Mark Mitchell wrote:

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On 2004-06-24, David Kerber wrote:

In article ,
says...

Ron Hardin wrote:


Trailers slow you down a lot. Factor that in to your desires.

An empty trailer isn't bad, and carrying lots of weight on the bike
isn't bad, but the combination of wind resistance from the trailer
and from the weight it carries tips the impression over the top that
you're really being slowed down.

So if you need gear, put a milk crate on a sturdy rear luggage rack
and do it that way. (I recommend a conventional rack with legs
PLUS the core innards of a seat-post rack under it, so it's stabilized
as firmly to the frame as possible; the latter prevents sway and the
former bears the weight.)

why on earth would you put a milk crate on your rack instead of pannier
bags?

To make it more theft resistant.


Plus a milk crate and some zip ties are *so* much cheaper.

Mark


The problem is that a milk crate on top of your rack puts your center of
gravity kind of high. Hang a milk crate off of each side of the rack
doubles the cargo space and keep the center of gravity low. Makes the
bike kind of wide though. Or you can use plastic buckets to make
panniers. See http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove/9Nov2002-04.JPG for some
rainproof panniers I made from cat litter buckets and a few dollars of
hardware.

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

"Americans are broad-minded people. They'll accept the fact that a
person can be an alcoholic, a dope fiend, a wife beater, and even a
newspaperman, but if a man doesn't drive there's something wrong with him."
Art Buchwald