grocery bikes

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Even though we work at home and do many of our errands on bike already, my husband and I are discussing adapting two of our bikes for doing more grocery shopping. We already do other errands to the bank, PO, and drugstore by bike, but that does not require hauling any significant loads.

We live about a mile from the super market which is great...but we live at the top of a very steep hill, so I am hoping I will be able to get up that hill after adding 20 or 30 pounds worth of groceries. Time will tell as we set my bike up.

I am interested in seeing other people's bike setups for going to the grocery store. Any pictures of racks or grocery panniers/baskets that you especially like that work well together? Or others that you didn't like so well and why not?

I know there are differences between typical touring panniers (more rounded for packing clothes, being more aerodynamic, and eliminating heel kick problems) and specific panniers for holding bags of groceries (rectangular, often open-topped, the size of a paper bag of groceries). I am not interested in the rounded touring panniers, but rather in the square utility grocery-type panniers w/racks setup. I am not planning to buy a special bike for this, but rather adapt the bike I have, which is a semi-touring bike already with plentiful rack eyelets etc.

I'd like to see how some of you have adapted your bikes to doing your supermarket shopping.... :)

[buddha_bellies]

I work near Safeway, so I just buy grocery every few days and buy what i think will fit my panniers. If I have bulky items like toilet paper, I just use bungee cords and strap them to the top of the bike rack. Unless you buy stuff in bulk at Costco, I don't see what the use of buying special trailers. They are expensive too! Although, this looks really interesting...

7680it's call bikehod (http://www.bikehod.com/bike-hod/index.html) Don't know how well it works. I've yet to see it in Vancouver

[bikecanada]

I just use a backpack, but that's because my bike doesn't have eyelets for a rack (and I don't want to pay for it at the moment for a seat post mounted rack). The backpack works if I get small things like fruits and vegetables.

[lph]

I am lusting for a bike trailer. We used to have one for our son when he was small, and could use it to haul massive amounts of stuff. Sometimes with the little guy still in there :D

Seriously, they are the way to go to move stuff easily by bike. I don't know what we were thinking of when we sold the trailer.

[OakLeaf]

Down south we are a mile and a half from the supermarket and just a little farther from the natural food store. I pretty much shop daily, never less than three days a week. My panniers are less than ideal, but I don't need to carry much so it's not that big of a problem. Can you hit the grocery store on the way to/from work or other errands, or would that mean climbing the hill twice?

[divingbiker]

I like the grocery bag panniers from REI (http://www.rei.com/product/733820). A paper grocery bag fits perfectly, they're fairly easy to take on and off, and they fold up nicely if you want to leave them on the bike.

The front basket is nice for breakable things or overflow.

Here they are on my pink mixte, but I use them on the Glorius also.

7683

[SouthernBelle]

I have those Novarra panniers too and like them. Though if I had more then one person's worth I would consider a trailer. Have you considered building a trailer?

[xeney]

We had problems with the grocery panniers -- ours are from Nashbar, and they just don't hold very much. We've had groceries fall out on the street if we overfill them.

The Wald folding baskets are much sturdier and hold more. I used to routinely carry 50 pounds of groceries in these:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/75/227800566_320fd109bf.jpg

If you need to haul things like flour, potatoes, or beer, these work much better than grocery panniers.

Right now I always have a baby with me so we are trying to figure out how to grocery shop by bike with her in the mix. Our trailer is a single Chariot and there is limited cargo space for groceries, and I have not tried pulling it with that bike. I'm also a little worried about locking the Chariot up outside a grocery store -- it has a lot of stealable parts and is not easy to lock up in any case. I have thought about an iBert or similar baby seat on that pink mixte but I am not sure how it would work. I could also pull the trailer with the mixte but I need to solve the locking-up issue.

My husband would like to be able to haul 150 pounds of pet food, which I am trying to convince him means an Xtracycle ... he wants a BOB trailer, but (a) that means we still need a baby seat for Penny, so we might as well have an Xtracycle, and (b) the load capacity of a BOB is only 70 pounds as far as I can tell.

He does not believe me but I think we will have an Xtracycle by next summer. I usually get my way.;)

[Becky]

My husband would like to be able to haul 150 pounds of pet food, which I am trying to convince him means an Xtracycle ... he wants a BOB trailer, but (a) that means we still need a baby seat for Penny, so we might as well have an Xtracycle, and (b) the load capacity of a BOB is only 70 pounds as far as I can tell.

He does not believe me but I think we will have an Xtracycle by next summer. I usually get my way.;)

FWIW, my hubby tried to buy 40 lbs of cat litter with our BOB. He found the handling very very squirrely, mostly because the weight was so concentrated. We've hauled 40+ lbs. of groceries, camping gear etc. before with no problem, but kitty litter just isn't in the cards. 150 lbs of anything sounds like too much to preserve safe handling, IMO.

When we grocery shop, we usually take the BOB. DH guards the bikes and BOB and reads while I do the shopping.

[xeney]

Yeah, I'm not sure what kind of gearing you'd need to pull 150 pounds, but that is within the Xtracycle capacity according to the website. We don't have hills but he'd have to pull it up over the levee.

That's how much pet food/litter we buy once a month. It's one of our only errands that requires a car.

