Bicycle Executive #1: Hey I was thinking that our handlebar grips
should turn to annoying black dust as they age, what do you think?
Bicycle Executive #2: That's a great idea! But why don't we also have them exude a sticky glue that is almost impossible to get off the hands?
Bicycle Executive #1: Hahaha, brilliant! Oh Bicycle Executive #2, your sadistic hatred for our customers reminds my why I married you all those years ago...
Bicycle Executive #2: You know what, why don't we take a vacation on our yacht, the SS Crappy Designs, to celebrate?
... Or that is how I imagine the conversation went. The
MoPID idea for today is a trick that is surely already used in bike shops around the world, so I had to stretch the post a little with some nonsense. In fact, don't get bike shop people started on all the off-label uses for bike inner tubes, you'll be there all day.
So, a lot of commercial handlebar grips and grip tapes break down in the sun. So do the cheap plastisol handles on a lot of tools. Rubber inner tube lasts much longer and is very grippy. I found a popped
tractor tire inner tube in the scrapyard here that looked like it has been sitting in the sun for a long time. It still feels like new and isn't shedding black glue-like material at all. It is thicker than bike inner tube but functionally about the same. Don't use a fresh, brand new tube, find one that is popped
enough to not be worth using in a tire anymore.
The steps (pictures at the end should help):
- Using scissors, cut the inner tube circumferentially to get some long strips about an inch wide (I'm going to call it 'rubber tape' from here on out). Usually there are mold-lines you can follow in this direction to keep a straight line.
- If you think you'll have another use for the Schrader valve on the tube, cut a nice circle around it so you can glue it to something later.
- Cut off the old grip on your handlebar or tool. You could also leave the grip on and wrap this rubber tape over it if you want a thicker handle.
- Start at one edge and do a complete wrap, as tight as you can manage, to bury the first end of the tape.
- Continue a spiral wrap to the other end of the handle, overlapping half the width of the tape every turn.
- When you get to the end, do a complete wrap, then another one trapping your finger under the tape.
- Wrap around the loose end until you get back to your finger, then push the end through alongside your finger and cinch up the end as tight as possible. This may take a little practice, and you may need to cut the end of the tape at a very sharp angle to make it easier to thread through.
- Once the end is tight, cut off the trailing end. The friction of the stretched rubber does a good job of holding everything together.
And a few notes:
- This works great for putting grip on tools but it also can be used to thicken up a handle for big-handed people.
- Make sure the tube is relatively clean before you start the process, oil or grease will keep the rubber from friction locking to itself.
- If you have an axe, maul, or sledge that, for whatever strange reason, has some dings in the handle just below the head, this is a great way to protect that handle as well (see the hatchet picture below).
Like most of these projects, this is pretty customizable. You can cut very thick or very thin tape from these tubes to use for all sorts of stuff like little springs, slingshots, tourniquets, and other things that either cause or treat injuries. I think toxicity through skin contact for black rubber is very low, but maybe it is full of phthalates or some other terribleness, perhaps someone has info on this?
This is part of the MoPID series of permaculture innovations that I am working on during my time at
Wheaton Labs. Check out the
thread if you'd like to follow along.
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