The other half is commuting between work and class now and carrying a heavy backpack with laptop, books, etc. etc. Right now we have a rear rack, but it won't hold the bag. A decent sized front wire basket would be the right shape and size, but the bicycle has a suspension fork. We don't want anything removable; we don't want the parts removed by someone else and carrying a whole basket around all day is very inconvenient. Most rear baskets I see are twin, with two too-small deep baskets; what we need is shallow and broad with a decent load. Oh, and there's not a lot of distance between the rear axle and the back of the seat to play with and we've had issues with carriers before having to be moved away from the seatpost in order to not get pushed off during riding.
Any suggestions?

get a front basket and attach it on top of the rear rack . zip ties bailing wire etc.,

if fabricating is not in your skill set hire someone that can make things, for you.

Just get a basket from the trash.

Zip tie/clamp a plastic crate to the top and put the bag in there.


This is another option, you can buy the hardware from the city of portland for about $10 shipped. It will include everything needed with instructions. The only part you need to provide is the empty kitty litter bucket.

Not sure if it's large enough for you, but I have a couple of donkey boxxes (Google it) that I've been pretty happy with

Options:

https://www.amazon.com/BASKET-SUNLT-W...ar+bike+basket

Sunlite Rack Top Mesh Rear Basket - Steel, 16 x 13 x 8", Black

https://www.amazon.com/M-Wave-Rear-BA...AQ4PPCRAT43WXE

https://www.amazon.com/Basil-Cento-Re...9BP9A6ZSTXQDRC

Sun Heavy Duty Trike Basket - Vinyl Coated, Black

I actually have a Basil Cento (but aluminum) and would recommend it.

I also have Cento, though steel. In fact, I brought it from NL before it was possible to buy it on-line from US. Over time, I needed to build a platform, out of alu L-bars, supporting it from the bottom. Without it, the bottom sagged over time around the rear rack under the heavy load of the backpack.

Your rear rack stays sagged?

No, the outline of the basket bottom would sag below the very center supported by the rack. The bottom of the basket deforms over the time. The sides deform too, but the process is slower and the changed shape is there easier to tolerate. When the deformation occurs, the small eyes in the basket mesh may crack. Note that the latter cracking occurs for any basket out of the fine mesh that carries loads. After a while you can just replace the basket. At times I fixed the places that underwent particular damage - here I refer to the bike baskets in general under my care.

I have a wire basket, not a mesh one. How do you fix a mesh basket?

Here you have the photo, showing the frame supporting the bottom of the Basil. I used such frames for other loaded baskets and they have worked well for me. The rear of Basil has crumpled over time, as the backpack rested over it. You can see the cracked mesh in the corners. I rescued the back of the basket by riveting an alu sheet over it - it became stiff enough for any further crumpling problem to disappear.

Interesting. I had a similar problem with a BucaBoot (plastic, not metal) cracking where it projected (about 5 inches) behind the rear rack. My solution was to put a PVC 1x6 board underneath, for support. But it looks like aluminum might work, too.

But maybe you (and millions of others) need a single “Pannier/Tailbox” , which combines the top basket with the side panniers...



Deeper Panniers require a cut-out to prevent hee-strike.

M320 Pannier/Tailbox



Just a suggestion.

I’m waiting for industry to catch up. For now, it’s a DIY Project. You can buy corrugated plastic at Home Depot.



The M320 has 12° of taper for aerodynamic advantage.

This is a 16” cube, a standard size.

What does that look like on a bike?

Pannier/Tailbox with LED turn signals and lights

Thanks for reminding me, I forgot to post a picture. This is a demotored ebike, now become a mid-tail cargo bike.

-1 here. I need to be able to carry bulky luggage equally comfortably on my back and on the bike. Panniers do not help. One way to solve it is to have one or both wheels small and have the luggage ride above the small tire, with center of mass close to the ground then.

Well, you might as well get a bakfiets then. My pannier/tailbox ends the dilemma of choosing between saddlebags, or placing the basket on top of the rack... by combining both in one.

Obviously having more options is good. Incidentally, the last issue of Bicycle Quarterly has a reprinted article (from 50's) on the history of carrying luggage on bikes and the panniers evolved, from a box on top of the rack, to 2 bags low on the sides. My personal situation is like OP's, I carry a lot of stuff and it must be manageable on the ground and bike. Repacking is out of question. As to bakfiets, I put a large flat box onto a folder and it works that way. The screws for the box are tripod ones and can be unscrewed with hands only, to retain the folder's transportability.

Bicycle Quarterly • Summer 2021

Thanks for the reference material. Looks like leather was the bikers choice in the 1950’s.

My own experience with plastics has taught me, or brought me to realize, that injection molded plastic would involve high capital investment (at least ten times more $ in the US compared to Asia). And then there’s different sized bikes with different geometries , different handlebars, and different colors.
I am glad CitiBike and other bike sharing groups have rudimentary plastic parts on the handlebars and over the rear wheel. It makes my job much easier when I can tell a customer (who protests my projected prices), “If you can’t afford to buy, you can rent ... from CitiBike”.
Also, my fairing/pannier system is designed to carry a rain canopy on top, so the width has to be as wide as human shoulders.