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Bicycles

Add-on handle makes carrying your bike a snap

By Brian Dodson
July 09, 2012
Add-on handle makes carrying your bike a snap
Walnut Studiolo Frame Handle makes lifting bikes a breeze (Photo: Walnut Studiolo)
Walnut Studiolo Frame Handle makes lifting bikes a breeze (Photo: Walnut Studiolo)
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Frame Handles as manufactured (Photo: Walnut Studiolo)
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Frame Handles as manufactured (Photo: Walnut Studiolo)
Carrying bikes up stairs with the aid of the Frame Handle (Photo: Walnut Studiolo)
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Carrying bikes up stairs with the aid of the Frame Handle (Photo: Walnut Studiolo)
The Frame Holder as installed (Photo: Walnut Studiolo)
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The Frame Holder as installed (Photo: Walnut Studiolo)
Walnut Studiolo Frame Handle makes lifting bikes a breeze (Photo: Walnut Studiolo)
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Walnut Studiolo Frame Handle makes lifting bikes a breeze (Photo: Walnut Studiolo)
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Kickstarter – you ask for US$3,500 to launch a product, and you get US$19,584. Gotta love it. Walnut Studiolo, a small design studio in Portland, Oregon, was founded to create leather accessories for bicycles. This time, their Frame Handle makes a bicycle easier to carry up and down steps or over obstacles by providing a grip at the correct ergonomic angle above the bike's center of gravity. The result is you have a comfortable grip for lifting with your whole body, just like a suitcase. Your comfort while carrying is enhanced, and you have more control over your bicycle in close quarters.

The Frame Handle is simply a leather strap for a handle, with a pair of adjustable buckles that wrap around the down tube and the seat tube. The handle length is wide enough for any hand, and can be attached without interfering with the derailleur or an aftermarket water bottle holder. Retail price is set at $35 plus shipping – a bit pricey for a leather strap, but it should last through a number of bikes. And its made in the USA!

Below id the team's video pitch for Kickstarter.

Source: Walnut Studiolo

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Tags

BicyclesErgonomicAccessoriesKickstarter
12 comments
Brian Dodson

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12 comments
Cora Muis
Not sure why you would carry the bike with the chain against your pants though!
Phils stuff
I've had a stainless steel version of that on my bike for 10 years.I used the water bottle bracket mounting screws to secure it.Damm,I should have patented it!
windykites
I think a velcro loop would do the same job a lot cheaper.
windykites
I forgot to mention, mind the oil on your trousers from the chain and sprocket wheel.
The Hoff
If you reach down a bit further you can grab the horizontal bar (chain stay). I would try that first before buying into this.
wle
what stops the front wheel from banging back and forth?
haikunick
I hate to say this but why not take a discarded road bike inner tube, cut it to create a cord, then tie simple knots at the same frame location to create a free handle that is water resistant, free, and has a little give to it as you carry it? You can also do the same thing for foot straps. Just thread the tube through the pedals and tie a knot in it to make a retractable, elastic, foot strap that is water resistant and free. Can you tell I love inner tubes?
Steve Pender
$35 creates a lot of incentive to just make a handle out of something else, like strong rubber tubing, as someone already said. We don't need it in fancy shmancy shmeather. I'm thinking a rigid piece of ABS plastic with heavy-duty velcro straps.
agulesin
It must be useful for inverting the bike to repair punctures etc.
@haikunick - thanks for that, I've just had to replace my (Made in PRC?) inner tube which failed in 3 places within a month of use... Had foot straps on my old racer, better get that tube to use!
Anyone know what that chain in the main photo is? looks interesting...
MrRodgers
@haikunick, I agree with you on tubes. I have used dead tubes for numerous jobs on the bikes, cars, and around the house. I have made basic gaskets to protect metal finishes and replaced a worn-out plastic hinge with a tube glued in its place just to name a few.
@wle, I'd say your free hand would be a good candidate.
Back on topic. While others have pointed out that you can accomplish this using your own, likely cheaper, materials, don't forget that there are people out there that actually care about how their bike looks and would rather put a quality piece on that matches other components.
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