The idea is for one of us to be able to do the shopping on our own, with the baby most likely, so I think a trailer is just out of the question for theft reasons.

[Aggie_Ama]

I don't have a grocery bike but may if they ever build a store closer than 10 miles.

Would a trailer work with your hills? Are you going to convert the Riv? Why not lobby for a new bike.:p

[shootingstar]

Since we don't have a car, we do have to use our bikes most of the time. He and I each use our panniers. We don't necessarily shop together either. But most of the stores are within a 12 kms. round trip or way less. the joy of living downtown..

He has used a BOB (outside of his touring trips) for a larger trip to a bigger grocery store --which happens only once a year and there is a long hill. In that case he will use his touring bike only because he has several bikes to choose from.

I confess that I've never tried using the BOB at all --yet. And he's had/used it in the last 10 years.

Well Never, say never. Always something to learn..

[TrekTheKaty]

I'm interested in some grocery baskets also. I had researched the wald grocery baskets, and they had good reviews and were cheap on amazon.com. (Read the reviews for mounting advice--too far forward can hit your heel.)

[Grog]

I use one Basil mesh basket and a pannier usually.
http://www.fisheroutdoor.co.uk/products/main/BAS41.jpg

If the pannier is empty one has to be very cautious going over bumps. It jumped off once, but I was going downhill and hit a pretty big bump. :( When it's full it's not an issue.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I posted this thread last night before going to bed, and got to check back in on it this afternoon....wow, what a lot of great suggestions! Thank you all for the great variety of input!! I knew TE would come through. :p Keep those various solutions that you've used coming in- I'm sure this thread will benefit many more people on here than just myself.

Like Xeney, the plan now taking shape is to go maybe once every 6 weeks with the car to load up on the non-perishable stuff that is really heavy and/or bulky- cat sand is main offender (oy!!), but also detergent/cleaners, perhaps bunches of canned goods while I'm at it, and big bulky things like TP and paper towels could be bought 6 wks' worth at a time certainly. Happily, we get our milk delivered to our back porch by a real milkman. :p That leaves mostly regular perishable foods that need to be bought more often.

A couple of things... the 1/4 mile hill that we live at the top of is quite steep, and as it is it takes some significant effort just to get up it on either of my bikes with NO extra loads at all, but I *can* get up it, I've ended ALL my rides with that hill for the past 2 years. I have very low mtn gearing already, so no room for improvement there. The rest of the 2 miles back and forth to the supermarket is pretty flat and not a problem at all. Thus, this hill of ours is really the main consideration that limits my choices a little. If I was 30 and athletic it probably wouldn't be such an issue....but I'm not! :D

My plan is to put on a pair of rear panniers and rear rack (which amount to about 5-7 lbs by themselves, empty!) and just start with very small loads of say 5-8 lbs or so of groceries on each side. That would be about 15-18 lbs more than what I pedal up the hill with now without all that stuff on my bike.
If I split up the shopping into more frequent small trips, then even the humble achievement of pedaling up that hill with 15 pounds of goods, 3 extra times a week from what I typically ride now, will get me slowly stronger each week. I hope to slowly add more weight as I am able. I'm 54 and it always seems to take me a l-o-n-g while to build up more strength, but it does happen slowly. I like to set myself realistic goals so I can feel good when I achieve them, ;) and I don't get discouraged too easily. Slow and steady wins the race is my motto. :D

The idea of a trailer would be fine if it weren't for that hill- there is just no way I could haul a trailer up it. I don't plan on trying for 70 lb grocery loads ever- 25-35 pounds is something I am aspiring to.
My kids have grown and flown the coop, so I am lucky enough to not have to haul them around anymore in addition to the groceries! (I don't know how you mothers do that...but I guess youth must help!) ;)



Would a trailer work with your hills? Are you going to convert the Riv? Why not lobby for a new bike.:p

Aggie, see above concerning a trailer.
Yes, I am going to convert my Rivendell. (I'll certainly need some good locks, considering this! :eek: likely a combo U-lock and a heavy cable...ugh, another 2 lbs there?...)
I've thought long and hard about all this, it was a hard decision! My husband as usual has been a wealth of good objective smart advice, and would have supported any decision I made (he's a gem).
I did think seriously about getting a new bike for grocery-getting/errands.
I even drooled over the Kona Ute bike- looked like the ideal grocery hauling bike!...that is until I discovered the thing weighs about 40 lbs without any loads...at which point I ran screaming from the room in horror. :eek:
There are actually quite a few logical reasons I've decided to convert the Riv- all interesting reasons, and oddly the money aspect is not the main consideration. Maybe I'll explain my decision process more later- too much typing right now! :rolleyes: Let's just say I'm very excited about this! :) :)

Right now the panniers recommended by DivingBiker have taken the lead for me, with Xeney's wire folding panniers still being considered....thank you all so much! I'm looking online a lot too. I particularly like the idea of getting panniers that fold up on the bike when empty, since it would enable me to continue locking my bike in its usual place on the rack in our small garage, rather than jockeying for a new larger space for it amongst the other 4 bikes.

[Blueberry]

I'd second the recommendation on the Novara panniers - I have some (purchased off Craigslist for $15), and I love them. The only time I've had a problem is when I put 6 bottles of wine in each and rode home (it was a good sale at Whole Foods). Anything short of that has been fine.

