On Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at 7:38:13 PM UTC-5, James wrote:
On 30/1/19 10:05 am, wrote:
For awhile after my concussion I lost my driver's license and so did
all of my traveling and grocery shopping on a Schwinn Voyager. I
mounted a rack and that wasn't very successful since grocery bags
fall apart. Then I got a handlebar bag of the little old lady kind
that was like heavy screen metal. The Chinese were selling something
similar made out of bamboo that looked like wood. As long as you
weren't carrying a load this worked out. Now I see that you can get
something seminar to fit on the rear rack.

I tried saddlebags but my heels kept hitting them and the bike would
rock around. I don't remember how I handled the long distance touring
but everything must have been tied down pretty tightly.

In any case, after I got my license back I sold the grocery bike off.
The good point about it was that it didn't look worth stealing and so
I could park it in front of a store and just put a lock through the
wheels.

Now that I'm trying to sell off a large part of my inventory I'm
thinking of getting another grocery bike. I'll have some room for it.
The store furthest away from me is next to the drug store I use and
that is only a mile and a half away. The store I use most often is
only half a mile away.

I am now thinking that it is rather silly to be driving to a store
that close.

The problem is - do you continue to use a bike for shopping after the
immediate idea that driving there is dumb? Some of you probably have
some experience with this - what is your take?


I don't like having to start a car for a short trip I could easily make
by bike. While I was living in Brisbane I bought a Bob-Yak trailer, and
with that I could tow at least 20 kg of groceries behind a mountain
bike. I also hitched it to the road bike a couple of times to go to
shops much further away when there was something not very heavy to bring
back.

The benefit of the trailer is that it is not a special bike for
shopping. It is a shopping trolley you can use an appropriate bike to tow.

--
JS

That is very true about the trailer. I'd love to use one on my bike but I live in an apartment that's not ground floor and often the elevator is DOA. That would mean me having to take the groceries upstairs then the trailer and then my bike. With the panniers (or wire baskets when I had those) I can put the tires on the side support for the stairs (it's flat and about 2.5" wide) and push the bike up. I can lock the wheels with the brakes if I need to rest. However a trailer with a cargo box has the advantage that you can load it almost instantly.

Cheers