How to mount full-size flag pole to standard 26" bike?

N

nukezero

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560
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Hello

I need help on how to fabricate or buy components off the shelf at local hardware store to mount a full size 6 foot 1" diameter flag pole on my standard 26" Townie bicycle. I want to ride around with old glory flying.

All the flag mount poles brackets are meant for mounting on a flag wall. But I need something that I can secure to my rear drop out or rear rack. I talked to a local bike shop and they said they won't help me fabricate it due to liability of the flag falling off.

Thanks

I have found something that may work. It's a dual clamp and can pivot so I can rotate the base to allow the flag to sit upright, but the problem is I don't think this pivot clamp is strong enough to handle the fierce horizontal loads for my ebike.

415pMLfwMwL.jpg
 
Ask your local hardware store about U bolts or circular clamps. You may find what you need there.
There are also flag holders for motorcycles out there that you might be able to modify with a drill and/or angle grinder
 
nukezero said:
I need help on how to fabricate or buy components off the shelf at local hardware store to mount a full size 6 foot 1" diameter flag pole on my standard 26" Townie bicycle. I want to ride around with old glory flying.
Click to expand...
Just to be sure you understand the safety hazard with this:

Do you know how large a full size flag is?
How heavy it is?
How much wind resistance that's going to apply to your ride?
What that's going to do in a wind that's not just a straight headwind?

A good gust of wind is going to take the flag and push it, and you, over. If you're on the road in traffic, or on the sidewalk next to road traffic, and go over into traffic, I hope you have good life insurance for whoever is left behind. ;)

If it pushes you over into other riders or pedestrians on a path or sidewalk, then I hope you have good insurance for whoever gets hurt.

I put a small sun-canopy over CrazyBike2, and because it is low to the ground and heavy, and long, it was still handleable in some gusty winds, but it was not easy to ride in those conditions, and would have posed a traffic hazard at best, under anything worse. Even just buses and big trucks going past would tend to cause problems.


But I need something that I can secure to my rear drop out or rear rack. I talked to a local bike shop and they said they won't help me fabricate it due to liability of the flag falling off.
Click to expand...
I can understand their reluctance.

It's going to have to secure to more than just one point. It will have to connect to the bottom of the frame, and the highest point of the frame, or there will be so much leverage against the mounting point(s) that it may just break the mounting. If the mounting is stronger than the frame it might break that instead.

I would recommend a mount that connects from the top of the seattube to the chainstay or bottom of seattube, but this will get in the way of the pedals, unless you make the mount sit rearward enough to keep out of the way.

You could make a mount that at the bottom is just forward of teh dropout area and at the top is at the side rear of the rack. At least two points would be required, and more points could make it safer in case one point breaks, so it doesn't flop over and hit someone else on the road or sidewalk, etc.



I have found something that may work. It's a dual clamp and can pivot so I can rotate the base to allow the flag to sit upright, but the problem is I don't think this pivot clamp is strong enough to handle the fierce horizontal loads for my ebike.
Click to expand...
Looks like plastic, Would probably just break, probably before you even ride it.


You could use two good strong stainless steel hose clamps, one passed thru the other. One clamp goes on the frame, one goes around the pole. Thats' for each of the minimum of two mounting points along the pole.

Same way you can clamp flashlights to your handlebars. Like this:
https://www.bikehacks.com/bikehacks/2010/04/plumbing-clamp-bike-light-hacks.html

 
nukezero said:
Hello

I need help on how to fabricate or buy components off the shelf at local hardware store to mount a full size 6 foot 1" diameter flag pole on my standard 26" Townie bicycle. I want to ride around with old glory flying.
Click to expand...

If you can't contrive this nonsense without outside help, you should do what the other flag-hugging Americans do: Wait for an enterprising Chinese business to offer it to you for a cheap price.
 
I00008Jy19v8hk0M.jpg
 
amberwolf said:
nukezero said:
I need help on how to fabricate or buy components off the shelf at local hardware store to mount a full size 6 foot 1" diameter flag pole on my standard 26" Townie bicycle. I want to ride around with old glory flying.
Click to expand...
Just to be sure you understand the safety hazard with this:

Do you know how large a full size flag is?
How heavy it is?
How much wind resistance that's going to apply to your ride?
What that's going to do in a wind that's not just a straight headwind?

