Chr0m0ly 

I've been setting up a donated old school hybrid into a commuter bike, and in the meantime been going on 7 to 10 mile rides after work to get into cycling shape. My commute is 14.2 miles one way, an that's not a problem once, but getting back home had me a little concerned. So, at the moment I'm house sitting for friends that live 4 miles closer to my job, and I decided to try it while working some overtime on a Sunday. No else around to depend on me getting in at a certain time.

The ride in was beautiful! The ride home was too, for the first half. But I'm getting more wind every time I get out there.

I tried bungee cording my bag to my rack and it slid off halfway to work. I had a milk crate I was going to zip tie on, but it's just so damn tall, then I came across this little beauty!



Keeps the pack from bouncing out and the straps away from the wheels! I have a feeling it will be the most used and least expensive addition to the bike!

I know it's not the prettiest addition but I'm wicked stoked anyway, besides, it's way more streamlined then a milk crate would have been!

10 Wheels

Red is a good color for the rack.

rpcleary

Hey, it works! And it helps make you visible. +1

Chr0m0ly 

I should hang a truckers mud flap with the reclining girl decal off the back of that thing.

andyprough

Got to love a milk crate. I've got a nice big black one I zip-tie on occasionally. I like your low side-walls on this red one though - very handsome!

GriddleCakes

I had the same experience with milk crates: too tall to swing a leg over. Good score on the soda crate, the red really pops in contrast to that pretty blue frame. 14+ miles is a respectable commuting distance, good on ya!

Giant Doofus

Love it! Things that function well are beautiful to me.

schiiism

Amazon.com : Pyramid Bicycle Bungie Cargo Net, Black : Bike Car Rack Accessories : Sports & Outdoors

This has been such a lifesaver for me. Very easy to use, and if your backpack were a tad smaller you could oust the crate completely. I strap my bag directly to the rack with the net and have never had problems.

Chr0m0ly 

but then where do you put your case of Guinness black lager?
I have a motorcycle version of that net, but its to big for the bike, thanks for that link!
I may try direct to rack with a different bag, but this crate keeps the straps out the spokes too. And its growing on me. I work in a research institution and you see a LOT of wacky bike set ups (scientists!) and this thing fits right in.

TransitBiker

Nice one!!

I have two milk crates, the lettering is reflective(!) but they are tall as you said, so i'm saving them for specific uses.

I need to get a pack of really durable zip ties, as the pack i have now seem to have oxidized (yellowed) and are far more brittle than they used to be. Then i need to find an old bread/beverage tray like that one haha.

- Andy

andyprough

Get the black ones. $2 for a pack of about 50 at Walmart or Home Depot or wherever. They seem more durable to me than the white ones. Also, they aren't as noticeable on your bike - can't hardly see them from a few feet away.

TransitBiker

I do not even go inside wallyworld, and i always hit up local hardware stores before resorting to any chains.

I've noticed the black ones in more heavy duty applications.

- Andy

andyprough

That's probably one big difference between Newtown and the South Austin suburbs. I'd have to travel so far to find a local hardware store it would hardly be worth the trouble or cost of getting there. I live in big-box store city. I've been to Newtown quite a few times with my kids - nice place!

sportsfan266

Where can you find one of those soda crates? I have one of the Avenir excursion bags right now but attaching/detaching the velcro is really annoying after a while and I wish I could just throw my backpack into something like that and go.

Chr0m0ly 

I found mine in my basement but if you Ebay "Vintage plastic coke tray" you get this:
Old Vintage Plastic Coca Cola Coke Soda Bottle Crate Carrier Open Box Red | eBay

They've switched over to cardboard so they're getting scarce, I think Pepsi still uses them.

TransitBiker

Thanks, trying to keep it that way w/ zonig etc.

Ironically enough i've been to TX, san antonio. The "texas big" nature seems to lend itself to big box shopping plazas. Here we have beaches down on new falls road, and newtown hardware house on state street in newtown borough. Then there al the mom & pop tru valu's etc dotted here and there. Thankfully we've only lost ONE hardware store since e moved here in 88. It was in a strip of shops that fell once wal mart opened nearby.

- Andy

TransitBiker

There are tons of all kinds of old odds and ends around here, sometimes in larger quantities just sitting outside forgotten in the back of some place. This area (within 40 miles) is a mix of colonial, rust belt, rural & farms, post-war suburban, 70's-now suburban, urban of varying density, re-purposed manufacturing, heritage manufacturing (been there long time), new things, abandoned things, and colleges/universities. You would be surprised at the things you can find without the assistance of an ebay or an amazon.

- Andy

andyprough

My closest locally owned hardware store is 16 miles away. Not worth the trip for a couple of small items. But within 5 miles I've got two Walmarts, two Targets, two Home Depots and a Lowe's. Kind of weird, but that's a big difference between small-town Pennsylvania and big-city Texas.

TransitBiker

I think the community here is a bit different as well, with generations of the same families going back to the late 1600's. I mean, there's a wrightstown next to newtown, and i personally knew 4 of the wrights of historic lineage.... 2 of which i went to high school with. My grandfather's family goes back generations including the first one that came here from europe in the very early 170x's and granted land for a farm by the governor. Out west you have a mix of people from everywhere due to multiple different reasons.

In TX you're lucky though, as there are not a lot of built up/urban areas with big hills, whereas here has a few foothills if you wanna call them that, related to the nearby Appalachian mountains.

This whole region was a dynamo during the industrial revolution, hence many generations staying in place, taking the shop/trade/ over from their parents be it mining or a farm or grocery or dry goods etc.

Finding an old anything here to use on your bike is fortunately very commonplace due to all of this.

- Andy

andyprough

Yup, I know the area well. I lived in Western PA near Latrobe in middle school, and have done business travel extensively around eastern PA as an adult. When my kids were very young I used to take them to Newtown around Christmas time for all the cool shopping and the great food.