Interesting take on 'Home Made panniers'
 

Was googling about on an unrelated topic and came across this dudes site.http://bike-recumbent.com/ I actually have one of these buckets in the garage and was looking at it a moment ago when I stepped out to have a smoke. While not looking that it would work so great on the rear of my bike with the rack I currently run( size 14 , guarantee heel strike would happen) some one with small feet might be able to use it on the rear. Could possibly be configured to work on the front as well. Neat idea though particularly as he's using it on a recumbent.

Don't know if it had been shared before.

Neat. 20 plus shipping from mcmaster.

Keep in mind McMaster Carr is a wholesale place, mainly sells to businesses.

You can buy those things just about anywhere. The better quality ones will come from a janitorial supply house. I have seen them at WM in the past.

Aaron:)

Hello Littlefoot,

Nice job on those headlamps,
very clever.

Cheers.

http://www.bikebins.com/

These are more expensive but waterproof. They say it's ideal for laptops and whatnot. Made in the UK. They have shoulder straps and can come off independently. What I think is super cool is that they come with a key. So, you can lock em to your rack, then lock em closed.
My $.02
~Dylan

I have the bike bins mentioned above: they are really useful, but they cannot be locked to the pannier frame with the key supplied. The lock only locks the pannier lid shut; to lock them to my bike I thread a cable lock through the handles. I bought mine from the makers at a decent discount because they were 'second quality'. I cannot find any fault with them at all, so their quality control standards must be very high indeed. The bins are very quick to fit and remove, and the shiny surface easily takes high-visibility tape. They have a great flat top for strapping on other articles, and are weatherproof.

They are an excellent piece of design, with the only drawback being that they make a slight drumming noise when empty. This is exaggerated on my bike as it is a trike and the panniers are close to my head, so a rider of a conventional bike would probably not notice this.

Ah, I see. I read a review of them in a magazine called.... well I guess I can't remember what the magazine was called but it's also a UK publication.
They definitely seem like a good buy. Do you know if the $60 dollar listing price was for each or a pair?

http://www.citybikes.coop/buckets.html
Another cool item from a local bike shop here are the City Bikes buckets.

~Dylan

do they mount to a standard rear rack or do they require a touring type low rider rack?

I used these buckets obtained at Family Dollar a year or so ago. Less than $10.00 for the pair and I attached them with industrial grade zip ties. I have carried up to about 50 pounds in them with no trouble. I never did make a lid for them. I just used a plastic bag. I moved them back to solve the heel strike problem but I have smallish feet (size 9).
I have since replaced them with Wald folding baskets.

They are not near as handy nor do they carry as much but they do fold. I may go back to the buckets as they more convenient.:)

Looks like an excellent solution for my grocery mobile. Do you have any close-up pictures of where and how you attached the zip ties? Looks like you don't have a standard rack. And how do you tell the difference between industrial grade and normal zip ties?

I might run into the heel strike problem with my Sasquatchian feet but we'll have to see how it goes.

You are right about the rack it's homemade from an old bike frame and a used up skateboard. I had drilled a series of holes along the edge to hook bungees and I fed the zip ties through those.

The term "industrial zip ties" is just a figure of speech meaning good quality. The Family Dollar packs are pretty light weight. I keep some heavy weight and the cheepo light weights on hand. I've never had one break but I suspect I have pushed the upper limit.

I don't have any close up pictures of the attachment but when I attached the buckets to a standard rack later I just drilled holes where ever I needed them. I have used as little as three but normally I tend to overkill.

Someone mentioned the plastic "drumming" when empty and they do that but I just throw my backpack in one and my empty reusable bags in the other and that seems to take care of it.

By the way they are lighter than the $40.00 steel baskets but if you don't drill drain holes in the bottom they get heavy fast in a rain storm.:o Also like a pickup truck bed they tend to collect stuff. :innocent::D

Thanks, Oldfool. I'll give it a try once I've finished writing all those term papers. Whenever that may be. Sigh.