Project MB-1 - DiNotte 300R Tail Light Mount

Frame is still with my  painter, it had to be back to the frame builder for a minor fix up. Having a perfectionist painter is a good match for a perfectionist bicyclist. Since I cannot assemble the bike, yet, I can work on some of the smaller design details with what I do have.

In my desire to have less wires and such, I have upgraded my tail light from my original DiNotte 120R (AA batteries) to the 300R, built-in lithium model. It is both quite a bit larger and quite a bit brighter.

I spent today fabricating a mounting bracket to securely attach the light to the seat rails. This keeps the seat post lines clean and puts the light just a little bit higher for visibility purposes. I love the fact it can be charged via a standard USB cable.



I started with a trip to my local hardware store to get cushioned "P" clamps, some fasteners and some aluminum flat bar stock. Then, cuz it's cold in the garage, I take the seat off and do some design work. The clamps? Pretty straightforward. Now how to bend the bar stock to go from the seat angle to a near vertical?

To get the primary bend angle, I used a cardboard template, attaching it to the back of the light. Holding it up I made the first bend near the light, which sets the base angle. As I played with the second bend, I noticed it would be easier to bend a curve rather than another sharp angle. The advantage would be the ability to fine tune which is harder once I do put a sharp bend in.

As you can see,  it came out pretty well, okay, at least that is my story.

Here the light is attached to the bracket. Fairly simple, clean, secure. Not a bad DIY, heh? At least the tail light is ready to go for Project MB-1.