Chapter nine of Bike Easy is about how to carry stuff by bike. Trust me on this: sooner or later every cyclist will want to carry a sizeable load. It starts off innocently enough – a few sweets in your pockets, a newspaper stuffed down the back of your trousers, a pullover draped casually over your shoulders… Then, before you know it, you’ve got two carrier-bagfuls of shopping swinging from your handlebars. This is when things get difficult. The bags act as pendulums, constantly tugging your steering out of line and banging your shopping against the wheels, where the spokes nibble away at it. If you make it home you’ll find that your lettuce has been shredded, your salami sliced and your eggs scrambled.
Everyday forms of luggage such as shopping bags, handbags and briefcases – even rucksacks and shoulder bags – aren’t particularly easy to use on a bike. It’s much better to use equipment designed for the bike. And there’s an extensive range to choose from.
Properly equipped, your bike is a veritable workhorse, capable of carrying up to ten times its own weight. People have moved house by bike! You’re unlikely to want to do that, but, with the proper gear, you can transport all your bits and pieces easily and with very little extra effort. More>>>
