Our new cargo bucket panniers, though large, don’t extend the overall width of the bike (since they jut out as far as the handlebars).
Like most cargo bike riders, I gather, I’m on a perpetual quest for more carrying capacity. The questions, alas, that always arise when a new basket or contraption is considered are:
– How bulky will this make my bike?
– How much more weight will it add to our already considerable load?
– How will it affect the balance, steering and weight distribution of the bike?
– How much will the new item(s) cost?
After trying a number of different homemade baskets, racks, and panniers (as cataloged on this blog), I decided to try something new.
My friend Seth, who has an awesome dutch bike he uses to expertly ferry his kiddos and cargo around town, offered to get me a pair of plastic buckets similar to his vertical rear-mounted ones (these are commonly known as Kitty Litter Bucket Panniers). I said yes, enthusiastically, but didn’t quite know how I would mount them on our Yuba Mundo, or how I would deal with having even more weight on the back end of our already back-heavy ride.
Well, when Seth gave me the buckets, it just clicked–I can try angling them forward a bit and putting them up front! The top tube and down tube of the Mundo already come with pre-drilled braze-on screw holes (to attach a BreadBasket front cargo rack) so much of the work was already done for me (which I always appreciate).
I just drilled 2 holes on the inside of each bucket after angling them optimally (for me, it’s about 45 degrees, but each bike, handlebar setup, and rider’s leg length will present a different choice), added a washer on the end of each screw for support, and voila! Here’s a view of the inside wall of one of the buckets with screws in place:
I like the 45-ish degree angling of the buckets for a couple of reasons. One, it’s a bit more aerodynamic than having them completely vertical. Two, it keeps items safer from shifting and slamming up against the lid than if they were horizontal. Three, I feel it just looks a little cooler (granted, “cool” is a very relative term on a big industrial bike sporting large white plastic buckets).
Coolness aside, though, I must say that having a waterproof way to transport things is nice!
So far, I’ve ridden a fair amount with the boxes full, and I’ve been quite pleased! Each one can hold 4 gallons. I’ve had large milk jugs and full coffee carafes in them, which are quite heavy. A recent grocery haul of a bunch of bananas, a bag of green beans, 5 apples, some carrots, and a large container of yogurt took up about a quarter of the capacity.
I also drilled small holes on the top edge of each bucket and on the bottom edge of each lid and secured them with zip ties. This way, the lids can be looser by sitting on top of the buckets (instead of being tightly wedged close) to make for easy opening and closing, while gravity still keeps them in place and the angling keeps them from blowing open.
The last things I added were these cardboard wine box bottle dividers, flattened, and tabbed together to form a kind of self-ratcheting tubular lining for the buckets. These keep the contents from moving around too much (a necessity considering the sheer amount of easily-bruisable bananas I buy on a weekly basis). It’s like a really, really low-budget compression sock for your groceries and miscellaneous items. Also, like the buckets themselves, they’re recyclable!
Here’s the view from the saddle. My knees have just enough clearance, and–with two large white cubes at the front of the bike–our ride is now even more visable to oncoming traffic. Really, though, I just want to give you a sense of scale, here.
So, overall, I’m quite happy with these odd little contraptions. To answer the questions I posed at the beginning of this post, they:
–Add little bulk, and no width, to the bike!
– Weigh very little (when empty, at least!)
– Help the balance and weight distrubution by shifting more weight from the overloaded rear to the front, all while not hampering steering (since they’re attached to the frame, not the handlebars or wheel), and…
– They cost almost nothing!
8legs2wheels 