grocery bikes

[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.

[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.


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. 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. 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!

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.

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.

Aggie, see above concerning a trailer.
Yes, I am going to convert my Rivendell. (I'll certainly need some good locks, considering this! 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.
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! 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.