How to Collect More Things on a Bike
Summer is approaching, which could mean you are anxious to cycle long distances, perhaps ferrying many of your personal belongings to a beach, lake, or other distant, sun-drenched location. Or maybe you just want to cycle to the grocery store.
Whatever your plan, you will have to decorate your bike with some accessories to help you carry things. Here’s how you can adjust more travel gear so that you can leave your car in your driveway more often.
Prepare for mass production
Your sleek road bike will look a little bloated, so don’t expect it to look particularly cool. Just know that you can make up for the lack of style with efficiency. First, get a basket that you can attach to your handlebars. A great feature of baskets: you can put things in the basket that also carry other things, which no economical cyclist can refute.
Fortunately, most baskets are very easy to mount onto the handlebars using small latches that snap into place.
Get your cargo rack
Everyone loves cargo racks, which are less aesthetic cousins of baskets. They won’t break you either, as most cost between $ 35 and $ 50, but some can go up to $ 80 if you’re looking for something really durable.
Cargo racks are just platforms that you can use to carry things around, but they don’t really look like baskets in that you need to strap your belongings. Some easy setup is required , but this is something you probably haven’t done before if you’ve ever used a screwdriver. When it comes to stowing things on the rack, you will most likely need a tight fastener, such as an elastic cord or rope, to secure whatever you are trying to pack onto your bike, such as a gym bag. bag.
Extra things that cyclists love
Since you are always thinking about ride comfort, you probably want to buy a seat with a belt . It’s a nifty little pouch that you can put all sorts of all sorts of things in without jeopardizing your dynamics. You can store your keys there in addition to your wallet or phone if you choose more options.
If you’re really carrying a large load, Popular Science notes that hitching a trailer to the back of your bike is cool, but obviously only necessary if you’re cycling along a fairly straightforward and gentle route. This is also an option if you have children and want to use your trailer as a kind of stroller. It’s a more complicated process than installing a load strut, but installing a trailer should still be straightforward as it “usually attaches to a seatpost or axle on the rear wheel,” the journal notes.
Pannier bags are usually quite large, but there are different sizes to suit your needs. They are often thrown over the rear overhead bin, but can clip into the seat given their different shapes and sizes. Bicycling magazine best describes the breadth of these bags by writing in a 2016 post:
Coffee makers are incredibly diverse, from roomy waterproof bags like the Ortliebs to chic rack clip bags that hide inside a zippered compartment like the Basels.
You are a cargo rack yourself too
It cannot be overstated how important you are in this entire process. When cycling with a load of cargo, you can still carry a large backpack packed to the brim with a lot of different things. And when it comes to the unobstructed feel of riding upwind, always trust the waist pack.