Front Load Basket or Rack
 

I am looking for a front load basket or rack that is wide enough for my briefcase, 15" and sturdy enough to hold it with a few books, laptop, etc in it. Here are several ideas in the general vein of what I am looking for:
http://copenhagenparts.com/products/bike-porter (this is $$$, and not strong enough)
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...lle/belleville (can the front rack be purchased separately?)

Thanks all!

what kind of budget are you looking to stay within?

What kind of bike are you mounting it on? Wald Baskets are probably the best bang for the buck out there. However not all bikes will take kindly to loading up the front wheel, it can greatly affect handling. Also baskets like the original Walds cannot be mounted on a suspension fork.

Aaron :)

I've had both racks and baskets and for something like a computer I'd go with a rack that you can bungee. With a basket when you hit bumps everything jumps in the basket.
Why not a rear rack?

http://waldsports.com/index.cfm/wald135basket.html
^^^^
If you are looking for a basket with stabilizer legs.

http://www.dutchbikeco.com/_product_...cles_Transport
^^^
If you are looking for serious hardcore front racks they will sell you one that attaches to the down tube for $150.00
The down tube attachment is nice because the bed stays level independent of the position of the fork.

http://antbikemike.wordpress.com/racks/
^^^
And A.N.T. sells a verity of front flatbed racks from $40 to $150.

I prefer the load in front of me for weight and keeping an eye on it.
The custom ones by ANT are terrific looking but pricey and the site says they only build them for ANT bicycles. Wald are nice, but I like the stronger tubing offered by Copenhagen, ANT, or the trek Belleville.
Thanks all for your help on this.

I have one of the Copenhagen racks. It weighs about 10 pounds but is rated for 50+ of cargo.
It does have a quick release (of sorts) and it takes about a second to remove/attach it.

AllenG,

What Copenhagen rack do you have? The one I found was integrated with the handlebar.

http://www.dutchbikeco.com/_product_...cles_Transport
The one pictured on this bike.
There is a mounting bracket on the down tube that consists of a piece of pipe cut in half (which rests on top of the down tube) with two sleeves welded to either side. The rack proper has two tines that slide into the sleeves.