Festival / Playa Bike Build Tutorial


Festival season is upon us! And I just got a new bike. That means it’s time to take my old Trek mountain bike to the next level and turn it into a fancy, pretty, silly mermaid bike with blinky lights and lots of style, so I can stand out this summer while I’m getting where I need to go.

It’s already mid June, so I’m already feeling behind. I want to have this bike ready by late July at the very latest, which gives me a month to plan, paint, decorate, build, program, and stress-test. It’s definitely time to get started.

My focus is going to be on durability first and style second. I do not want to have to repair any LED strips while camping, but I’m going to put together a repair kit anyway just in case. But my mantra for the build is going to be all about robust-ness.  I’ve made a light-up mermaid tail that swims underwater, so I’ll be using some of the same techniques to get this bike as break-proof as possible.

Playa Bike

I’m creating a tutorial on the Adafruit learning system as I go. Follow along with the process as you start dreaming about your own ultimate Playa Bike!


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