BSG - I'd be interested in your logic if/when you choose to type it:)

CA

[SouthernBelle]

The Novarras do fold up BTW.

[Mr. SR500]

I like the grocery bag panniers from REI (http://www.rei.com/product/733820). A paper grocery bag fits perfectly, they're fairly easy to take on and off, and they fold up nicely if you want to leave them on the bike.

The front basket is nice for breakable things or overflow.

Here they are on my pink mixte, but I use them on the Glorius also.

7683

I use the same for picking up the kids and their backpacks get dumped in the panniers, but for more serious hauling a trailer is the way to go. Good trailers tow wonderfully, and you'll be able to haul most anything you would like.

[Zen]

Designed to carry 440 pounds (http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-gear6-2008oct06-pg,0,2067335.photogallery?index=1)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I'm not going to haul 440 pounds!
I'm not going to tow a trailer up my hill!


:cool: :rolleyes:

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Designed to carry 440 pounds (http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-gear6-2008oct06-pg,0,2067335.photogallery?index=1)

unfortunately, the bike itself weighs 300 of the 440 pounds. ;)


Seriously though, the Kona Ute looks similar, and it weighs 40 pounds.
Besides, those gears would NEVER get me up my hill in a million years.

[xeney]

On the baby trailer issue: my kid does not weigh that much and the trailer is pretty smooth to pull. But yeah, it cuts a full 2 mph out of my average speed. Oddly I don't find it to be too bad on hills (not that I ride many hills) -- I usually go about 2-3 gears lower than I would without the trailer, which is not as much as I'd expected.

It's wind that kills you with the trailer. You really feel the headwinds and the tailwinds aren't as nice as they are without a trailer.

[wildhawk]

Both DH and I have rear racks on our hybrids and panniers on both bikes alongwith a front bag. We also purchased a used baby trailer. We looked at several bike trailers and the baby trailer is designed to haul 100 lbs and was less expensive. Of course we are not dealing with a hill either. Good plan to haul the extra heavy stuff in the car and pick up lighter stuff with your bike. We do that. Since we are used to hauling extra water in our panniers for our rides, we do not notice much difference when we are bringing other things. The key for us is to stay stocked up on our canned goods and heavier items - that way we do not have to haul so much at one time. We can easily take our weekly grocery items in the panniers and the top of the rear rack can take a small cooler for perishable stuff like yogurt and milk. We also have backpacks that hold quite a bit as well. Post a pic when you get your bike set up. We are always looking for new ideas, but so far our panniers have been wonderful additions to our bikes.

[Biciclista]

Then there's our new trailer. Raleighdon loves it. He owns a Croozer. he said it's easier to lug 25 lbs on the Croozer than the same amount evenly distributed in his panniers.


http://www.sersale.org/bike/vloaded.jpg

[Triskeliongirl]

I used to live car free in woods hole every summer. I tried 3 approaches, grocery panniers, touring panniers and a kiddie trailer.

I didn't like grocery panniers, they just don't hold that much. Touring panniers work just fine, you just need to repack your groceries, and of course you are limited by their volume, but it sounds like you don't want to carry that much per trip (and you could use both front and rear ones). I got mine at LLbean and they were fine. I think this is the best option for you, and you can also use them on a tour.

I bought the kiddie trailer used, even though my kids were grown, and found this the best to carry lots of stuff (water, laundry detergent, laundry). BUT the one problem is that if the stuff was too heavy it would drag on the bottom. So, if you are gonna go the trailer route, I'd get a trailer designed fro carrying stuff not kids. I know you said you aren't interested in a trailer, but thought I'd post my comparisons for the record in case someone else reads this with a similar question.

[mary9761]

I'm still lusting after a trailer myself also, but this is what I use for errands and groceries. They are made from empty kitty litter buckets. I got the basice instructions at http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/Buckets . I have added an aluminum brace inside the bucket to give the material more stability with heavier items. These have lids so I've added velcro to hold the lids on/shut even if they are a bit overstuffed. I painted them black with Krylon fusion spraypaint that is made for use on plastic, I mainly painted them since I had litter buckets with writing on them. I bought multiple large reflectors and placed them on the back, front and outer side edges. The hooks are rope cleats purchased at a hardware store. The panniers themselves are hooked to the top of the rack and then bungees hold them into place at the bottom of the rack bracket.
The materials total cost to me (not including the buckets) was somewhere around $25 or so. I take these on the bus with me when I use public transport for my bike. Another nice thing about these is that with the lids and the fact that the buckets are level with my rack, it basically can extend the top surface. I haven't tried it yet, but I intended to see if I can tie items to the top of the rack with strapping or rope if necessary.

I can't get the slide show to post, but here is the link and some photos
http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/7%20September%202008%20-%20kitty%20litter%20bucket%20panniers/?action=view&current=3e0c0ec1.pbw

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/7%20September%202008%20-%20kitty%20litter%20bucket%20panniers/SANY2167.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/7%20September%202008%20-%20kitty%20litter%20bucket%20panniers/SANY2183.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/7%20September%202008%20-%20kitty%20litter%20bucket%20panniers/SANY2231.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/Hilly%20Hundred%202008/HillyHundred2008-05.jpg

[emily_in_nc]

Touring panniers work just fine, you just need to repack your groceries, and of course you are limited by their volume, but it sounds like you don't want to carry that much per trip (and you could use both front and rear ones). I got mine at LLbean and they were fine. I think this is the best option for you, and you can also use them on a tour.

