agarose2000

Don't get me wrong - I love bikes. Love racing them, love riding them, love touring, and even commuting. I've got great lights, blinkies, panniers, etc.

But I HATE going shopping with my bike. Absolutely hate it. It has nothing to do with the ride (which is great!) or the parking (even greater!), but the fact that I have to lug around a big bag all day.

For some reason, stores are highly biased toward making you "check" any bag that doesn't look like it was from a retail store. (Even though you could steal just as much stuff an put it into your Banana Republic bag as your commuter bike bag.)

Furthermore, I end up lugging stuff all over the place. Even if I buy a small, light item, there's nowhere to store/lock it on the bike. (Locked bike trunks are a rarity.)

For short easy one-stop trips, shopping is fine, but if I go for an afternoon or such, it's a complete PITA. Which is a complete shame since I'm so comfortable on my bike in nearly every other situation, and the riding is the best part.

How do all you die-hards get around this?

d2create

I drive a car.

I bike for fun. If it ain't fun, I don't do it. I like to drive too. So if I don't want to do one, I have an excuse to do the other. If I'm torn, I take the Vespa. It has a locking trunk and more locking storage under the seat.

Pinyon

I take my grocery panniers in with me. They fold flat when empty, and have handles, so that they know that I'm not stealing anything. No problems aruond here with having to "check" them.

Hell, at some of the stores, they get kind of snitty that you did not bring your own fabric bags no matter what you drove. Biking and conservation are pretty big around here, though.

wunderkind

There's a right tool for everything. Plan your trip. If you are going to Ikea to buy a Poang chair or Home Depot for some 2X4s, leave the bike at home and take a truck. If you are just heading to the post office, ride the bike. I like options.

benda18

i've never had a problem shopping, but i always have a problem when i ride to our regional amusement park. park security always gets fussy about CO2 cartridges and my multi-tool. it's such a hassle that i didn't even bother getting a season pass this year.

SECURITY: why do you have all this with you?
ME: because i rode my bike here
SECURITY: you did what?

CigTech

I just push the bike in to the store and leave it by the regsitor. This way I have some one to watch the bike and my stuff. Being in a smaller town helps.

Artkansas 

I used to get hassled all the time because I wore a backpack, but my Sunlite Grocery Getter panniers seem to fly under the radar.

So I don't have many problems.

But then again, I tend to shop like a guy and except for christmas, most of my shopping is very brief and focused, and I will tend to make several trips if necessary. It's rare that I do an "afternoon" of shopping.

Sixty Fiver

I don't drive so use my bike for pretty much everything...things like lumber and furniture can be carried on a trailer.

EKW in DC

I smelled troll until I real your post!

I don't do big shopping yet by bike. My wife does the big shopping trips since she's still job hunting and has more time than I do, and she doesn't bike. I do go for small shopping items on the way home from work, etc., and can usually fit everything I pick up in the backpack I use for commuting, so it's not a big issue. There are lots of transit users in my area, so they're probably just used to it anyway, but the store I generally stop at seems quite understanding about me needing to bring in my backpack and have never hassled me. They often even tell me to "ride safe" or "have a nice ride" when I check out with my helmet stuck back on my head or under my arm!

PaulH

I use a child trailer. Since one must wait fifteen minutes for a car parking spot to open up 300 feet away and the shopping carts must be unloaded at the door, resulting in ten or more round trip walks to the car, shopping by bike is vastly easier there.

Paul

imi

When I go shopping I take a 60 litre rucksack with me... have never been checked in the store... maybe a bag hanging from your shoulder looks more suspicious (?)... There again we swedish are a pretty trusting lot Oh and if I need a new bed from IKEA I ask a friend to drive me

DataJunkie

I suffer from the same issue.
I drive.

rando

for big trips where I have to get a lot of items, I take the truck. But more and more, I find myself stopping every other day or so to pick up a few items I know we need, like a loaf of bread or a six-pack or wine, a bag of chips or whatever. my basket can hold a lot! I kind of like it, it makes me feel more self-sufficient somehow. also, it's not all that inefficient since I'm going by there anyhow.

billyymc

Don't shop?

90% of my non-grocery shopping is online. Cheaper, more convenient, I can do it during whatever hours I wnat, they bring the product to my door, and i can do it in my underwear.

robi

we just show up for the weekly grocery run for a family of 5 on two bikes with panniers and backpacks... I hang the panniers on the outside of the shopping cart and shop.

I fill the panniers while they are on the shopping cart after I have paid. Never, ever have any issues with it.

I buy all sports gear by bike, skis, boots, ropes, whatever....

I have been told to store my bags on occasion and I do that then.... no big deal.

robi

TrekJapan

I won't do a full shop on a bike. Only pick up a few things. I have a Trek grocery pannier and If I know I have to pick stuff up I'll throw it on the bike. But again I'm only getting a thing or two. Heck I only live a quarter mile or half mile from a convenience store anyway. I can walk there and back by the time I get out the bike and load it up, lock it and unlock it.

John

yaztromo

Online shopping is amazing.

For small shops I will put the pannier bag on the bike and leave it outside the shop for the 10mins that I'm in there. Any kind of longer shopping and I leave the pannier at home and take a big rucksack.

kmcrawford111

I tried "checking" my backpack or messenger bag at stores around here, and the associates stare at me like they don't know what I'm talking about. So now, I just take the thing in with me without asking anyone.

crazybikerchick

I hate shopping by car (not that I own one - but if I go shopping with someone else that is driving) So far to walk from parking spots to mega box stores (where the car driving populace seems to love to shop)

On bike I don't really do big multi-store shopping trips. A big grocery run its one store - so can just bring everything out in a cart to a trailer. Shopping in an outdoor market area I like to borrow my bf's ortleib pannier since it has a big shoulder strap - easier to lug around from shop to shop.

I try to avoid shopping at places that don't let me keep my bag with me as I go around the store.

Kimmitt 

xtracycle.

coffeecake

I walk in with panniers and a helmet and give everyone the stink-eye. I've never been asked to open my bags, but then again I'm white, female, and middle-class. I also have a folding wire basket that my tote bag fits into perfectly. I can tote the tote around without arousing suspicion (the trend here with teenage girls is to have ginormous purses).

xtrajack

True that

Caspar_s

Never been asked to check my bag. I'm a bearded, scruffy guy. I normally have a backpack or panniers, occasionally if we're getting something big, the trailer.

Most places now have cloth bags which you carry into the store anyway.

Quite often on the weekend when I go for a ride with my wife, we end up stopping at multiple stores through the day picking up one item here, another here etc. I remember one store demagnetising stuff from another store when their door went off - had a couple of different anti-theft strips on the item.

noisebeam

It comes down to this:

With a car combining trips is the right way to go. Less time, waste and hassle driving
With a bicycle lots of individual trips is better. More time, value and fun driving.

Jim from Boston

I commute by bike, so many errands, including shopping might be conveniently done while en route. IMO, the main problem with shopping with a bike is leaving it unattended. I don't even carry a lock because I just don't leave my bike unattended, with rare exceptions when I feel OK about it (or I desparately need to go to the bathroom, and the bike won't fit ). So if I can't keep the bike in my sight, that errand will have to wait until I'm on foot or on four wheels.