Bento 4.0

After a mishaps last week with my bike and a malfunctioning rack, Bento 2.0 bit the dust just short of 1 year on the bike. Actually, structurally it held just fine but was scraped to hell. However, gave a reason to make something new.

And I can now say that sweat, blood, falling off a car at 30mph, race after race, 70.3's, IMLOU - the box withstands the test of time and wear.

With 4.0 I tried to mimic the bento you get on the team issued Scott, I love the size of that box. Also the top entry of a Torhans. So I started off by building just like 2.0 but extended the box by 3 inches in length, which has added a ton more room overall. I also raised the height by 1/8in so it's flush with the stem and replicates the same angle. Same basic structure from there, it "grips" the top tube and molds to the front of the bike and hugs the stem so there are no hard edges to fight with wind.

The top, hold your laughs - I used the rubber seal / liner for garage doors. It's perfect. Strong enough to hold it's shape with the long center slit and "x" slits cut in, soft enough to allow easy access to whatever is in the box. I used DAP Rapid Fuse to bond the top of the box to the box itself.

So more room, easier access (no flip up box top), easier to build and less weight.

Cheers.

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Regards,
J. Smith

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Regards,
J. Smith

Very nice.

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

Well done sir *claps*

Bento 5. My wife wanted one for her BMC TM02. This made for a fun build because the top tube of this frame is flat as a pancake, has top tube cable routing, gets thinner from front to back, doesn't have the ability to bolt on the top tube and the top tube itself is an interesting shape in which zip ties may not be the best bet to secure it.

I used Velcro to secure the box this time, worked great and I got a 12 foot roll of it from Lowe's for 8 bucks. This box allows the cable routing to come down through the front while still hugging the headset, which has been my untested aerodynamic staple with these things. It has the X slit top like my version 4 and while smaller, has enough depth to hold a good amount of snacks.

The big change on this one is the rounded back with an angled drop from front to back, it's 1/2 an inch taller in the front than the back, and because I opted for a rounded shape I was able to use 1 single piece for the sides so less seams, a little lighter, nicer looking in my opinion and I would guess a little more wind friendly in oppose to my typical squared rear.

Importantly, she's happy. Happy wife, happy life.

Cheers.

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Regards,
J. Smith

Thanks for posting this. The bolded part is something I've been interested in finding (or making) for a while, for use on a Plasma LTD that has the same top tube cable entry point.

Welcome. Here are a couple higher quality pictures.

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Regards,
J. Smith

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Regards,
J. Smith

Made another one last night for a buddy of mine. He rides a small Cannondale Slice. The top tube route of this bike has an interesting part that comes up at an angle so it was fun to contour the box shape to fit the cable routing. Turned out pretty good, ready to eat some food at IMLOU!

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Regards,
J. Smith

Very nice work!

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"If it costs you 30 minutes at Maryland so what" -dwreal

What a great thread. I had this idea for my old TT bike the other day. Thought I’d have a quick Google just in case anyone else had been daft enough to try and make their own and what do you know…. I also thought I’d paint mine to match as I’ve just bought paint to do the frame so might as well match it all up.

Did you ever get round to painting yours?

I’ll try and remember to take photos along the way and post on here for comparison but I’ll certainly be taking some inspiration from your great ideas, thank you!