Utility Cycling - My trunk/panniers project plans

I need more space for running to the store and what not. I broke out the cardboard and started cutting away. Here is what I came up with. A trunk with 2 cubic foot storage space (with the built in panniers.) I will be cutting the plywood parts out tomorrow.


To access the Panniers you open the trunk and there are 2 doors. One door on each side, inside the trunk. Something like your wheel well inside your cars trunk.

The trunk is 13" long by 15" wide by 10" high. This gives you 1950 cubic inches of storage in the trunk alone. Which is 1.128 cubic feet. The panniers have 767 cubic inch in each of them. So there is 1534ci in them also. Which is .887 cubic foot. That gives me a total of 2.0165 cubic feet.

Well here are the Plans that I have for the trunk. If you see anything that might need changing let me know.

On some of these kinds of projects, the devil is in the details. One question is how to actually attach it to the bike. The connecting parts have to be flexible enough to connect and disconnect, yet rigid enough that the whole box doesn't bounce around. Another question is how to make the corner-to-corner connections. If you use thick wood, that connection is easy, but the assembly is heavy. If you use thin wood, the assembly is light, but that connection becomes a problem. Putting a trim strip inside might help, or actually using strong tape of some kind on both sides.

It would be helpful if this could be very quickly detached from the bike, so you didn't have to take it when you weren't carrying anything.

You mention cardboard, and you might be onto something there. Some people here have built panniers using coroplast, which is the corrugated plastic used for signs, not a lot different from corrugated cardboard.

Good luck, and let us know how it turns out.

I'll be using 5.2 mm plywood. The same wood I use to build Kayaks. I will be using the "Stitch and Glue" method of building. The basic process is: panels of plywood are "stitched" together with wire, tape or tie-wraps; a filet of thickened epoxy is pushed into the corner between the each panel and then fiberglass is laid over the joint. Then the out side of the box will be covered with Fiber Glass.

That looks pretty cool. A couple of things I thought of when I saw it: 1 have a rack mounted basket, and I've found that carrying the weight higher up affects my handling and makes it more of a hassle to mount/dismount the bike. Also since I've been using my basket more than my panniers, the bike it a lot more top-heavy when at rest. If you don't already have something, you may want to look into a better-than-average kickstand system like a double kickstand or perhaps a wheel mounted kickstand.

I would want something wide enough at the bottom for a gallon of milk.

a gallon of milk is 10" tall, thats way the trunk is 10" tall. The Panniers are big enough to hold Bread and the likes. Thats way there 5" wide. Plus i did not want them any wider.

I need more space for running to the store and what not. I broke out the cardboard and started cutting away. Here is what I came up with. A trunk with 2 cubic foot storage space (with the built in panniers.) I will be cutting the plywood parts out tomorrow.


To access the Panniers you open the trunk and there are 2 doors. One door on each side, inside the trunk. Something like your wheel well inside your cars trunk.

The trunk is 13" long by 15" wide by 10" high. This gives you 1950 cubic inches of storage in the trunk alone. Which is 1.128 cubic feet. The panniers have 767 cubic inch in each of them. So there is 1534ci in them also. Which is .887 cubic foot. That gives me a total of 2.0165 cubic feet.

Well here are the Plans that I have for the trunk. If you see anything that might need changing let me know.

Sorry, mate but you're not gonna like this design for long. With this type of design things always
work their way down to the bottom of the legs making you take everything out to find them. :(

Instead of solid sides, how about making a frame for the sides, and putting a piece of canvas in the middle, to allow for expansion?

Totally off topic, cigtech, but I bought myself a Denali bike for a Christmas/birthday present. I bought my son one last summer. He loves his, and the jury is still out for mine since we have had cold icy weather recently, and I have only ridden it a couple of times. (just sayin', because after I bought them, I found your very informative review of it, and helped me become aware of the bikes quirks).

i agree with another poster that creating a rack-mount would be the way to go. topeak makes a very nice quick-release child seat which comes with a sturdy aluminum rack made to go with it (rack is designed to hold 50+ lbs). using the rack alone, i created a quick-release wooden crate to mount to the rack in about 5 seconds whenever my wife needs to make a run to the store. it is extremely sturdy. you could very easily adapt your design to work with this quick-release mechanism. the only problem is that you would need to buy the rack with quick-release mechanism. i've seen them on ebay for $15-40.

here are pictures of my quick-release crate:

http://picasaweb.google.com/atutter/RaleighSports?feat=directlink (http://picasaweb.google.com/atutter/QuickReleaseCrate?feat=directlink)