Yes, I know Lisa is not interested in touring panniers since she plans to primarily use what she gets for shopping, but for anyone who might be reading this thread who already has touring panniers, my DH and I found that they worked great for trips to our local food co-op as well. We used sturdy front and rear panniers (Arkel) that we'd bought for touring, as well as small trunk packs (Arkel Tailrider). We distributed the groceries among all these packs, the heavier items in DH's and lighter ones in mine. We could haul a LOT in all these bags, though a hilly ride home proved a practical limitation -- we wouldn't get all the canned goods in one trip, for instance; we'd buy some light things each trip (cereal, wheat bran, etc) to keep the loads reasonable. We must have looked a bit curious unpacking our grocery bags and repacking everything carefully into our panniers outside of the co-op, but we didn't care. Worked out well!

It's fun to see everyone else's creative solution to this issue. Love your Halloween decorations, Mary! :D

[mary9761]

Thanks Emily,
I had a skull on the front of the bike for the Hilly Hundred as well. :D

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/Hilly%20Hundred%202008/HillyHundred2008-02.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/Hilly%20Hundred%202008/HillyHundred2008-04.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a361/mary9761/Hilly%20Hundred%202008/HillyHundred2008-07.jpg

The panniers themselves will nicely fit one of the reusable cloth grocery bags that you can get at most stores now. I often will take everything and repack depending on what I have by the time I'm heading home. I've used them quite a bit. Do watch your leg when dismounting with any pannier system, I've hit my right knee multiple times and bruised the inner edge of my knee.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Mary, thanks for the very cool pictures of your great project!...amazing and professional job. I especially love the purple streamer 'broomstick' sticking straight out the back! :D

This is a great thread with all kinds of different solutions that people have found for hauling groceries and shopping bike setup. I'm sure many people will get good ideas from it in addition to myself.

I came to realize while looking at panniers that touring panniers are somewhat different than grocery style panniers- something I never thought about before.
I did like those metal folding panniers, but considering my intense aversion to extraneous rattling noises on my bike (and even my DH's single well-secured wire Wald basket rattles on the front of his errand bike), I think I'm going to order the REI folding Novara panniers that Divingbiker pointed out:
http://www.rei.com/product/733820
My DH is researching various rear racks now.

If I eventually get strong enough to get up my hill with both panniers full, there is also my roomy Carradice Nelson saddlebag that I can put on top of the rack. And theres' always the front of the bike too (though I doubt I'll ever be at that level of strength).
I'll start out by using the panniers with my medium sized Little Joe bag in back though- I suspect it'll take a while to build up strength. I already need to be in my lowest low gear just to get up my big home hill even without any pannier load or rack. And my bike has quite low mtn bike gearing. :o

[Tri Girl]

Mary, your panniers turned out really great!! I loved the slideshow. It provides great details. I'm really impressed!!!

[mary9761]

Thanks Ladies,
I have figured out a few things I might do differently if I make another set. I'll likely cut notches in the lid as well where the rope cleats can be seated and help the lid sit better. I will also try to figure out a way to make the handles useable. Right now I can't get them up over the cleats to be able to carry the pannier when off the bike. I may put the handle above the cleats, but then will need to secure the handle so it doesn't bounce or catch when on the bike. The paint does scuff, but I may try using a sharpy. They also make a black duct tape so the next pair may be covered in duct tape LOL. Get black and international orange and make them striped :p;)

[PscyclePath]

I invested in a pair of the Jandd grocery panniers a month or so back that have been giving good service. They hold a paper bag's worth of groceries or other stuff with ease. I don't have a picture of the bike with them mounted yet, but may have to get out and play with the camera soon...

I did approach the problem of packing a 20-lb sack of dog food home from Petsmart... mounted the grocery panniers, strapped the bag over the rear rack, and tucked the ends of the bag into the pannier on either side. A little wobbly at first, but it worked (at least out on the flats, where I live :rolleyes: )

I really liked Mary's rig... I've got a couple of empty detergent buckets hanging around, so may have to hit the hardware store and build a set of those, too...

[Blueberry]

I did approach the problem of packing a 20-lb sack of dog food home from Petsmart... mounted the grocery panniers, strapped the bag over the rear rack, and tucked the ends of the bag into the pannier on either side. A little wobbly at first, but it worked (at least out on the flats, where I live :rolleyes: )

I've done this too - with cat food. And with extra large pizzas.

CA

[PinkBike]

love that picture of raleighdon's bike with a trailer AND aero-bars!

[mimitabby]

love that picture of raleighdon's bike with a trailer AND aero-bars!

he's ready for ANYTHING!

[Irulan]

I use a retired kid trailer with no modifications. It's a Bell two-seater, with lots of pockets that hold things like loaves of bread perfectly. I have hauled a regular load ( think two adults, two large teen boys) many times, complete with gallons of milk, sacks of potatoes and eggs.

