How to carry stuff by bike

Courtesy of BTA -- Portland, Oregon.

Do you want to bike to work, to the store, to the farmer's market, but can't figure out how to carry all your stuff?

Here's a run down of different ways to carry different things, in order from the cheapest and quickest to the most expensive and comprehensive.

A Bag
Use what you've got! Somewhere in your closet you have a backpack or a shoulder bag that will work. The upside is that it's cheap, and you already own it. The downside is that your back will get sweaty, and you might not want to have lots of weight high up on your bike (it feels more stable to have it low). I once moved a vacuum cleaner in an internal frame backpack. Worked fine.

Messenger bags are nice if you need regular access to them (that's the point - messengers can easily swing them around and pull things out of them) but some people find them uncomfortable when they are heavily loaded.

Laptops and other electronic equipment should generally go in a bag on your body, because your body absorbs all the little vibrations from the road.

A front basket

Baskets can be pretty cheap. The cheap plastic or straw ones can't take much weight, but more expensive metal ones, installed by a mechanic, can be braced against your bike frame and can take more weight.

It's not a good idea to put heavy things (milk, eggs, squash, all but the tiniest dogs) in a front basket, because then your steering is weighted. Meaning, every time you turn your handlebars, you are also moving that weight around. But light things (lettuce, sweaters, chihuahuas) are fine.

A rear rack

A rack installed on the back of your bike greatly increases your options. You can use it alone and just bungee things to it (and some racks have a jaw-like spring-loaded clamp you can put things under). Or you can attach things to it…

A rear basket

Once you have a rear rack on your bike, get a cheap milk crate and four zip ties, and attach it. Make sure to attach it far enough away from your seat to leave room for your butt. You can put fairly heavy things in this basket, but they will make your bike a little top heavy.

Panniers or saddlebags

I'll tell you a secret: panniers ARE saddlebags. They are just french saddlebags. And they are pronounced "pann-yurs" in English (if you want to sound high falutin, and have noone understand what the hell you're talking about, pronounce them "pann-yay").

The price range for panniers is big. Panniers hang onto the side of your rack, and hook on below to keep from swinging.

At the low end are used cloth or canvas panniers (check Craigslist.org for used bike gear). Cloth panniers can always be waterproofed with the addition of a plastic garbage bag. Also fairly cheap are simple plastic panniers, or plastic Citybikes bike buckets (pictured below, along with an expensive but awesome Ortlieb pannier).

Some desireable features that start to cost more are waterproofness, bright colors, reflective patches, over-the-shoulder straps for easy carrying, bomb-proof attachment pieces, lifetime guarantees, and lots of little cool pockets for commuter supplies.

You can put lots of weight in panniers because they are fairly low on your bike. You can use just one pannier, but the more weight you put in it, the more imbalanced your bike will feel, particularly when you are stepped off of it. It is a little safer to have even weight on both sides, but not essential.

The trailer

There's a great deal of range in trailers too. Few of them are cheap, however, but good deals can be had on used trailers through Craigslist. Cloth trailers can carry LOTS of weight, more groceries than you probably ever buy in one trip, but they are generally not sturdy enough for furniture. And if they are not meant for children, don't put your children in them.

Trailers that are specifically for children are a little more expensive, and often have seats and belts and orange safety flags.

Some trailers include a special hitch attached to your seat post, others can be attached to any bike very quickly, with no tools.

For very very heavy things, there are cargo trailers. These have solid bottoms and are often rated up to hundreds of pounds.

In general, when pulling a trailer, you want a bike with many low gears (like a mountain bike), and you need to remember to leave much more stopping distance.