grocery bikes

[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!

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

[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. 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. 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/...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?