One time I rode to the specialty butcher and got a very nice prime rib roast and picked up a cake from the baker's - the seat belts work great for holding things in.
My usual run is grocery, video store, library which about 2 miles each way. If I add in the post office, bank and lbs it turns into a modertely hilly 7 mile loop. I use either my geared commuter (converted old mtb) or my singlespeed.

Funniesst moment. OK, I get "the look" as in "omg she's got kids in traffic" look a LOT but one time I lost my hitch in the middle of a somewhat busy interserction. Potatoes were rolling everywhere. Several latte-suv moms stopped completely freaking out that somehow my kid was careening through the intersection and I am having to calm people down... it's only groceries, folks... move along now....

[wildhawk]

Oh I can relate to that! The first time DH and I rolled our trailer through the park to get a feel for towing it, I had lots of people giving us wide berth and when they looked into the trailer and saw no babies they gave us a real puzzled look like - what did you do with your kids? We are going to decorate the trailer up for Christmas with LED battery pack lights and decorate our bikes as well - I will post a pic. Thought it would be a fun way to spread Christmas cheer in the park. I have a HUGE teddy bear who will wear a Santa hat and ride along in the “sleigh”.

[lph]

I have hauled a regular load ( think two adults, two large teen boys) many times, complete with gallons of milk, sacks of potatoes and eggs.

For a minute there I thought you'd actually hauled two adults and two large teen boys and I was going WHOA! :eek:

The story of potatoes everywhere reminded me of the first time I used a pulk, a sled to pull behind you when cross-country skiing if you have a lot to haul or a small child with you. We were camping high up on a glacier for the Easter holidays and we'd borrowed this elderly insanely heavy wooden pulk the size, shape and weight of a small boat to haul our camping stuff in. Skiing down again we got so sick of it dragging us off our feet that we finally "cut it loose" and just let it go the way we were heading. Friends of ours up on a peak nearby said it looked just like somebody had got really sick of hearing their kid complain :D

[ms pepperpot]

I do virtually all my grocery shopping these days by bike. I do it on my commute home as my favourite super market is around the half way point. I just use normal touring panniers - Altura ones - and then sometimes strap bulkier non-perishable items to the top of the rack.

It helps that my supermarket has hand held self-scanners so I can pack into the panniers as I go around. Before they introduced these I'd often buy more than I could fit in the panniers comfortably.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I ordered the Novara panniers:
http://www.rei.com/product/733820
and this rack:
http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FREXP

We also ordered new 9 speed short reach brifters like the ones on my Luna that I like so much, so I can reach the brake lever way better. That's been a longtime problem for me with the Shimano regular brake levers. They'll be replacing the bar end shifters on it now. It'll be nice to have both bikes with the same shifting system, and it'll make the Rambouillet generally more comfortable and enjoyable for me to ride.
I'll need to buy a heavy duty U-lock/cable combo as well if I'm going to be leaving it outside the supermarket where I can't see it. No more medium weight "latte cable" like I use outside Ralph's cafe. :cool: It's not a bike I'd want to lose.
Once we get the new brifters, rack, and panniers on and retape the bars, I will post a before and after photo of my Rambouillet's new incarnation as errand/grocery bike. :D It might take a week or two though.
(now where'd I put that bell?...)

It's just started snowing, the first of the season!

[malkin]

I have one of these:

http://www.leggero.com/leggero/shop/store/product_detail.asp?IDProdukte=420

I saw them online last fall, but couldn't find a US distributor. We were headed abroad last winter (because I was going to die if I didn't see the RSC performance of King Lear...but that's another story). My husband ordered from the co. in Switzerland and had them ship to our hotel in Munich.

It was kind of a PITA to get home, and US Customs in Cincinati was all kinds of suspicious, but it was worth it.

Maybe TE could be their US distributor?

[malkin]

Hey, there's a Croozer Cargo right now on ReturnsForSale!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My panniers arrived
grocery panniers (http://www.rei.com/webservices/rei/DisplayStyle/733820?mr:trackingCode=31F6EF1A-5D9F-DD11-873B-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA&avad=5395_5709_df_8910_115~&cm_mmc=AL-_-4374-_-5395-_-datafeed)
I had thought, since most of the other panniers I saw for sale were priced PER PANNIER, that these were $55 EACH, so I ordered two. Turns out the $55 was for a PAIR (they didn't really make this clear on the site), so I wound up with two sets! :eek: No problem....my husband can try my set out in a couple of weeks when he puts his rack on, and if he likes them he can keep the second set. If not, we'll just return one set. The great thing is that REI lets you take all the time you want to return stuff, especially if it's still new. :) I called them to be sure.
My rack should arrive any day.
But I really can't wait to have the new brifters installed, as that will make my Rambouillet more comfortable for me to handle. I'm bringing it to a good LBS for 48 hours for that procedure, and I'll pick up a heavy new lock then too. If I'm lucky it might all be ready within a week to 10 days.

Incidentally, today I took my car to the supermarket and loaded up on the really heavy or bulky non-perishable stuff like cat sand, detergent, TP and paper towels, sugar, etc.

