Hi folks, last night I had an all out wrestling match with a box of hose clamps and guess what... I won! I now have a Wald 582 latched on to one side of my Topeak rack. (I have another one waiting in the wings, which I will probably install soon.) I used 5 hose clamps -- two on the top, one on the bottom, one as far back as possible, and another one in the middle. Doesn't seem like that basket is going anywhere anytime soon. Good stuff.

My only concern is -- when I close the basket to the side of the bike, I can't find any way to open it back up without using a flat head screwdriver. There just does not seem to be a way to wedge my stubby fingers in there to get the hook open.

I don't want to have to carry a screwdriver around just in case I need to open the baskets to carry something home!

Wald should put a wing on the back of the hook, that would give me some leverage and make it easier... I wonder if this is a mod I could do somehow...

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Incidentally, I just got the same basket last week and just installed it yesterday (I used zipties though) and I also find the latch too small and too tight and very difficult to unlatch, makes my fingers hurt since there is not much to grab indeed. I may just replace it with a larger one.

What helps is to squeeze the basket to relieve the tension on the latch, it is then a bit easier to unlatch.

I think my solution for now is going to be simply to unlatch the hook with my screwdriver at home, before leaving the house, if I'm going on a trip for which I plan on carrying anything around, and if I'm simply going on a random bike ride not carrying anything or picking anything up, hook it closed before leaving.

Last night I went on a short ride with the one basket hooked onto my left side to pick up some take-out from a local restaurant. The styrofoam take-out container fit perfectly in the basket, I guess they follow grocery bag standards. On the way home I carried the food and my 5 pound Fahgeddaboudit u-lock all in the basket on my left side and it didn't bother me that the load was unbalanced so that's no problem. And I like having the basket sticking out on the left forcing cars to give me a little more clearance. I actually felt safer with the basket sticking out -- something I hadn't anticipated. Props to Wald for designing such a great product and building it in the USA.