Another Commuter Question

[fatbottomedgurl]

I plan to start riding to school (classes 2x week). On the way home I want to do some grocery shopping. Do you gals have suggestions about baskets/ panniers? I think I could just strap a milk crate on the rack and fit a couple bags in there but my center of gravity would go up. I don't want to spend a fortune on big panniers. Someone here said her groceries fell out of the Nashbar bags. What works for you girls?

[divingbiker]

I've got a pair of grocery bag panniers from REI that paper grocery bags fit in perfectly.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47995013&parent_category_rn=4500848&vcat=REI_SSHP_CYCLING_TOC

I use one to carry my clothes etc when commuting to work.

[CorsairMac]

I carry everything in a backpack. I do my grocery shopping at Costco in the truck so whatever I pick up at the store is usually last minute items or small things. I don't like panniers coz I didn't like the feeling of the bike's weight shifting everytime I came to a stop and leaned the bike to put my foot down. But I'm probably more the exception than the rule.

[mimitabby]

I have a pack on t he back of my raleigh bike but when i got my new
Bianchi my husband groused about putting that stuff onto the new bike (too much weight) so I ended up trying a back pack and to my surprise, I like it a lot! it's not like hiking with a backpack, you hardly notice it is there!

[Deanna]

I have panniers similar to those that DivingBiker posted. GREAT for shopping. Be sure to balance your load.

[farrellcollie]

I have the REI bags - they work fine - Performance also has them and they were just on sale - plus the performance ones have a reflective stripe - which I covet because the reflective tape always falls off of rei ones. I commute at night from teaching a night class and I use them for carrying books etc as well as groceries.

[tulip]

Nashbar grocery panniers tend to dump your groceries, so be sure to get some bungie cords to strap them on. I gave my Nashbar bags away and use my regular panniers for groceries. Backpack would be okay for a short distance (for me).

[Geonz]

Grocery trips are what inspired me to get my Xtracycle, beckause I got tired of not being able to buy as many fluids as I wanted. It's turned me into a "bicycle lifestylist" (which is kinda easy in these parts - it's a bike-friendly culture) http://www.resourceroom.net/pcc/bigloadplusmay29.jpg

www.xtracycle.com

I'm also really klutzy about load distribution ... falling down at 4 mph is embarrassing :) It doesn't happen with this baby. that weight swinging around that happens iwth panniers doesn't happen (okay, it did with the above load!) because it's still in front or beside the wheel.

[fatbottomedgurl]

Thanks girls! I love the xtracycle- saw one on ebay last week but can't lay down the cash. Maybe I will win the next one...

[Summer23]

Someone sent me this link the other night when I posted on Craigslist asking whether anyone had any panniers or rear-rack baskets they didn't want anymore. Looks cheap & relatively easy - I think I might try it. :)

(Linking you to the entry in my bike blog about it instead of directly to the link given, because someone commented on my entry with a good idea about carabiners.)

DIY Pannier basket thingies (http://bicycle.vox.com/library/post/diy-pannier-baskets.html)

[xeney]

I have a set of the Nashbar grocery panniers and I have not had a problem with them dumping groceries, but they don't hold very much. They also are kind of a pain because you have to think ahead and bring them with you if you want to shop that day, and then take them into the store with you so they don't get stolen.

I switched to old-school Wald folding baskets (http://www.amazon.com/Bicycle-Rear-Grocery-Baskets-Folding/dp/B000BPNK7O/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt/104-0365489-1703923?ie=UTF8). That first review there is mine. I love everything about them except for the weight they add to the bike. My bike was pretty lightweight to begin with -- about 20 pounds, so light compared to most hybrids or townies -- and the baskets make it really back-heavy, especially loaded down. (I am considering adding a front basket just to even things out, except yesterday I had to carry that bike up three flights of stairs!)

With the Nashbar bags, I could pick up a few things at a time, like veggies and maybe a few canned goods. With the baskets, there is very little I can't carry. I buy 24-packs of canned cat food, beer and wine, potatoes, bags of flour. Toilet paper is a little hard but you can bungee it in between.

And other than the weight, I like having the baskets permanently attached to the bike but folded away, so they are there when I need them and out of the way when I don't. If they weighed half as much as they do, they would be perfect.

Also, I think they are adorable:

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

[HipGnosis6]

I keep a cargo net attached to my rack. I've stretched it over two smaller bags of groceries or one bag and a gallon of milk a couple times!

And in the spirit of those DIY panniers, you can also always bungee or bolt a milk crate to your rack.

[Rebeccah]

I've got a pair of grocery bag panniers from REI that paper grocery bags fit in perfectly.

http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47995013&parent_category_rn=4500848&vcat=REI_SSHP_CYCLING_TOC

I use one to carry my clothes etc when commuting to work.

I got a pair of those at my local REI, and they work great and hold a lot. The minor inconveniences about this particular model I found were:
1. I had to be careful how I positioned my feet on the pedals, or I would sometimes hit my heel on the front corner of the bags. Not a problem when they're folded up.
2. The snaps for holding them in the folded-up position are on the front and back, about half-way down in the open position. In the folded-up position, they are closer to the bottom than the top. This gives a poor mechanical advantage for actually keeping them closed.
3. In the folded up position, the tops of the bags are a few inches above the top of the rear rack. Combined with the top gaping open slightly (see #2 above), I found I sometimes got my foot caught on them when dismounting from the bike.
4. Although not as heavy as metal baskets, they're still a bit heavier than I like to drag around all the time. Combined with the dismounting issue (#3), this means I took them off for most of the time, and only plan to put them back on again when I'm going shopping. Plus, I got a handlebar bag for carrying smaller amounts of stuff.

Overall, a worthwhile purchase, though.

Rebeccah

[fatbottomedgurl]

Okay the waste baskets are about as "Fred" as you can get. Perfect for my anti-consumerism anti-brand personality. I would just have to get up the nerve, but heck, I could buy two at the 99 cent store and save 40 bucks. hmmmmmm....

[HipGnosis6]

Okay the waste baskets are about as "Fred" as you can get. Perfect for my anti-consumerism anti-brand personality. I would just have to get up the nerve, but heck, I could buy two at the 99 cent store and save 40 bucks. hmmmmmm....


Hee hee... milk crates can at least be played off as "old school"

and for the antiestablishment bit in all of us, you can steal one from behind the market to stick it to the man a little bit ;)