[tulip]

My experience with grocery panniers is that they work a whole lot better if they have a strap that goes over the top of the pannier to stabilize the side away from the bike. Mine did not have such a strap, and my groceries spilled out all over the street because the weight shifted to the outside when I went around a corner (centrifugal force). A bungie cord would work well. I got rid of mine after that because I was so disappointed with them, and my food coop was only three blocks away, so I walked.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My experience with grocery panniers is that they work a whole lot better if they have a strap that goes over the top of the pannier to stabilize the side away from the bike. Mine did not have such a strap, and my groceries spilled out all over the street because the weight shifted to the outside when I went around a corner (centrifugal force). A bungie cord would work well. I got rid of mine after that because I was so disappointed with them, and my food coop was only three blocks away, so I walked.

Wow! :eek: Can you say what brand and type your panniers were?
Did you put the bungee cords across the middle of the top of your pannier parallel to the bike, or cross-wise?

[tulip]

Wow! :eek: Can you say what brand and type your panniers were?
Did you put the bungee cords across the middle of the top of your pannier parallel to the bike, or cross-wise?

Mine were Nashbar, but they look alot like yours. In my case, the pannier needed additional support over the top of the pannier, to keep the top closed and the groceries tucked in. I did not use a bungee because I decided to walk for groceries, but I thought it would help the situation. Some sort of elastic net might also do the trick.

[Blueberry]

I hope Lisa's are like mine - stiff metal frame. I've seen some that didn't have that, and I could certainly see needing to stabalize the load. I've not gone that far with mine (the store is close...), but I've not had a problem (except with a case of wine divided between 2:rolleyes::rolleyes:).

CA

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Tulip- thanks for the tip, I can see where that might be something to watch out for. :eek:
If the bags you got were these:
nashbar panniers (http://nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=600066&subcategory=60001004&brand=&sku=8641&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=) then mine with be 1" taller (not much I realize, but something) ...but I dont use paper bags, I use those heavy duty reusable grocery shopping bags they sell cheap these days, sort of like this one:
http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A1533/153332/470_153332.jpg
so it will be easy enough to tie the handles closed on top.
I'll keep an eye out for trouble though on the cornering! :)

And CA in NC- yes mine are the same as yours, the Novara ones, and they do have pretty good aluminum frames around them. They seem pretty sturdy.

[xeney]

I had the same Nashbar grocery panniers and we had the same problem. Reusable grocery bags did not solve the problem unless you only filled them about half full and then tied them at the top.

I switched to the wire baskets and never tried a pair with a wire frame. The Nashbar panniers feel fairly stiff but they don't hold up under a load. My husband occasionally uses them for the farmer's market but we've had a lot of veggies fall by the wayside.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I had the same Nashbar grocery panniers and we had the same problem. Reusable grocery bags did not solve the problem unless you only filled them about half full and then tied them at the top.

I switched to the wire baskets and never tried a pair with a wire frame. The Nashbar panniers feel fairly stiff but they don't hold up under a load. My husband occasionally uses them for the farmer's market but we've had a lot of veggies fall by the wayside.

Whoa, glad I didn't get the Nashbar ones! :( I can't imagine they'd be much good without some kind of metal frame reinforcement in there somewhere.

The Novara ones I got do have sturdy aluminum frame rods both going all around the top plus a pair of roads running diagonally down to the bottom as well, so I suspect that would be a good thing.

I can hardly stand waiting any longer for the rack and the brifters! :(

[PscyclePath]

Lisa got a derned good deal on those... All the grocery panniers I looked at were priced individually, and my Jandds were $55 each.

I've not had good luck with Nashbar panniers, either. I didn't get the groceryones, but back when I was starting out with the commuting thing about a year ago I bought a set of their DayTripper saddlebags. First of all, they're pretty small as panniers go. They didn't have hooks to connect them to the rack, but came as a single set that folded over the rack (sort of like the saddlebags in the old cowboy movies) and sort of held on. I replaced them with another set in pretty short order, and they've been in the "spares" box ever since. I buy a lot of stuff from Nashbar, but not panniers any more...

[Geonz]

Remember, the Xtracycle isn't a new bike... it goes on the one you have :)

If the $55 / pair ones are enough room, great... but by the time I priced out everything I'd need to make my bike haul the stuff I wanted, it wasn't too far from the Xtra, and the complete ease of just tossing things in there and its mysterious mojo drove me to sell the car.

[mary9761]

The kitty litter buckets will hold one of the reusable grocery bags worth of groceries. The lids hold the items in

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

UPDATE:
Ok well the first step is done in converting my Rivendell Rambouillet into my errand/grocery bike.
It went in the LBS and is now back, having been switched from its original bar end shifters with hard-to-reach brake levers....to new 9 speed Ultegra brifters with short reach. (Yikes but they cost a pretty penny!)
This will do two things-
First, it will enable me to have the same shifting system on both my bikes. I've had a really hard time remembering which levers go in which directions for which gears between the two very different shifting systems. :(
And second (and most importantly), I have always found it really hard reaching the tips of my fingers securely around the brake levers with the bar end shifters and regular brake levers. I have to go down a very steep hill when I leave my house, and it ends abruptly in a T at a busy highway. It's always given me the creeps not getting a good grip on the brakes, especially when wearing winter gloves....but now it will be a breeze, just like it is on my newer bike. :p

So.... I could not test ride the new brifters yesterday due to rain...but today I will take it out to go to the PO and bank- just to basically test the new brifters out. The bike doesn't look photo worthy yet because there are no rack/panniers on yet and I've left the handlebars untaped in case I want to adjust the brifter hood positions first before taping.

