I got a new bike. 🙂 It’s electric! It’s a Specialized power-assist expensive magical device that turns its riders into Superman on the hills. I adore it.
But, now I have something I’ve never had before: and OLD bike. Before, I’ve always hung onto bikes until they got stolen or wrecked or simply fell apart. My 20 year old Trek mountain bike is still in decent shape, so instead of just throwing it out or selling it for cheap, I decided to trick it out and turn it into a fancy, pretty LED festival bike.
I added a fiber optic tail that’s about 6 feet tall, so it’ll be really easy to spot from a distance. I also added about 100 addressable lights to the frame, painted the whole thing so it’s GORGEOUS and added some fun fur to the seat. (I think that fun fur is compulsory for Burning Man bikes, don’t you?)
The fiber optic tail is removable for transport and really shines brightly with a 3W LED powering it. And the lights on the frame match the paint colors beautifully — I painted it an anodized miasma of green, blue, and purple. It’s beautiful during the daytime and at night!
I spent a LOT of time and energy making sure this bike is 100% playa-proof. I even threw the electronic components into the pool to test their resilience, and they came out just fine. 🙂
Full tutorial link:Â https://learn.adafruit.com/playa-festival-bike
Make one and send me pics from your festival adventures!
