A couple of cycling DIY projects

DIY Thule Bike Carrier/Bike stand:

Problem: I needed a good bike stand that I could take to races, but did'nt want to buy another stand and I didn't want to have to pack yet another thing in my truck before a race.

Now that most bikes come in tube shapes that you cannot clamp in a standard Park bike stand (like the one I have at home)
Instead of buying a separate repair stand just to travel to races with that work with carbon framed bikes like this:I decided to try to make an adjustable bracket that would fit on my hitch rack.
The bracket it adjustable and is made from aluminum angle and strap, all the hardware is stainless and the nuts are stainless nylon nuts. The hinge uses a large stainless through bolt and nylon nut to adjust tension so when you lay the bracket down it stays in place.

DIY Custom Chain Keeper:

The next project I wanted to do was make a really nice chain watcher. I am from the school of thought that with properly adjusted drive train you will never need one. I've dropped my chain maybe 1 time in the last year, but the one time I did, i destroyed the SRM bottom bracket sensor that I had just bought, so I had to buy a second one for $75, ouch!

Most chain keepers on the market are plastic and ugly,

and I didn't want to mount one of those. I had seen some custom made ones on a few protour bikes and thought that I could make one similar to those pretty easy.

Here is a couple of examples from Allesandro Ballan's and Ivan Basso's bikes just before for Paris-Roubaix:Here is my version made from 1/8" solid brass rod:

Making the keeper was pretty easy. I just bent the rod into the shape I wanted with a hammer and a vise/anvil. Then i progressively flattened the top 1/3 so that it could easily be bolted onto the front of the braze-on hanger. I replaced the stock derailleur bolt with a longer stainless one, added a stainless washer also. Its a little more tricky to set up the front shifting now as you have to set the position of the derailleur and the keeper at the same time. You can add some tension to the bolt and move the keeper, then cinch everything down.

I need to test it to see of the brass is strong enough to handle a dropped chain, if not i'll make another out of 1/8" stainless rod.