Last weekend Roman, Will, and I were in Philly for the Philly Bike Expo. While we were there we had dinner with Pamela Murray, Leah Petersen, and a few others. After dinner we chatted and blocked the sidewalk when Pam shared this cool lil tip.
Pam is a bicycle rider and advocate from Charlotte and she uses her bike as much as possible and lugs around things that most people would consider impossible to carry by bike. She was tired of her voile straps falling to the floor after removing whatever she was carrying ) so she cut up a discarded tube to use as a DIY strap keeper. Voile sells plastic pieces that do the same job but they're simple enough to make and it reuses something that would otherwise be trash. You can probably make as many as you'll need for the rest of your life with just one tube.
A skinny roadie tube works best (I used a 20-25mm) but I think any tube meant for a tire narrower than 42mm would do the trick.
With the keeper close to the buckle, the strap will stay on the rack after you've removed your stuff -- saving you from losing the strap or dropping it on the floor.
With the keeper here, you can easily tuck the tail to prevent it from coming loose or flapping around in the wind.
It even works on the ye ole irish strap. A knot in the strap will do the same thing but this allows the strap to slide through.
Pam is a great person and an excellent advocate for making the bike as useful as possible and riding your bike for errands most people do by car. Check out this short PBS profile on her to hear about her story in her own words.
Thanks for the tip Pam!
James