Posts Tagged ‘Planet Bike’

Okay, so as I state in my Product Review Rating System, it’s hard to receive better than a 3 Broken-Down Car rating if I have to modify anything to make the product work properly. This is the case with the Planet Bike Flipper. I mounted the Flipper on my commuter mountain bike to eliminate the disgusting brown streak you get on your butt and back without a fender. I quickly realized two modifications needed to be made. First, the Flipper has only one point of contact — the seatpost. To maintain its position over the wheel it must have good rotational stability. This is not the case with the Flipper. I had to add a piece of rubber under the front of the fabric strap so that the securing mechanism had better purchase on the seatpost. I was still getting the dreaded brown streak even with the Flipper so I had to drill holes in the back and add an extension (made from a plastic orange juice carton). This worked well and now the Flipper meets my needs.

The Flipper gets a 3 Broken-down Car rating.

My Modified Flipper:

Modified Planet Bike Flipper

I usually try to buy Planet Bike products as a certain percentage (15%, I think) of their profit goes towards bicycle advocacy.  I bought two Superflashes as I like to be highly visibly on my daily commutes.  The Superflash has a unique flash pattern and the flash is pretty super.  However, adjusting my seat in route the other day I bumped the Superflash which dismounted, hit the ground and in true safety light fashion, burst into several pieces.  While none of the pieces were broken by the impact, one rail of  the mounting bracket on the light was broken and thus, the light could not be mounted again.  Fortunately, I had two lights mounted to the seatpost.  I like the light but the mounting bracket should be beefed up.

I give the light a 3 Broken-Down Car rating.

Planet Bike Superflash