Wednesday, March 21, 2018

better rubber band

My Garmin Touring GPS mount is held on by what look like beefy rubber bands, as is the Cateye Rapid X tail light I got to replace the benighted Knog. I got to thinking about those bands: what if they let go? The Cateye is particularly worrisome (Hrmph. You can tell the stuff I worry about!) because it has to be removed each time the light is charged (which is every ride, for me).

Regular office rubber bands aren't strong enough. The replacements are available, and not TOO expensive (for the Cateye; more expensive - as might be expected - for Garmin products; and then you'd have to pay they shipping as well, or have the local bike shop get 'em). But they're just rubber bands. I doubt they're made special for bike products; the market is too small, and it would be more sensible to re-purpose a standard product. So what are they?

I turns out they're O-rings, used in all manner of applications; the ones Garmin uses are made of  a material with the euphonious and appetizing moniker Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer, more popularly referred to by the common graffiti-tag, EPDM. They're usually sold to manufacturers in minimum orders of a gajillion, but it turns out that if you know the size, and have a little patience, you can find 'em in small quantities.

There's still a minimum order and shipping, though. Probably better to support the local bike shop. But I tend to use products long after manufacturers have discontinued them, so I like to know what my options are.

I'm probably just out of my mind. Do you think?

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