Bicycle Map Holder 2.0
Each of the brevets (as is the norm) I did this year were entirely self-supported, meaning that being good at following a route sheet (instead of, say, arrows painted on the road as is typically in organized century rides) was critical. For years I was using the same handlebar-mounted map holder I made back in 2002, which worked well except for one caveat: my thighs or knees would sometimes graze against it while pedaling out of the saddle. So this year I decided to tweak the design. Call it Bicycle Map Holder 2.0.
Below are photos detailing the creation process. They are pretty self-explanatory. Basically what I did was move the cyclometer rearward by mounting it on the stem with double-sided tape and clear packaging tape, and zip-tying the map holder in front of it to the handlebars and stem.
For those of you looking to make a bigger one, I made a large map holder via the same process for the 2008 Tour Divide that fit Adventure Cycling maps well.
![Map Holder 1.0: my first design (circa 2002) was good except that my knees would occasionally graze it when pedaling out of the saddle.](https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/m/mapholder0511.jpg)
![For the raw material, I picked up this plastic report binder from a local dollar store.](https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/m/mapholder0511-1.jpg)
![Cutting down the binder to a more appropriate size (5 inches X 4 inches). Two pieces of plastic are then joined together by clear tape to create a "pocket."](https://felixwong.com/gallery/images/m/mapholder0511-2.jpg)
![Preliminary fitting, with pen marks indicating where holes for zip ties should be drilled through the bottom piece of plastic.](https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/m/mapholder0511-3.jpg)
![The map holder with zip ties installed after drilling. The zip ties were then secured around the handlebars and stem.](https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/m/mapholder0511-4.jpg)
![Side view of the map holder installed on the Super bike.](https://felixwong.com/gallery/thumbs/m/mapholder0511-5.jpg)