My, what a lovely bike tire you're wearing.
May 25, 2012 1:46 PM Subscribe
Ways to repurpose bike parts?
I volunteer at my local bike collective and we often end up with more stuff than we need. We use some of it, but I'd love to use way more. What else can I make with bike parts?
Examples
- belt from old tire + snaps
- planters from stacked tires (darn a wheel with tubes and use as the bottom of the planter)
- expired tubes as bungee cords
- wheel trellises
- Necklaces and bracelets out of spoke nipples, earrings out of chain links or parts of disassembled chain links or wheel axle springs, hoop earrings from ball bearing holders.
- Fold metal dork disks into business card holders.
- Put a clock mechanism and some arms into a sprocket and hang it on the wall by a chain.
- Cut the rear triangle off a steel frame. Spread bottom apart so it sits flat on the ground. Voila! Bike stool.
- Blow through city-style handlebars to get a trumpet.
I volunteer at my local bike collective and we often end up with more stuff than we need. We use some of it, but I'd love to use way more. What else can I make with bike parts?
Examples
- belt from old tire + snaps
- planters from stacked tires (darn a wheel with tubes and use as the bottom of the planter)
- expired tubes as bungee cords
- wheel trellises
- Necklaces and bracelets out of spoke nipples, earrings out of chain links or parts of disassembled chain links or wheel axle springs, hoop earrings from ball bearing holders.
- Fold metal dork disks into business card holders.
- Put a clock mechanism and some arms into a sprocket and hang it on the wall by a chain.
- Cut the rear triangle off a steel frame. Spread bottom apart so it sits flat on the ground. Voila! Bike stool.
- Blow through city-style handlebars to get a trumpet.
Those need some serious skills:
Tables, stools, chairs 1, 2,
clothes hangers
lamp
posted by travelwithcats at 2:24 PM on May 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
Tables, stools, chairs 1, 2,
clothes hangers
lamp
posted by travelwithcats at 2:24 PM on May 25, 2012 [2 favorites]
A friend of my brother works at a bicycle repair shop in Portland; she made him this cool little porch mobile out of spare parts a few years back.
posted by oceanjesse at 2:52 PM on May 25, 2012
posted by oceanjesse at 2:52 PM on May 25, 2012
weld and make sculptures
image search "bicycle part sculpture"
also
"old bicycle parts" for tons of other stuff (clocks, belts, coat hangers, chairs, couches, tables, toilet paper holders, ETC)
posted by couchdive at 3:17 PM on May 25, 2012
image search "bicycle part sculpture"
also
"old bicycle parts" for tons of other stuff (clocks, belts, coat hangers, chairs, couches, tables, toilet paper holders, ETC)
posted by couchdive at 3:17 PM on May 25, 2012
I made an old disk brake rotor into a trivet.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 3:34 PM on May 25, 2012
posted by Confess, Fletch at 3:34 PM on May 25, 2012
I have (didn't make; bought it at 10,000 Villages) a bike chain bottle opener. Works pretty well and it's very fun.
posted by Lemurrhea at 5:22 PM on May 25, 2012
posted by Lemurrhea at 5:22 PM on May 25, 2012
Clocks using bike sprockets as the backplate. You can also use spokes as the hands of the clock.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 5:33 PM on May 25, 2012
posted by Salvor Hardin at 5:33 PM on May 25, 2012
Missing Link, a bicycle store/collective in Berkeley CA, has a poured concrete doorstep with various gears and chains pressed into the surface of the concrete. I imagine that bicycle-chain reinforced concrete would be very strong indeed.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:38 PM on May 25, 2012
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:38 PM on May 25, 2012
a friend made Xmas ornaments out of individual sprockets from old cassettes...
posted by TDIpod at 10:14 PM on May 25, 2012
posted by TDIpod at 10:14 PM on May 25, 2012
I've seen a bike wheel suspended from the ceiling in a kitchen as a pot hanger. Kind of like this.
posted by lollusc at 1:33 AM on May 26, 2012
posted by lollusc at 1:33 AM on May 26, 2012
Pokey Spokes can be useful. We first pressed an old spoke into service (without even sharpening the end) for cleaning the bowl of a bong but since then I've found all sorts of uses for the pointy kind -- I keep one handy, in the kitchen.
posted by Rash at 8:48 AM on May 26, 2012
posted by Rash at 8:48 AM on May 26, 2012
Response by poster: Lots of great ideas. Thanks!
What about brakes and derailleurs? Kickstands? Chains? Cottered cranks?
posted by aniola at 2:46 PM on May 26, 2012
What about brakes and derailleurs? Kickstands? Chains? Cottered cranks?
posted by aniola at 2:46 PM on May 26, 2012
I've brazed some old hubs and headset cups into tea-light candle holders... they sold well at a craft sale but have been sitting around our shop for a while. Cottered cranks can be made into candle holders too, just lay the arms on top of each other and braze/weld them together. Put a headset cup at the ends where the pedals thread in, and one in the centre. We also wrapped a short length of chain around the outside of the headset cups too... I don't have any pictures or I'd share.
A lot of bike parts are made out of aluminum... rims are mostly aluminum these days, extrusions to boot, so they are worth some decent money as scrap. I started doing this a few years ago at the community bike shop I volunteer at and we've netted a couple hundred bucks just from cutting up all the bent aluminum rims we get. Most rims are held together by steel pins so I take those out to get the most money for my scrap. I also hoard all the broken crank arms too, though cast aluminum isn't worth as much.
Spokes are sometimes stainless and that's worth money if they aren't reusable. Spoke nipples are brass usually, so that's worth some money as scrap too but it would take many wheels to yield enough scrap worth taking in. Basically, anything that a magnet doesn't stick to might be worth hoarding if you have the room and inclination.
posted by glip at 8:30 AM on May 27, 2012
A lot of bike parts are made out of aluminum... rims are mostly aluminum these days, extrusions to boot, so they are worth some decent money as scrap. I started doing this a few years ago at the community bike shop I volunteer at and we've netted a couple hundred bucks just from cutting up all the bent aluminum rims we get. Most rims are held together by steel pins so I take those out to get the most money for my scrap. I also hoard all the broken crank arms too, though cast aluminum isn't worth as much.
Spokes are sometimes stainless and that's worth money if they aren't reusable. Spoke nipples are brass usually, so that's worth some money as scrap too but it would take many wheels to yield enough scrap worth taking in. Basically, anything that a magnet doesn't stick to might be worth hoarding if you have the room and inclination.
posted by glip at 8:30 AM on May 27, 2012
DIY Wall Bike Hanger made out of handlebars, stem and a few other parts.
posted by Frank Grimes at 7:27 AM on May 28, 2012
posted by Frank Grimes at 7:27 AM on May 28, 2012
Response by poster: Someone just emailed me this, which has a few more suggestions: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/8219852/list?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u251&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery27
posted by aniola at 11:00 AM on April 21, 2013
posted by aniola at 11:00 AM on April 21, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
Cut the frames into various straight sections and make wind chimes.
posted by jquinby at 1:54 PM on May 25, 2012