F3 Drink Holder - Take a Look

LifeLongRider · Jun 29, 2019

Needed a drink bottle holder for my F3 but didn't want a handlebar mount, been there-done that. Looked at the Lamonster unit, impressive but expensive - kudos to Lamont however. Having a mechanical engineering background it was no problem designing my own. Some of you may be interested. It works very well, will support a lot of weight, is out of sight and doesn't interfere with anything. Been using it for at least a month now, it's great.

The frame tube on my bike measures 2" so I purchased a pair of aluminum 2" Tube Pull Bar Mounting Bracket Clamps off Ebay - cost $13.75. Also purchased a piece of aluminum flat stock (off Ebay), .25" thick x 2.5" x 4.0", cost about $6.50. Went to Home Depot for the two socket head 1/4"x20 bolts. Ditched the arm of each clamp, not needed. Shaped the aluminum flat stock in an oblong diamond pattern and bolted to clamps. Aluminum flat stock was then tapped with 1/4" x 20 threads to bolt on the actual bottle holder. Total cost around twenty-five bucks. Works great and looks good. I'm 6'2" with a 34" inseam, floor boards on u-fit position 4 and no interference with my leg what-so-ever. Just thought I'd share this with other F3 owners.

Entropy · Jun 29, 2019

LifeLongRider said:
Needed a drink bottle holder for my F3 but didn't want a handlebar mount, been there-done that. Looked at the Lamonster unit, impressive but expensive - kudos to Lamont however. Having a mechanical engineering background it was no problem designing my own. Some of you may be interested. It works very well, will support a lot of weight, is out of sight and doesn't interfere with anything. Been using it for at least a month now, it's great.

The frame tube on my bike measures 2" so I purchased a pair of aluminum 2" Tube Pull Bar Mounting Bracket Clamps off Ebay - cost $13.75. Also purchased a piece of aluminum flat stock (off Ebay), .25" thick x 2.5" x 4.0", cost about $6.50. Went to Home Depot for the two socket head 1/4"x20 bolts. Ditched the arm of each clamp, not needed. Shaped the aluminum flat stock in an oblong diamond pattern and bolted to clamps. Aluminum flat stock was then tapped with 1/4" x 20 threads to bolt on the actual bottle holder. Total cost around twenty-five bucks. Works great and looks good. I'm 6'2" with a 34" inseam, floor boards on u-fit position 4 and no interference with my leg what-so-ever. Just thought I'd share this with other F3 owners.

Howdy;

Thankee - nicely done! :thumbup:

Cheers
E

cptjam · Jun 29, 2019

Looks great!

Phatjac · Jun 29, 2019

I did something similar but more of a lazy man's way. I used a "Flexible PVC Coupling Fittings" (www.lowes.com/pd/Fernco-2-in-x-2-28-in-dia-Flexible-PVC-Coupling-Fittings, I think) I split the rubber sleeve using a square and razor knife cutting off any overlap when put around the frame. Then I bored a small hole, centered in the metal band, to place a flat head screw (#8, I think) trimmed to length with the head on the inside of the band and a lock nut inside a bottle holder (had one laying around and the nut fit in a hole), tightening the screw enough to sink the head so that when installed the head is between the metal band and the rubber sleeve, screw stays away from the frame. The rubber sleeve hold very tight when the clamps are tightened but be sure to drill the hole so you can reach the clamps with a nut driver from bottom/back side or at least somewhere...don't ask me how I know...ugh tough to drill...I was gonna remove to paint and trim excess off the clamps but just to lazy to take it off...hey it works for me!!