs just fine from a USB power bank.

You can see the bare LED strip in the photo above… that’s how I found it. I was able to 3D print a sleeve for it to slide into. The Micro USB port is just at the end, and it’s not exactly waterproof, but I could just hot glue the heck out of everything if needed.

Besides the strip and 3D printed parts, there’s a 3 foot long Micro USB cable and some hook & loop straps. (I got a roll of 1/2in x 100ft Hook and Loop which someone said might be a lifetime supply.) There are also a few O-rings holding things together and they sort of work to help hold the strip in place on the bike. (I got a cheap O-ring set years ago.)

The 3D printed parts are taped together with clear tape, but Silicone Rubber Bands could also work.

I designed the sleeve / sheath thing in 5 parts. Two “outside” pieces and three “inside” pieces. I figured two and three would be good so the seams between the inside and outside parts didn’t all line up.

And here is what the pieces look like laid out so they are the length of the LED strip. I printed these with transparent PLA, which isn’t exactly clear, but it’s a thin print and the light shines through just fine.

If I were to make another one of these I’d probably use some COB LEDs. I’ve used these White 6000K LEDs bu you can also find cheaper COB LEDs. COBs are pretty bright, and some of them are also (mostly) waterproof.

To power the LEDs I have a USB power bank in my handlebar bag which I already use to charge my phone, so I just plug it into there.

Here’s how I attach it to the downtube of the bike, which is where the battery is. The one little thing is that the strip could be about 3cm shorter and then I wouldn’t have to slide the whole strip up a bit to get to the charge port. (Maybe that’s a reason to make a new COB version?)

But hey, I think it works well! The above photo was taken on the Oak Leaf Trail, where there are no lights around, so it’s pretty much pitch dark there. The light definitely lights up the ground below and in front of the bike!

I commute home at 5pm and this time of year it is… dark. So anything I can do to light up me, the bike, the road, etc. and hope that drivers can see me is a good thing.

Many of the COB LED strips are just plain white (especially the cheap ones) but taking a note from Ryan it would be easy to 3D print a sleeve with colored filament to make lights a specific color. (And yes, I have one of Ryan’s lights! I just need to find the time to install it.)

Note: Well, I managed to find my extra strip of COB LEDs and it’s actually got an 18″ long USB cable built into it. So making another one of these lights would be pretty darn simple… I might just do that since it would fix the 3cm issue I mentioned above.

Hey! It also looks like you can cut COB strips! So by cutting a COB strip I could make a shorter strip, a wider strip, etc. so yeah… I’ve got a few ideas now!

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My (First) NeoPixel Bike Light

You may have seen a sneak peek at this project in the post Aventon Level 3 MIK Adapter Plate, because I used the plate to attach this Sheffield Ammo Storage Box to the rack on my bike.

But I didn’t talk about the box or the light, so I’ll do that now.

I’ve got a bike bag on the back of my Trek, and while I can easily move it to the Level 3, I find it a bit wide and it gets in the way of the panniers, so I was looking for a less-wide thing, and this box looked right. I wanted to keep a few things in the box instead of putting them in the panniers for easier/quicker access while riding… and I figured since it was on the back of the bike, why not add a light?

Years ago I got these WS2812 RGB LEDs and they actually came as one unit, where you break off each PCB from the rest. I left them together and soldered all the connections in place… instant NeoPixel Matrix! I played around with programming it a bunch to do lighting effects, but never really used it in a project. Since it would fit perfectly on the back of the box, I designed and printed a few parts to make that possible.

The clear plastic sheet is 0.04″ thick PET. I didn’t even bother to fire up the laser cutter, I just used an X-ACTO knife to cut it. Sometimes being lazy works! And there’s a $4 Raspberry Pi Pico in there as well, which I’ll just power via a USB power bank. (I have at least a dozen power banks around the house. Most are a decade old, but still work well enough.)