A good gust of wind is going to take the flag and push it, and you, over. If you're on the road in traffic, or on the sidewalk next to road traffic, and go over into traffic, I hope you have good life insurance for whoever is left behind. ;)

If it pushes you over into other riders or pedestrians on a path or sidewalk, then I hope you have good insurance for whoever gets hurt.

I put a small sun-canopy over CrazyBike2, and because it is low to the ground and heavy, and long, it was still handleable in some gusty winds, but it was not easy to ride in those conditions, and would have posed a traffic hazard at best, under anything worse. Even just buses and big trucks going past would tend to cause problems.


But I need something that I can secure to my rear drop out or rear rack. I talked to a local bike shop and they said they won't help me fabricate it due to liability of the flag falling off.
Click to expand...
I can understand their reluctance.

It's going to have to secure to more than just one point. It will have to connect to the bottom of the frame, and the highest point of the frame, or there will be so much leverage against the mounting point(s) that it may just break the mounting. If the mounting is stronger than the frame it might break that instead.

I would recommend a mount that connects from the top of the seattube to the chainstay or bottom of seattube, but this will get in the way of the pedals, unless you make the mount sit rearward enough to keep out of the way.

You could make a mount that at the bottom is just forward of teh dropout area and at the top is at the side rear of the rack. At least two points would be required, and more points could make it safer in case one point breaks, so it doesn't flop over and hit someone else on the road or sidewalk, etc.



I have found something that may work. It's a dual clamp and can pivot so I can rotate the base to allow the flag to sit upright, but the problem is I don't think this pivot clamp is strong enough to handle the fierce horizontal loads for my ebike.
Looks like plastic, Would probably just break, probably before you even ride it.


You could use two good strong stainless steel hose clamps, one passed thru the other. One clamp goes on the frame, one goes around the pole. Thats' for each of the minimum of two mounting points along the pole.

Same way you can clamp flashlights to your handlebars. Like this:
https://www.bikehacks.com/bikehacks/2010/04/plumbing-clamp-bike-light-hacks.html

6a0120a7ed5f9d970b0133ec829ba1970b.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. The flag is 3x5 printed polyester. It is the cheap Chinese one, lightweight and see-thru almost. Not the thick ones at funeral services. The pole is a 6-ft 1-inch diameter aluminum self-rotating pole.

Yes, I actually just started to use two 1.25" hose clamps and oriented it to mount on the frame and the pole. It actually works. A single clamp holds onto the pole well. But I need a second point up top just like you mentioned. I will be mounting it behind my seatpost, so I need to invest in possibly a rear rack.

I will also lower the pole down so that it is as close to the ground as possible, protruding beyond the hose clamp by another 4-5 inches. This will lower the CG and also reduce the torque force.
 
This project was abandoned.

I got the pole mounted at three places. 1 with the hose clamp at the lowest portion. One in the middle of the dropout frame. One at the very top of the rear rack (hose clamped) plus 5 zip ties). I violently shook the 6-foot pole and it held pretty well. The problem is, I certainly did not realize how massive a 3x5 foot flag would look on a bicycle. It looked utterly silly. LOL. This was a case of serious my bad.

My wife came out to the garage and said "you're becoming that crazy person".

Any ways, I will instead look for those flexible fiberglass rod based poles with a miniature flag.
 
tenor.gif
 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Box-of-Bicycle-Mounted-Handle-Bar-National-Flags-U-S-Japan-UK-Canada-Taiwan-NOS/311991166994?hash=item48a41f6812:g:eek:awAAOSwCMFZ9gKk


flag bike.jpg
 
Schwinn I think it was, made an all steel seatpost clamp rear rack. Or any all steel rear rack for that matter. You can then weld to that.

But the easiest thing would definitely be hose clamps, and then some one inch pvc pipe. Clamp that to the frame somehow, or the rack, or both. Then the flag pole itself is just broomstick, or pvc pipe that slips into the pipe clamped to the bike. A screw on the pole, or just an end cap on the bottom of the larger pipe stops the flag pole from going though to the ground. Now you have about 2' of pipe to support the flagpole. Will also work with scavenged aluminum tube, just any kind of lighter than iron pipe type tubing your flagpole fits loosely into will make a good flag pole holder for moving vehicle.


I used this method to secure flags to pickup trucks, used to identify the truck as a balloon chase vehicle. Never a problem with the flag leaving the holder, even at freeway speed.
 
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