Someone recently asked me what I use for a cue sheet holder when I ride. There are a variety of ways to affix a cue sheet to your bike, but the method I’ve been quite happy with over the years is one that Felkerino taught me.
Felkerino makes cue sheet holders that affix to your stem by using the following items:
- One binder clip
- One small piece of rubber shim; and
- One zip tie
These cue sheet holders are simple to make and the necessary ingredients are easy to find.
If you do not have any of these items at home, the binder clip can be purchased from an office supplies store, and a shim and zip ties can be purchased at a hardware store. You can also probably ask your local bike shop for them. I don’t know any bicyclists who don’t have a few zip ties lying around.
First, place the shim over the stem, with the binder clip on top of it.
Next, take the zip tie and place it over one of the edges of the binder clip.
Third, wrap the zip tie around the stem while holding the shim and binder clip steady, and attach it to your bike.
Cut off the excess zip tie and voila! You have a cue sheet holder that should last you a while.
The only down side to this method is that your cue sheet is then unprotected in case of rain.
You can fix that by either:
- Inserting the cue sheet into a small plastic sandwich bag; or
- Covering the cue sheet with a plastic sheet protector.
Felkerino loves using plastic sheet protectors, as they are designed for a regular 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper and make it easier to flip your cue sheet as you ride than something like a baggie.
So folks, there you have it. The Felkerino method for making your own cue sheet holder.
If you try it, let me know how it works out for you. Also, if you’ve come up with another good method of your own, do tell.
Up next: Errandonnee Finishers and Honorable Mentions!
The Rubber shim could be a piece of an old inner-tube, FWIW.
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Excellent suggestion. Yes, an old inner-tube would do the trick as well.
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Great idea. Thanks, MG
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51 mph! You should have both hands on the bars, not fiddling round takin pictures! But great idea nevertheless.
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I wondered if someone would notice that. No arguments from me! I guess I was a daredevil in my younger days and all I can think is that it must have been a super straight and smooth rollout. Oh, and I was on the tandem. But rest assured, I keep both hands on the bars at speed these days.
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Thanks MG.
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Thanks, that’s a good easy to make holder. The main criticism from me for this type of holder (or something similar made commercially, such as a velcro strap with a plastic clip) is that it requires the rider to look down too far. I prefer to have my cue sheet in front of the handlebars (a front bag with a map holder has this advantage). I don’t have a front bag, so I use either the old (late 70s vintage) ByCue holder, or one that I made myself of a similar design. Admittedly it took longer to get the required supplies together (wire, lugs, open pipe clip). Both the ByCue and my own holder will only work with non-oversize handlebars (25.4 or 26), so your approach is more universal.
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Great !
On my first brivet attempt, I could not find a way to fix my cue sheet on to the cycle. Pulling it out of my back pack (CAMEL hydration pack), I almost lost it till someone found it on the road and picked it up for me.
Thanks for this idea !!
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I had this page bookmarked to make one of these when I had a spare minute, but then I caved and just bought one of those Bar Map holders. Oh well, I half-tried. 🙂
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Just made one of these, used two zip ties, one on the claw, one on the lever, for extra security. Looks good, seems firm: Sunday’s 200 will be a good test. Thanks so much for sharing this.
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[…] despite the adoption of an ingenious homemade route sheet holder (see here for instructions by @gypsybug) I managed to turn the ‘other’ left at a T-junction, […]
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[…] say, one that you haphazardly pull out of your pocket every block. Felkerino and I like to use this homemade cue sheet holder, which requires but a zip tie, a shim, and a binder […]
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Another option for printing the cue sheets is to use all-weather paper from Rite in the Rain (www.riteintherain.com). The stuff is INCREDIBLE! I can laser print to it (or photocopy onto it), and water beads off and junk wipes off. And it’s actually paper, so I can write on it with a pencil, burn it, recycle it.
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That does sound like a good alternate option. Thanks for mentioning it and for providing the link to the all-weather paper!
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A similar arrangement is binder clip with a velcro cable tie and electrical tape. http://josephmorris.net/?p=138
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Thanks for this great tip!!!! saved a minimum of $10.00 (price of velcro one at shop) AND found all ingredients, put together, admired my handiwork in less time than shopping online!
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