I drilled a few holes in the box to feed wires through (just three wires, for VCC, GND, and Signal) and four more holes to bolt the outside plate into place. I later taped the Pico to the side of the box. there’s some foam padding in the bottom to cover the bolts and I keep a few other things (hat and gaiter) in the box as well.

The maiden voyage did not go well… See, I made mistakes when I printed the MIK Adapter Plate, and the whole thing flew off the rack less than 0.5 miles from home, busting the hinge for the lid and breaking a piece of the mount. I did manage to repair it (zip ties for a new hinge and one new 3D printed part in the correct orientation) but now I bungee the box to the rack, which isn’t great, but I’ll work on that.

As for the actual light, it’s great!. It is very bright, and right now is just red, but I can see doing some silly programming for events, and maybe working on some solid/flashing red modes as well. The USB power bank provides plenty of power for the Pico and NeoPixels.

I called this post “My (First) NeoPixel Bike Light” because I’m working on some other ones as well, so subscribe to the RSS feed!

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Aventon Level 3 MIK Adapter Plate

Remember when I got an ebike? It came with a rear rack, which is handy. I added one (along with a bag) to my old Trek, and I used it all the time. I found that commuting to work often required me to move things, and a milk crate on the back worked well, but the zip ties meant it was a pain to put on and take off, so a quick release mount is a good option.

And guess what? The Aventon Level 3 might be MIK compatible. I say “might” because it’s tricky…

I asked Aventon for specs on the rear rack that ships with the Aventon Level 3 and they could not (or would not) provide them. I ended up modeling a version of the rack so I could virtually model something for it. (Note: The model is not perfect, but worked for my needs.)

Meanwhile I found this MIK adapter plate on Printables so I thought I would give it a try. (I loaded the STL file with the rack model I created and it looked it would fit.)

Does it work? Yes, but… But it’s 3D printed. This means you can make one for a very low cost as compared to buying one. (Here’s the real thing, at $40 USD.) I used ASA filament and a roll is $30 USD so I can print about a dozen adapter plates…

The first one I printed was actually PLA to make sure things worked. I used it with the milk crate on my bike rack and it did work. I destroyed it when I grabbed the crate to move the bike. Bad idea! The ebike weight over 65 pounds. I just ripped the adapter apart.

I printed one in ASA and that one broke as well, so I modified the model to make it stronger, but that one flew off my bike when I took a fast corner. So I learned a few things. First, I am riding an ebike, often going over 17mph on rough Milwaukee streets. I can’t always avoid potholes or other street damage so I bump and bounce occasionally. On a heavy bike with a heavy rider on bad streets the 3D printed version might not hold up.

The most recent failure involved the little part that uses a spring to click into place. I realized I should have printed the part sideways instead of flat. I re-printed, and with more shells and infill and it’s held up so far, but I’ve added a bungee cord to be safe.

I may go back to printing with PLA modifying things a bit. maybe creating a better locking mechanism than a spring loaded wedge part. I really think that’s the failure point, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to figure something out. The next alternative after that is to scrap this whole idea and come up with my own mounting solution. In theory it should be quick and easy to install and remove something from the rack, but it should hold well enough to not fall off… how hard could that be!?

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GPX Files from an iPhone/Apple Watch

I use an Apple Watch along with an iPhone, and I start my “workouts” from my watch. If I am walking I just walk, but if I am biking I usually open the Fitness app on my phone (which is mounted to the handlebars) so I can see my progress.

When I do these things “routes” get created. A route is a series of points on a map that show where you have traveled. This is the thing that lets you see a map of your walk, run, ride, etc. I love seeing those maps! I like to know where I went. I get that not everyone does, but some of us nerd out on that stuff.

If you want to see all of your routes you can export (all of) your data from the Health app on the iPhone. For me it takes a while and creates a huge file. It’s getting all of my health data, not just the routes. After I did this a few times I started to assume there had to be a better way… and there is!

I found two free apps, GPX Route Exporter and GPX Export that are basic, and do what they say on the tin. The will export your routes. (Routes usually exist as GPX files hence the “GPX” in their names.)