I took off my old saddlebag and its mount a while ago, but I'm trying to get DH to put my new rack on today sometime. Then I can mount the panniers and be set to go!

[Biciclista]

I know it's raining, but we still want to see photos asap!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The test ride of the new brifters went well, but my DH will have to tweak the derailleurs- the lowest back gear keeps jumping out to the two next higher gears when I'm crankin' up the steep hill....not pleasant! DH knows what to do though- he keeps my other bike working great. My gear spread is reallly wide and they have to be tuned to a hair trigger point for the complete spread to work right.

So now I need to have DH put on the rack AND tune the derailleur. :cool:

But other than that, I had a great little errand run to Ralph's, the PO, the bank, the dentist, and the hardware store. :)
I LOVED being able to really grab onto those brakes on the big downhill.

[dex]

I LOVED being able to really grab onto those brakes on the big downhill.

Isn't that awesome? I never get over it. Actually, the very first time I felt that security when I switched to short-reach brifters, I got so excited I wanted to find more BIG, STEEP hills to ride down...just because I finally knew I'd be able to stop myself if needed. Heh. :D:cool:

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I have to do more test riding of the GroceryRambouillet tomorrow.
DH tweaked the derailleurs to correct it's jumping abruptly out of the lowest gear several times yesterday going up the hill without its rack and panniers on yet. The lbs guy, who mostly did a fine job, had the new cables a bit too tight for one thing...he was trying to pre-compensate for new cable stretch, as he informed me when we picked up the bike.
DH put on the new rack today and we put the panniers on. Rack and panniers went on without a glitch. Rainy and windy all day and it was almost dark by the time we finished.

So, with my old large canvas saddlebag of 'essential road riding stuff' completely removed (don't need maps or first aid stuff, and my grocery bike flatfixing/tube/pump kit will be a cell phone :D ), along with removing one of the 2 bottle cages....(on this errand bike I will never likely be farther from home than maybe 3 miles...certainly walkable if I have bike trouble)...

and then adding the new rack, two empty panniers, the new uber heavy U-lock/cable combo, and putting my old ching-ching bell back on....

It now weighs 6 pounds more than when it was setup only for road riding with the large saddlebag (29 lbs then), and it weighs ten pounds more than my steel Luna road bike currently does when it's loaded for a ride. :eek:
The whole shebang weighs 35 pounds with empty panniers. That doesn't sound like a huge amount, but when I go to pick it up, it feels like a TON in the back! :(

Oh well, I refuse to be intimidated just yet. Tomorrow i will take it gingerly down into town (no shopping yet) and ride it around the empty school parking lots and up and down a few gentle hills around town to test how she flies. There may be gear jumping issues still, or the steering may act and feel very different with the new weight in the back, or some other unforeseen issue I need to know about. If all goes well, I'll then head home again and the last test will be the steep 1/4 mile hill up to the house with nothing in the panniers. Wish me luck getting up the hill!
DH, ever practical, reminds me that if I had to I could probably walk the bike full of groceries up our hill at the end. He's right of course. :) And that wouldn't be the end of the world, either. It's all saving gas and helping the planet and building up my body strength.

I might have to make some changes tomorrow, so not worth a photo just yet I think. :cool:

[Biciclista]

well, okay, we'll wait for the pictures. 35 lbs does sound like a lot to me. but if it gets the job done..

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Did my first test ride this morning, with empty panniers....

Steers great, gears shifting s-m-o-o-t-h-l-y (thanks to wonderful DH), and
I made it up my hill with it being 10 more pounds than my other bike... with no big problem!!! YAY!! It only actually felt like maybe it was an extra 5 pounds or so. (but it wasn't, I weighed it on the scale)

Will try to tape up my handlebars today so I can take a decent photo of it.

Now I can start testing my limits by buying small amounts of food and other junk I frequently buy in town. Now I can go mail cumbersome packages at the post office and not have to give up when they don't fit in my backpack!

WHEEEEE!!!!! I'm tickled pink! :D :D :D


(and 'monster quads' here i come!)

[7rider]

35 lbs does sound like a lot to me. but if it gets the job done..

Just think of how STRONG you'll get, BSG! :cool:

Lookin' forward to the pix.

[SouthernBelle]

I think you should test out the cumbersome package part by mailing me something.

Just a thought....

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I think you should test out the cumbersome package part by mailing me something.

Just a thought....

Actually, I am going to bike to the PO to mail my first cumbersome package out tomorrow- coincidentally to another TE member! :D
But sorry, I don't have any cumbersome packages lined up for you yet... :o

[Biciclista]

what, still no pictures? What do you think, we're patient or something?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

what, still no pictures? What do you think, we're patient or something?

OK OK! :D

I cork-taped and twined my handlebars this evening in the living room. no paint or shellac finish yet, but it'll do for now.

I PROMISE I will take a couple of pictures of the 'new' GroceryRambouillet tomorrow, even if I don't go for groceries yet!

