Where to put my wallet?
I have been trying to do all of my errands by bicycle this month. I have my grocery panniers mounted all of the time so I can just zip out anytime. What I miss is my rack pack, the place where I normally keep my cellphone, wallet, iPod Touch, sun glasses, and wind breaker.
Yesterday, I did a little digging in the old bike gear storage area and found a Cannondale handle bar bag. It attaches nicely to back of the Slipstream seat and provides a handy spot for small items when I have the Grocery panniers mounted.
If you have trouble with the bag moving a couple of rubber bands or wire ties will fix the problem.
Roland, the bike looks good. Congrats on doing your shopping by bike. My question is, “how often do you go to the grocery store?” I ride my bike to the store as well, but because I can’t carry as much, I usually go to the store every 3 or 4 days. How often do you go?
Darren Alff
April 16, 2009 at 1:01 pm
Darren
I like to buy fresh vegetables every 2 days, 3 days at the most. That keeps my loads small … under 4 six packs or 3 bottles of wine. Food is seldom the heavy part of my load.
The bag of cat crunchies is probably the biggest thing I carry but beer is definitely the heaviest.
Roland
Roland
April 16, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Hello, I too own a Slipstream, and i wanted to add information to your ‘grocery’ trip.
Beer run load.
I use Arkel RT-60′s and on a trip to get supplies for a party I stopped at the beer store & Liquor store to load-up.
I was able to fit:
-3 cases of beer (36 cans)
-3 cases of coolers (18 Vodka coolers glass bottles)
-6 ‘Large-ish’ Cans of Long-Island ice tea (750ml each)
My Arkel Tailrider was still empty, and there was a little bit of room left, but not much.
It equated to a lot of weight, but the bike was solid and stable.
P.S. I am not an alcoholic, these were just supplies for my Father-in-laws birthday party.
=)
P.P.S. love the site.
Matthew
April 18, 2009 at 10:47 pm
That is an impressive load. Glad to hear neither of us are alcoholics .. smile.
Those are pretty impressive panniers, Arkel RT60. I though seriously about buying a set but have never seen them so I stayed with the Jandds.
I was wondering how the shape would worked out for self contained touring. I’d love to see some pictures of them and what they can carry. What you think of the workmanship?
When things get that heavy I switch to my BicycleR Evolution Trailer ( Recumbents and Trailers). That’s what I should have used when I cycled Newfoundland.
Thanks for the comments … dying to hear about your RT060s.
Roland
April 19, 2009 at 11:48 am
You can see some pics here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/o2kewl/LongbikesSlipstreamBurleyTailRider?feat=directlink
I don’t have any photos showing packing capacity though.
Matthew
April 19, 2009 at 1:44 pm
The quality appears to be very high. I was impressed with the mechanics of the unit.
1) The ratchet-release device is VERY clever. If I had (a) smaller hands or (b) didn’t have the TailRider then it would be very easy to attach/detach the panniers.
IMHO the attachment mechanism is perfect for taking the bags off the bike to go grocery shopping with.
2) the bag has internal supports (straps, metal framing, and quick-release buckles that keep the bag ‘in-shape’ even when you do overload it.
3) the sleeping mat attachment is brilliant, but looks horrible when empty. Solution: I took a cardboard box, flattened it out, and placed that inside the vertical bag. This give the bag some structure and I store my wet-weather clothes in there.
Advice: get the water-proof covers with the bag. The only cost ~$15 and are worth it.
Matthew
April 19, 2009 at 2:26 pm