zwel

I bought my basket at my local bike store for about $20. Then I bought 2 more (for my wife and my other bike) it the salvage store for $6 each. There is an easy removable attachment to the handle bar that the basket clips to. No tools needed. The basket is too wide for the handlebars on my road bike so I attach it to the rear rack with heavy duty bungee cords from the hardware store. The bike store recommended these. This makes carrying stuff much easier than using a back pack.

Mojo Slim

I hope to be joining this group soon. I had loaned my old bike, a Bianchi Eros, to a friend for the summer. He just got a new bike, so I got mine back. I plan on putting some flat pedals on (I have them already) and some other small changes. I can get to my bank, Safeway, Barber, Roundtable Pizza, McD's (etc), and many more and never get on a real road. We have bike/golf cart trails right to the parking lots. I will want to get a cyclometer to keep track of all the miles I'm not driving.

Burr

[QUOTE=Mojo Slim; Roundtable Pizza, McD's (etc), and many more and never get on a real road.

If you are going to eat that crap you "ain't" going to be on the group long.

Write a Will then eat away.

Mojo Slim

[QUOTE=Burr;7207465][QUOTE=Mojo Slim; Roundtable Pizza, McD's (etc), and many more and never get on a real road.

If you are going to eat that crap you "ain't" going to be on the group long.

Write a Will then eat away.[/QUOTE]

Ouch! Once a week is my "reward" for riding 7500 miles a year.

Burr

[QUOTE=Mojo Slim;7211761]That sounds good, you're doing better then I am.

DnvrFox

Don't be so dogmatic.

I eat at McD's

Breakfast - a side of scrambled eggs, low fat yogurt parfait

Lunch - Grilled chicken wrap, low fat ice cream (100 calories)

Dinner - one of their excellent grilled chicken salads (reviewed recently as "excellent" by AOL)

You just have to be careful.

Mark Turner

Congratulations. Your distance to the store is much greater than mine, so hopefully you'll be able to keep it up. We only do serious grocery shopping every couple of weeks and go to multiple stores. All are within 2 miles of the house, so several out and back rides is OK. I use a set of rear panniers and when the load is going to be bigger I also use a backpack. I can put 3 gallons of milk and a week's worth of produce in the panniers. Laundry detergent and 12-packs of beer go in the backpack along with boxes of cereal. Our bread outlet is about 7 miles away, so I stock up with all the panniers will hold -- 10 loaves -- and put them in the freezer. I've got about as many miles on my bike as on our around-town car this year.

Burr

[QUOTE=Mark Turner; I've got about as many miles on my bike as on our around-town car this year.[/QUOTE]

That's great Mark. I also try to ride my city bike as much as I can.

Rowan

Kirby, when you are able to ride to and from a social gathering on the other side of town either in the required attire, or at least taking it with you to change into and out of, you will have made it as a utlity cyclist who doesn't really need to own a car anymore.

Well done on getting to the first level of this life game.

I've gone several routes with carrying stuff on my bikes, including the milk crate which was practical but a bit kludgy for my liking. I use two panniers on a rear rack for my weekly shopping trips which are 50km return. I live by myself right now, but I suspect a trailer will be in order in the not too distant future as my household will double its personage.

I've attached some pictures of wire basket options that are available at an eBay shop in Australia. They might be a useful reference in looking for something more refined as an all-purpose carrier than a milk crate. I like the look of all these and will probably order one or more when I get back from my trip to North America in September.

The second picture in the set is a quick-release job. The third obviously is for hooking over handlebars. The fourth obviates the need for a separate rack altogether.

Note: The pictures have been taken from the eBay Australia site and have been used for educational purposes. I have no connection with eBay other than as a buyer, nor do I have any connection with the seller of the items.