I recently put a carry handle on my bicycle. I've been drooling over the handle made by Walnut Studiolo, but couldn't justify putting a fancy leather handle on a beater 10-speed. I took photos of the process, and hope you find it helpful.
I used a 7-foot length of 550 parachute cord for the base, and a 3.5-foot length for the cover. You can always start with more, and just shorten it if you end up with extra cord.
Take the 7-foot length and fold it in half. We're going to start with the down tube.
I chose to run it from the right side of the bike to the left to keep knots as far away from the chain as possible, and ran it underneath the brake cable housing to avoid interference and any wear caused by the motion of the cable.
Take the tail end, and push it through the loop (technically the bight, for you sailors out there!)
Pull on the ends until it is snug.
Run the cord over to the seat tube.
Go around the seat tube, and under the two strands of cord.
Come over top of the cord, wrapping around it.
Continue around the seat tube.
Tuck the tail end through so it follows the cord coming from the down tube.
Pull until snug.
Do the same tuck, but through the loop on the down tube this time.
To set up for the next step, I had to make space between the brake cable mount and the existing paracord.
Send the tail end back around the down tube.
The next two images are from the left side of the bike. Bring it around the down tube...
... over the cords that run to the seat tube...
... and back around the down tube.
Now we're going to finish it off. Don't pull it super tight just yet.
Keeping it underneath the cords running to the seat tube, take the tail end over to the left side of the bike. Tuck it through the bottom half of the wrap.
Pull it snug.
Moving to the left side of the bike, take a moment to tighten things up and work the slack out. It is helpful to start at the beginning and follow it through the loops so you know it is tight.
This is what the prior step looks like when everything is tight.
We'll bind it in place with two half-hitches. Loop the tail end around the cords that run between the bicycle tubes...
... and then tuck the tail through the loop you just made.
Pull tight to form the knot.
Repeat to make the second half-hitch.
The base is complete!
The loose ends were just long enough to tuck under the seat tube wrap. but they could also be cut short or fused to the rest of the cord. Parachute cord is made of nylon and melts readily near a flame.
You now have a solid base for whichever wrap style you want to make the cover with. I went with the standard Solomon/Cobra weave.
https://youtu.be/ywU9qKaK0R0?t=11m36sThis channel has many different weave patterns, just ignore the parts about sizing to a wrist and attaching buckles.
https://www.youtube.com/user/BoredParacord/videosGood luck!
