What I typically do to avoid this particular situation is to use my own reusable bags and pack my own. Saves time and makes it a lot easier. The reusable bags I have are a bit taller than the normal brown paper bag.

Aaron

Whoa, my Surly rack didn't come with mounts like those lower ones! All of mine were just like the top pieces in you picture.

Those are the mounts it came with, after a bit of metal was removed.

1987 Kuwahara Cascade - fixed gear conversion with 110 litres of panier space filled to the max.

I need to get some front paniers now.

Took me awhile to figure out how to carry stuff on a rear-suspended recumbent. With the Wald basket
hanging off of the seat, now it's utilitarian ... for real ...

Basket(s) add mucho utility to any kind of bike, with minimum trouble or cost, at least where baskets are available.

Below is my wife's current utility bike which she loves because at last she has a comfortable full size bike, with a low seat where she has no problem reaching the ground when stopping. Next door neighbor had this bike outside for the last 5 years and asked me if I wanted it for free. I added the basket and bell which I had bought while in Germany. My wife doesn't care what it looks like and she uses it to ride to the local hospital for volunteer work, 12 mile R/T.

I will be getting those soon. With the rack I am looking at it will be a great utility bike. The hooks attach to the rack frame and carry any bag, including those canvas style grocery bags. You can see this done with plastic bags in the last picture.

Ah I see, I thought I had been shorted!

Just another run to the store. Nothing to see here. Move on.

There are a lot of things to like about this set up, but the thing that really catches my attention are the handy bits of firmware on the bottom of the baskets, and on the rack. overall I really like the elegant homebrew stylin'! And great mudflap, too.

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.

2006 specialized stumjumper, surly instigator fork, xtracycle freeradical, homebuilt racks and bags, skateboard snapdeck, brooks b-17, on one mary bars, home built 25 watt halogen headlamp, continental town and country tires. [IMG][/IMG]

Love it. Looks like Death just rolled into town on an Xtracycle. Rock on!

Here's me Cetma Rack and what it can do
More Pics

I love how you just smash the **** out of stuff. If I even think of handling my wife's bananas with any less care than I would a baby, my wife would kill me. I love the setup though.

I think Cetma racks have industrial-strength sexiness, and I love your bike.

I'm a basket guy, though. It's a form of laziness. Just chuck stuff in and go. Tomorrow I'll post my new/old beater basket bike.

EDIT: Well tomorrow turned into a week later, but here is my latest junk love:

still needs better lights and fenders.

more pictures...

Something tells me you are a long and tall Texan, jmonkey.

Love the swoopy seat stays.

Is that a KHS frame?

My new cargo bike:



The Sturmey Archer hub really isn't working for me though. Seriously thinking of going NuVinci.

IRO Rob Roy

My Kogswell is designed to carry heavy front loads, but didn't do so well with loads both front and rear. After a lot of adjustments failed to correct the problem, I thought adding an Xtracycle might smooth things out. So far it seems to be working.



The magic of the Xtracycle seems to have cured the front end wobble on this machine. This load -- a week's worth of vegetables, a gallon of milk, and various and sundry bits of clothing unneeded or unworn -- is my largest regular cargo. Once a week we make the 14-mi round trip to our CSA pickup and haul home our bounty. In the fall it's much bigger. But it's the milk that usually tips the scales. With the Xtracycle I barely felt like I was carrying anything. I have yet to try it out with a full camping load but I have high hopes at this point.

Installing the Xtracycle unit on this bicycle was relatively uneventful. The Kogswell uses 650B wheels, which are slightly larger than 26" wheels (650B=584mm ø, 26"=559mm ø). I used a 26" Xtracycle and a V-brake, and with a little filing of the brake arm slots, the brake shoes met the rim just fine. I think I voided several warranties in the process, but if I run into any difficulty I reckon I can switch to a 26" wheel and a big fat tire on the rear.

I failed to notice the track ends, staring only at the curved seat stays.

Hey, I've seen you before, at the bike swap at the bike kitchen. You had a bike frame strapped to the top.
I too had an xtracycle with a frame strapped to the top at that time.