For some reason, I dug out one of my OLD fat-tire bikes to ride to church this morning and do some shopping afterwards. The bike has a big wire side-saddle rear basket - very heavy duty. It has been years since I rode this bike, but it sure reminded me of how functional the old side-saddle wire baskets are.

Look at the list of items I bought and carried with me on one single trip:

40 lbs dog food
1 gallon milk
six pack German beer (in bottles)
12 pack of ramen noodles.
one dozen eggs
3 lbs sausages
2 canisters cake frosting
100/pc box of tea.
2 jars of jelly

Sure, many of us have hauled more, but it all fit so easily. The basket just swallowed all those groceries.

Let me mention a bit about my shopping experience. First, I went to Aldi's grocery store. Have any of you been there? Wow, what a minimalist experience. You have to make a $0.25 deposit for the shopping cart. All the goods are stacked on pallets on the floor. The stacks make the isles. Most of the products were either private label or some other kind of house brand (I like that - often made by the smaller producers). You have to pay cash - no credit cards allowed. No bags - you are welcome to use the empty product boxes. You can buy plastic bags for your groceries if needed. I am not complaining. The prices were sure reasonable and the store was clean. I guess I would go back. It was my first time there.

From there, I went to the local pet store. This was a locally owned small pet store rather than a Big Box pet store. I like to shop at the locally owned stores and buy local/small owner products when possible. Anyway, the store owner hoisted the 40 lbs of dog food onto his shoulder and hauled it outside for me. I told him it was the first time anyone carried a purchase out to my bicycle for me. He smiled and gently loaded it onto my rear basket. Then he asked if he could hold my bike while I strapped the big bag of dog food onto it. I said "sure!" and was glad to have the help.

Of course, hauling nearly 60 lbs of food on an old fat-tire single speed coaster brake steel bike is quite a chore. Still, it was a smooth ride - a little slower than doing it on a rode bike, but not unreasonable.

By the way, none of the eggs were broken from the trip.

http://www.memorylane-classics.com/i...et%20large.JPG

Those are great baskets for hauling stuff. I've got an old POS Walmart style mountain bike I picked up for $25 used that I outfitted with wire baskets like those on the rear and a big wire basket on the front. That bike can haul a ton of groceries!

-Darren

Here is a link for anyone interested in purchaing:

http://store.bicyclerevolution.com/walatwcarebi.html

I have a friend who uses those, they kick butt! They're the bomb!

- hmm... too expensive for me at $32...

- i have a $11.95 pair of large wire baskets that clamp separately to a rear rack, but fold flat when not in use... they're heavy, but up to the task of carrying heavy loads... (don't know about 60 lbs. of dog food though!)

:-)

- but i guess the Wald basket looks like it would handle a very good load!

Linux, where did you get the folding baskets for $11.95? I had a bike with folding baskets once. The old fashioned side-saddles carry more stuff, but I like the folding basket idea.

By the way, Memory Lane has the side-saddles priced at $25.00. See www.memorylane-classics.com

Mike

Yes, do tell us where to find them. They would look a bit silly on my touring bike, but would certainly get the job done. :)

I adore the folding baskets that I got from www.SportsBay.com. They're not just giving them away, but I love how they fold up when not in use, etc. I needed a rack also, so I got their deal of a rack and two baskets, though you can buy just the baskets.

Way cool, Mike, that you had so much basket fun and productivity!

I have the Wald front basket on our Electra Sunny Garcia. The side baskets might be a little wide for our little garage. Baskets are great for shopping.

I used to use one of those fold-up wire baskets. It was terrible. The galvanized metal would "rust" making it hard to move up and down. The soldered wires eventually broke. The little clip was always cutting into me when I tried to lock it down. The basket was heavy, and couldn't be removed easily when unneeded. The inflexible metal would only hold so much -- no give.

The grocery paniers sold by Performance (think Nashbar too) are much better. Nothing to get rusty. Lightweight. Holds about 20 lbs. On/off in 15 seconds. Comes with a carrying strap so you can use it as your shopping bag.

Wow, what a freighter! You should hire your services out as a moving company. You could carry the fridge AND the piano!

congrats Mike...that looks like a bigger one than mine, but I can put two twelve-packs and $40 worth of food in, and on mine, too!!

by the way......bungees help too

I think those side baskets were once called *paper boys*? I've never had a set, but have always wanted to try them.

I have had Wald baskets before-- front and back. I loved them. I ride to work with a rack/trunk now and it's OK because I park inside. If you're a sudent and you're thinking about hauling books, get the single Wald rear rack mounted basket and toss in your backpack full of books. Bungee it down, ride to school, lock the bike, take your backpack to class. I think bikes with baskets are less likely to get swiped because it makes them look like granny bikes.

I used to put my empty backpack and 3 colth bags in the back basket and ride to the supermarket, fill all three bags and backpack with food, put one bag in the front basket, the other two in the back basket, wear the backback and ribe home. I thought I was really clever until.....

I got a roommate from Kenya who rode home one day on an old bike he had found in the trash carrying a 8 ft. 2"X6" and a 18" wide roll of scap carpet on his sholder. He took that old single speed (a *hawththorne*) and attached 2 plastic tubs to the rear rack and one to the front bars. I think these tubs were used to ship drywall compound in originally-- he got all this stuff from the dumpster at his constuction job. The guy's name was Noah-- I don't remember his last name. He didn't really use one. Maybe he was an illegal immigrant or an outlaw on the run, I don't know. Maybe Kenya isn't a last name sort of place. But he had a gentle heart and a good nature to him and he loved bicycles. Looking back, he could have been an angel for all I know.

So he comes back from the supermarket with the bike loaded to the hilt, uses the 2"X6" as a ramp up the steps, unrolls the carpet though the boarding house to the kitchen and rides the bike straight to the fridge. The guy was so crazy smart with stuff like this; as well as being the best urban cyclist I've ever known. Plywood, live geese, sick little brother-- anything could be carried on a bike!

Years later I was riding past the old house and I saw the Hawthorne still chained outside on the porch rail. It had a different rear wheel and a new sticker that said *beer runner* on the top tube, but the bike was still basicly the same old clunker I grew to know and love. The Bart Simpson action figure was still wired to head tube, same cracked black rubber grips on the handle bars, same faded red paint. I stopped and asked the current residents about it and nobody knew whose bike it had been. They had found a key in a kitchen cabinet to the padlock with a note saying the bike belonged to house and anybody could use it. The note also warned that God tossed bike thieves into the pits of hell and that the bike was needed at the house for some mission in the future that only God currently knew about. I knew Noah had written the note-- No one else would I have ever known would think God had instucted them to leave an old dumpster bike at a boarding house.

I'm not the kind of guy to cry in frount of stangers, so I thanked the housemates and quickly rode off, stopping at a couple of the old stomping grounds I shared with Noah-- Spuds fish n' chips and Green lake park. I saw the past filtered though the current fall sunlight-- the world turned sepia. For maybe the first time in my life I felt a sharp heart felt pain for my lost youth.

If anybody knows where Noah is or God's hidden plan for the Hawthorne, please private message me.

p.s. Mike, I'm sorry to hijack your very cool topic with this crazy story.

tacomee, I love your story about Noah. Thanks for letting us in on it!

Ya know, Tomcryar, it is getting to be where I can almost get $40.00 worth of food in my two front pockets!

Wow, Tocomee, that is a great story and very well written! I love it.