pavedwave longboarding

Odiwan · Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 6:23 pm Post subject: Helmet with lights

I was reading about Jo's Dorney Lake ride and realised that I am overdue for posting my helmet mod. What I did, initially, is get a bike light that came with an elastic strap to go either round your forehead or helmet. I ditched the elastic as it was uncomfortable on my head under the helmet, and kept slipping off when over the helmet. I asked the guy at the bike shop how to fix the problem and he suggested cable ties (my fave miracle cure for so many problems), to replace the elastic.

I live in a town that has periodic rainy periods (for a long time I think that Mullumbimby had the highest number of rainy days per year in Australia.. something about being situated in a volcanic caldera of mountains, that catch the rain), so potholes spring up overnight, and there can be all manner of sticks and stones to break my bones... so lights at night are essential.

As the only cable ties I had were quite small, I threaded one through the other to get the length, and 2 sets of these side by side to get the width (something that probably could be acheived with 1 bigger cable tie). Once they were in place I slid the "lumpy" end of the tie just inside the helmet vent hole. Anyway, the bike lights (front and back) slip on easliy enough, though I use a butter knife (screwdriver would work as well) to get the ties over the "teeth" at the bottom of the clip of my rear light. My front light isn't as firm a clip so I threaded a bit of the excess cable tie, as a loop, through the clip to create a positive lock which works very well.

The result is that the lights don't come off without a bit of effort and as the cable ties are pulled firm I cant feel them at all on the inside of my helmet.
So here are some pics to get a better idea.

Click to see full size image