powitte

I'm planning on doing most of the grocery shopping for my family of 4 starting next week. I commute daily (10 miles 1-way) with my bicycle, outfitted with a SRAM S7 internally geared hub with coaster brake, a Zefal rear rack with a 25 kg load limit, and full fenders. The fork has a single braze-on for the fender. I use a single, small rear pannier for commuting, and don't have any other bags.

What do you think is the best way to be able to haul $80 of groceries? Get some large rear panniers? If so, what models would you all recommend?

Thanks much.

Nightshade

This set of rear baskets added to your rack along with this front basket will allow you to haul way more than $80 worth of groceries any day of the week.

https://waldsports.com/index.cfm/wald...ingbasket.html

https://waldsports.com/index.cfm/wald957meshbasket.html

StephenH

The Wald baskets are heavy with a lot of wind drag and are not easy to put on and take off. I'd use them on a bike if it was dedicated as a shopping bike, but not if I had to ride the same thing 10 miles twice a day.

If you can make your commute and then make a separate trip to the store, I'd suggest looking into trailers or have a separate bike or trike set up for groceries.

My experience shopping is that one time you may not need much, then the next time, you need laundry detergent and toilet paper and milk and canned goods and soda pop and have all the heavy and bulky stuff come up at the same time.

jabantik00

i have one of those fold-out wald baskets on a rear rack. i don't think it's heavy or un-aerodynamic at all, but it is on my town/shopping/commute bike, so i wouldn't care much even if it was. my only complaint about them is that they can rattle a bit, even with the hook engaged, but i have learned to ignore it

Arcanum

To be honest, for major shopping (like for an entire family of 4), no "normal" rack-and-pannier solution will compare to a longtail or substantial trailer. With normal panniers, I suspect you'll end up needing multiple grocery trips per week. I'm just one person, and I was often needing multiple trips per week before I got my Mundo.

My advice is to look into getting a longtail for shopping. An Xtracycle conversion is probably the cheapest option. There's also the Yuba Mundo and the Big Dummy. It's more money, but your shopping will be much less aggravating.

powitte

I don't have a quick release rear axle. Are there any trailers that would work?

I'm an apartment dweller, and don't have room for a longtail

wahoonc

Several trailers have a quick release system that attaches to the chain stay rather than the rear axle.

Here are my two grocery getters. The panniers on the Redline are Basil Karavan II's they have a 41+ liter capacity. They are not easily removed so they live on the bike. The Raleigh has folding Wald baskets on the rear and a Wald 139 on the front. Fortunately the grocery store is only 1.25 miles from my house.

Aaron

memnoch_proxy

My wife and I would alternate shopping and we'd end up doing three trips to the various grocery stores a week between us, I could take the short bike and the Burley Bee trailer and two panniers full of groceries. I've upgraded to an Xtracycle and now I can get four 15qt tubs of groceries and two little boys also, as necessary. Very recently, I've been given a BikeRev EcoShopper trailer to evaluate and in it I can pack my four 15 qt tubs and then I can still use two panniers on the short bike (but no kids). If you don't have to haul kids around, consider a utility trailer. I also enjoy a handlebar bag because I can put my wallet and my fabric shopping bags in and hang my keys off it and my grocery list in the map window, which helps because my rain pants and cycling jacket have little tiny pockets.

commutinNtootin

Wahoonc, how do you like those Wald folding baskets for stabilty and toughness? Do they rattle all around the place?

wahoonc

They are tough, I have another set that were on a different bike (they are silver) that are over 20 years old. I gave them to a friend of mine to use. I don't notice any real rattling, but then again I am a bit on the deaf side, and ride on gravel roads where EVERYTHING rattles including my brains. If the rattle is too annoying you can secure the baskets with zipties, or velcro. I honestly don't think they rattle much at all.

They are rock solid when mounted on the racks. I use a reusable poly grocery bag that is the same foot print as a brown paper grocery bag, but a bit taller. I load my own groceries and get the heavy stuff in the bottom of the bag.

Aaron

531phile 

For a family of 4, I'd get a trailer. I shop for myself and I load both of my rear performance transit grocery getters full for about 1 week of food. If I were to use front panniers I bet I could shop for 2, but 4 people is too many mouths for just front and back panniers. Shopping three times a week like the previous poster would get old fast for me. Once a week is just right for me.

531phile 

$200 for the EcoShopper trailer seems steep for me. It's like paying a premium price for someone else's DIY project.

AdamDZ

I have two large panniers and recently added a crate to the top of my rack and I don't really think that would be enough for groceries for a family of four and I worry about the rack, plus it makes for uncomfortable ride when loaded. I have a trailer too and it makes hauling significant weight much easier: no tail-wobbling and it behaves better in crosswinds. I totally second the idea of a trailer. Burley has an attachment that goes on the chainstay and I bet others do too. DIY trailer might be cheap but if you buy a ready trailer you may find one that folds flat for storage which is a plus.

BTW, Yuba Mundo is the Master Hauler and it stands up on its tail for storage, so it takes up less floor space than a regular bike.

wahoonc

I typically shop for four adults with either one of my bikes, it can be and is a full load. We do make more than one trip some weeks. During the warmer months the load is greatly reduced because we are eating the veggies out of our garden. Beer runs are a trip unto themselves.

Aaron

memnoch_proxy

@531: yeah, the price for the simplicity of the bucket trailer does seem pretty high, esp since you can find used kid trailers for $75 on Craiggers. The way to go would prolly to identify a bucket and buy a bikerev.com "frame kit"...or if you have a pipe bender, just buy the pneumatic quick release and bracket and 12" tires for less and do the rest of the mechanics yourself. It's a trade off: time v. money. (Bikerev is obviously not a large company, it might just be one person.)

AdamDZ

The box used by EcoShopper is sold by Home Depot under "Strong Box Tote" or "Tough Box" names for $11. That's how I built my trailer. They're very strong, probably the best deal for the money. Add a used Burley trailer frame and some nuts and bolts and you can have a nice trailer under $100.

dayworks

one more option for trailer: www.redbiketrailer.com/index.html

memnoch_proxy

@Adam: awesome trailer! Dig the netting loops, I'da never thot of that. I've been packing my stuff in tubs in the trailer so it doesn't all slide around. The kid trailer wheel base is wider and you've lowered the center of gravity so you probably don't get "empty flips" and can handle tree roots better huh?

AdamDZ

Thanks! I like this trailer a lot. Yeah, the loops allow for various net configurations inside the box, I have two small bicycle nets and two large motorcycle nets. For example, when I went grocery shopping I stuffed smaller, but denser/heavier items (bottles, cans, apples, etc) inside the side nets and soft or delicate items (bread, eggs, bananas) by themselves in the box so they wouldn't get smacked around and squashed by the heavier items. I got that idea from um... car cargo nets. Plus, you can put more stuff on the top using a larger net or bungee cords, I used that with a pack of paper towels, for example.

Yeah, it's very stable, I tried to flip the trailer hard by making sharp turns on loading ramps, going off tall sidewalks at an angle. I believe that with center gravity this low it is impossible to flip this trailer under normal use. I got it to skid and jack-knife once on wet surface but I really tried very hard to do that.

One more thing: those boxes are securely stackable (the bottom sits inside the sunken area of the lid so it won't slide off). I imagine it would be easy to secure another one the top with a pair of cam straps or even bungee cords. Of course, you'd have to keep one on the top loaded with lighter stuff.

Oh, and I didn't mention, but it's kind of obvious, that these boxes are completely waterproof.

vXhanz

That's a pretty nice build for a trailer! I have a kiddie trailer from InStep that's of a similar design to that Burly, and probably has the same weight capacity too. I've been trying to figure out how to modify it for utility like you did... though the Mrs. would probably kill me as we just bought it a few years ago and the nylon is still new. The kids don't use it as they are too big for it and it's not a very comfortable trailer. I'll have to keep an eye out for those plastic bins and pick one up the next time I see it. I'll bookmark your link to make sure I can follow in your footsteps.

Thanks,

V

twobadfish

https://www.bicycletrailers.com/Crooz...er.pro#pp-tabs

AdamDZ

Thank you I was at the Home Depot about two weeks ago and I still saw these boxes. How wide is your trailer? I'd suggest going straight for my second step: cutting and making the frame narrow, just to fit the tote. Being able to roll a loaded trailer through the doorways made a huge difference in usability for me.

Adam

vXhanz

My trailer is about 35" wide, so it definitely doesn't fit through a door. My 2nd biggest complaint with it (after the kids comfort levels) is that I couldn't just wheel it easily into the garage without opening the large door. I'll have to get a box and see what the measurements are and how much material I'll eventually end up removing. If push comes to shove I'll just hack out the middle and then make a flat platform or a wood box with my tools. It might be a little heavier though.

V

AdamDZ

I've picked up three of these boxes today at Home Depot, just for storage. They're the "Tough Box" make. There are slight "cosmetic" differences between the "Strong Box Tote" (what I used for the trailer) and the "Tough Box". The grid on the lid is different and few finish details are different, but it won't make a difference for a trailer build since the dimensions are the same, the color and quality of the plastic are the same too. I'm going to turn one of these into a cart by adding a plywood base and casters. It will make it easy to move three of them stacked up.

AdamDZ

At its widest part, on the top, just under the lid it's 18" wide and 28.5" long. At its most narrow part, at the very bottom it's 15.5" wide and 25.5" long. Give or take 0.5" for margin of error, it's kind of hard to measure it exactly. You'll probably have it mounted in a about half-way, subtract about 1" from the largest dimensions.