Both apps are basic, but I think I liked GPX Export a bit more than GPX Route Exporter. Once nice feature is that it names the route with “Walking” or “Cycling” which is super-handy, because with the export from Apple Health you have to figure that out on your own. (I ended up writing some Python code that looked at the speed in the GPX file and then marked them as “walking” or “cycling” but it wasn’t perfect.)

I was really hoping for something a bit more… then I found Health Export CSV (also at healthexport.app) which does allow you to export a CSV file with all sorts of data, though I don’t use that feature… I just want my routes!

And the routes I shall have! It has many options and will separate activities so cycling routes are named as such, etc. Things look good! (The naming convention is like so: 2025-10-11 09-44-40 Cycling.gpx and 2025-10-11 11-43-30 Walking.gpx, which I like.) So here’s how I do it.

Launch the app and choose the Export workout routes button…

You can choose date presets or…

You can choose specific dates…

Once you make a date selection you press Share CSV which seems poorly labeled, but it is what it is…

It will run for a bit, depending on how much data there is…

And then you get the share dialog. If you exported more than one file you get a ZIP file containing them all. (The file dates of the GPX files are not the same as the date in the file name or of data in the file, but I have a Python script to fix that issue.)

Oh yeah, there’s one more thing… They have this Remote access service which you can subscribe to. The app itself was $2.99 USD but for the remote dashboard data stuff it’s (as of this post) $4.99 USD per month or $29.99 USD per year.

The dashboard thing looks nice, but I don’t need it as I am doing my own data processing… I just want the GPX files. The remote system uses that whole “secure Apple platform for web” thing, which is nice, if you’ve not seen it.

So Health Export CSV is working well for me. The only improvement I can imagine is if it could automatically export GPX files after a route is created. It could dump them into an iCloud folder or something. That would be a dream, as I could just automate the whole process and not have to manually do an export all the time. Oh well, pobody’s nerfect!

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Aventon Level 3 Handlebar Upgrade

I recently upgraded the handlebars on my Aventon Level 3 to a set that was a little more swept back. Not exactly cruiser bars, mind you, but not as flat as the stock Level 3 bars.

I got these SENQI City Bike Handlebars (31.8mm) and they’re a great fit. When I rode Matt’s bike back in August I liked the handlebars on it, and I figured I would replace the stock Level 3 bars at some point.

The stock bars are little too aggressive. In fact, I find the bars on my Trek 7200 a bit too aggressive but they have the shifting integrated into the bars so they’re not easy to swap. Basically I wanted a little more upright position for riding, since I am mostly commuting to work, not out to win any races.

As for the swap, it probably took me about an hour. I didn’t rush, and I probably spent another 10 minutes after just making adjustments and riding in the alley to see how it felt.

The swap involved removing all of the stuff… grips, brakes, throttle, control pad, display… and my bell and phone holder. The pages on doing the Level 3 Handlebar Install and Handlebar Upgrades helped, but it’s not too complicated if you go slow, make notes, snap a few photos, and keep track of all the bolts.

Using a bike hex tool set wasn’t great so I’d recommend a screwdriver handle with a set of bits or separate hex keys. The fold-up sets are great for travel adjustments but not for this specific task.

(Above is a photo with the old handlebars right before I did the swap. I had tried to go for a ride but got rained out… good time to work in the garage on bike stuff!)

The cables for everything on the bars didn’t quite reach long enough for me to swap the throttle and control pad, so I gave up on that idea. (The idea was to move the throttle over since I don’t really use it. I wish disconnecting it altogether was easier.)

I do need to say that while I like the Aventon bike I am disappointed in the lack of specs on their components. I mean, this handlebar page doesn’t even have half of the information I’d like it to have. I would have perhaps ordered the bars from Aventon but experience tells me they don’t have specs on some things (or are not willing to share) and I may have another post about that soon.

Anyway… new handlebars, done… and I like them!

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