When I got my bike last year, I needed a new basket for it - having given old ones away with previous bike and because of inability to use panniers or backpack with childseat. I ended up getting quite a generic black metal one, but it always made the handle bars very heavy and unbalanced, and the bracket was wearing a trough in the paint. So, in the autumn, I splurged on a Klickfix Reisenthel Bike basket. I got the boring black (my bike is an icky blue), but I love the red and the patterned versions. It really is nifty, and just thought I should put in a good word for it. It is much lighter, and much better balanced - no more wild swerves. But in googling to find the right website, I also found a reference to this basket which is also rather nifty and a fraction of the price. However, the Reisenthel is definitely suited for carrying lots of small bits, because it closes up, and has internal pockets. One of my problems with traditional baskets is that you still needed a purse or bag to put things in, inside the basket. So for my uses -- nursery, work, shopping -- being able to close it up (and keep things dry) is really important. Oh, and another problem I had with old basket was that light on handlebars often obscured by stuff in basket, but my Knog light clips on the front of the basket, which is handy. Anyway, not sure this should go in _favourite_ kit list, and, I have seen other bags that I would like too, like this one, but the basket/bag combo seems to fit my current 'lifestyle' better than a proper grown-up bag :)
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff
baskets
(5 posts)-
Posted 14 years ago #
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Some really nice designs there. My only complaint is that none of them seem to have a fitting for lights. In Oxford I used to see people with similar baskets with a loop in the front middle with lights attached. Definitely a good design innovation if possible, unless you've got dynamos (and back then as I recall, we were told that dynamos weren't legal on their own).
Posted 14 years ago # -
Think your dynamo info was incorrect even 'then'.
Posted 14 years ago # -
okay, finally found something on dynamos here which is a link from the link above. I never fully believed the dynamo line as so many people used them. But I do remember the no flashing rule - although, again, ignored by most. I was intrigued to discover this had been changed, somehow missed that entirely (I was in Zimbabwe in Oct 05 which may explain). But, the best part of the link above is the one on cycling while inebriated. I don't do/see much of this here, but the roads in Oxford were always completely full of wobbly bikes - we always wondered if someone would be pulled over, but it never seemed to happen. Ah...those were the days...my cycling friends were also my pub quiz team, and we used to win free rounds of 'tanglefoot' regularly at a pub that was some distance from home, and across some rather dodgy roads....
Posted 14 years ago #
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