For the love of flags
Bike Worcester flags
There are two reasons we fly flags on our bikes. The first is the boring one: drivers see you sooner, give you more space, and treat you a bit less like street furniture. The second is the more fun one — when half a dozen of us turn up to a ride with flags taller than a Ford Kuga, it creates a group identity and gives us a way to communicate with passers by.
Here's how to put one on your bike. There are two versions: the one anyone can do this afternoon, and the one for people who own a 3D printer (or know someone who does).
What you need
- A teardrop flag kit from printed-feather-flags.com — we use the small one (~1.7m), which clears traffic without turning your bike into a sailboat in a crosswind.
- A design you can copy Bike Worcester's design from Canva
- Two FixPlus ski straps - the rubbery loop-and-buckle kind. Cheap, reusable, indestructible, and sold by any decent ski or bike shop.
- A pannier rack. Any standard rear rack will do.
- A flag. Any flag. Fly whatever cycling cause you like - Bike Bus, Kidical Mass, Cycling UK, your own design.
The basic version
Stand the flag pole alongside one upright of your pannier rack. Wrap one ski strap around both, higher up, and cinch it tight. Wrap the second strap lower down the pole as a second point of contact, so the flag stays vertical instead of leaning into your spokes. Done. Total build time: about 90 seconds.
The upgraded version
We've also designed a small printed bracket that clamps onto the rack and gives the flag pole a proper socket - sturdier, neater, and doesn't slide. The OnShape file is here for anyone who wants to print one (PETG, around 30% infill, happily lasts a UK winter). Same two straps, same flag, more stable. The file is open - if you can improve it, please do.
You will need to measure the diameter of the flagpole and the thickness of the rack frame, and these variables are adjustable in the CAD file.
Now go fly
Take a photo, tag Bike Worcester!