Trying to leave the car at home and use my bike for almost all errands and shopping....gee, just in time for this week's delightful forecast!:


Monday Night: A slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.

Tuesday: A slight chance of snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 36. North wind between 7 and 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 20. Northwest wind between 11 and 13 mph.

Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 34.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 19.

Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 36.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 19.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 36.

Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 18.

Saturday: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 34. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Saturday Night: A chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 21. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 35.


Will post a photo or two tomorrow here.
"I'm ready for my closeup now......" :eek: :eek:
http://www.lesliehawes.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/im-ready-for-my-closeup-2.jpg

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Ok, so here are some pictures...
First let me say however that I don't think the changes are a beauty improvement- in fact I think the clunky modern black metal/plastic appendages now hanging from my lovely steel Rambouillet are obviously an eyesore. HOWEVER- the real beauty here lies in the non-esthetic aspects of the changes to my now secondary bike....the beauty of not using gasoline or polluting the planet, of saving money on gas, of getting healthier and stronger while I do my shopping and errands. All these things are beautiful and inspiring to me.
So first a "before" picture, then 5 pix from this morning. One shows the panniers folded up, others opened out, with or without the supermarket liner totes I usually use and will bring into the store with me so I can judge how much stuff I can fit or manage. I put some hidden zip-ties securing the panniers to the rack in 4 places to discourage any jokers trying to just casually pick them up quickly and walk off with them while I was in the store.

This thread really helped me get a wide range of ideas for this little project, and my thanks to everyone for making suggestions and showing what they did to their bikes. :) Now that the pannier/rack project part is pretty much done, I will post future noteworthy errand expeditions in the "Errand Bike" thread in the Commuting forum. I started the errand bike thread over there for those of us who do not necessarily commute to our jobs by bike, but who nonetheless purposely use our bikes for other practical every day purposes as opposed to using cars.
These panniers seem like just the thing for me- sturdy yet elegantly minimal. I also now have a nice long storage space all along the top of my long rack now, so I have attached a couple of bungees there for strapping down extra objects if needed. My rack is a few inches longer than most, so we were able to attach the panniers a couple inches further back and avoid any possibility of heel touch while riding. The panniers seem to fit well with this particular rack, so I'm happy about that.
The combination U-lock/Cable I bought is pretty formidable and very heavy, but I'd rather go that way with a little overkill than be worried every time I'm in the supermarket. I can always make changes in the future if I need to.

BEFORE:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3153/2514521737_c3a68fcd01.jpg

AFTER:
(notice too the new brifters in place of the old bar end shifters...that was a little project in itself and was certainly the most expensive part of the project)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3179/3037816699_73c4ec0ab9.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3286/3037816013_014698b13e.jpg

Panniers folded up out of the way:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/3037815723_bfb78d8a2b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/3037816323_6c6c864eab.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/3037817125_7902b13895.jpg

I confess I was tempted to put some "fake" groceries into the panniers for the photo shoot, but somehow I managed to restrain myself!
Plus, I was fresh out of wax fruit.

[Biciclista]

lookin' good. now go shopping :D

[SouthernBelle]

Lisa,
I'm at the office so I can't remember off the top of my head, the reflective strips on the back, bottom of those Novarra Panniers, did you add those or were they there already?

I can't remember if mine have those!


BTW, I just finished ordering a vintage errand bike from ebay. More news later.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Lisa,
I'm at the office so I can't remember off the top of my head, the reflective strips on the back, bottom of those Novarra Panniers, did you add those or were they there already?

I can't remember if mine have those!


BTW, I just finished ordering a vintage errand bike from ebay. More news later.
The reflective strips are on them already, but only on the one end, so you need to mount the panniers so the reflector strips face the back of the bike. You can easily overlook them and mount them the other way with no difference except the reflectors will face front instead.

I look forward to hearing/seeing all about your new/old errand bike- be sure to post details and pictures about it in the errand bike thread! :) :) :)

[SouthernBelle]

Will do!

[Grog]

Very good job, Lisa, it's impressive!

And what a pretty bike.

[wackyjacky1]

2 questions:
What is the black thing on the right side of the handlebar stem? A bell?
How come you got rid of the bar-end shifters?

I really like those panniers. Might have to treat my bike to a set of them. :)

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Thanks Grog! :)


2 questions:
What is the black thing on the right side of the handlebar stem? A bell?
How come you got rid of the bar-end shifters?
I really like those panniers. Might have to treat my bike to a set of them. :)

The black thing is a bell....the old fashioned "ching-ching!" kind.
I got rid of the bell on my long rides road bike, but now going through town and to the stores on this errand bike, I find I have to deal a lot more frequently with pedestrians crossing the street without looking, etc....so the bell is back on this bike.

Earlier in this thread I explained why I changed from the bar end shifters- there were a couple of reasons that I elaborated on. :)

REI.com seems to be out of these panniers now....but apparently they get new versions of stuff for the new year so hopefully they will have new improved ones soon...

[wackyjacky1]

Earlier in this thread I explained why I changed from the bar end shifters- there were a couple of reasons that I elaborated on. :)
LOL, I had been following this thread fairly closely but somehow managed to miss that part of your post. D'oh! :rolleyes: