I'm new to operating a bike for carrying anything useful. Also, I'm not much into bikes really, like those who populate this forum seem to be; and having owned this bike for 35 years, I will probably never be. I do think all the elements of bikes are marvelously ingenious though.

To add things to a bike you need to know if the mounting method that exact item uses will actually work on your bike. A lot of commercial illustrations leave that vague. These pictures try to make the mountings clear.

After 6 months or so of grocery carrying, the stock Raleigh rear carrier broke at its mounts under the load, usually including 2 gallons of milk for a distance of 3 to 8 miles, the locations depending on where the good prices were. It was pretty tough getting home that way.

I kludged something from what I had around, which should not fail in the same way, instead of buying some rack and hoping I could attach it properly. The rack has always swayed rather easily if you tugged on it sideways when loaded, but this fix is far firmer. It is still anything but rigid.

The bike:



milk crate mount and kludge:



front Wald basket:




You can see the headlight bracket goes through the basket, which you do with the headlight off the bracket. After you get the bracket through, you then put the headlight back on it.

Since I've had so much trouble with things getting loose and slipping, and no amount of tightening doing the trick, but only stretching the mounting loops, I always put something with a little give under anything that wraps around a tube. Something like a plastic strip cut from a plastic jar, a pop bottle, or milk jug; or vinyl electrical tape. This little bit of elasticity seems to be enough to keep the grip tight enough. It also keeps things from rubbing through the rust-******ing plating or paint.