Speaking of a bike to get groceries on . . . While I don't really consider it an all-rounder, I thought I'd put a plug in for my Surly Big Dummy as the ultimate grocery/town bike. My touring bike(s) pale in comparison.
Using cloth grocery bags, I regularly use the BD in an absurd "semi- truck" configuration to do our big shopping trips every couple of weeks (BD plus a Burley Nomad Trailer). So far, the record has been: 8 bags of groceries, one watermelon, a 12-pack of Sierra Nevada beer and a baguette sticking out the back of one of the panniers simply for effect. My wife stood by offering to take some part of the load in her medium Wald basket, but I brushed that potential contribution off as insignificant - OK, I did concede that she could take the sandwich bread, peaches, bananas and tomatoes - Joel's right, those become "victims" pretty quickly. I've thought about putting a front rack and a basket on the front to handle those delicate items and take-out boxes from the local Thai place (made a mess once of my side bags with some Pad Thai juice!) and I'll probably do that some day. The BD has some limitations (slow, heavy and long) and it's definitely not as comfortable as my Riv's, but it has allowed me to reduce my auto use dramatically in a town with virtually no public transit options. Today, I'm taking our glass bottles to the recycling center - there's a couple of big boxes. I've gotta tell you, it is VERY satisfying to ride a bike to transport recyclables! DC On Sep 10, 3:05 am, JoelMatthews <[email protected]> wrote: > > Aha, but (breaking in to his Inspector Closeau voice) you 'ave not tried ze > > trash can pannier! Nozzing better. Baskets! Bah! Porteur racks! Pffft! (Back > > to his rational voice): four paper grocery sacks per load. Try *that* in you > > Wald Newsboy. > > Very well (and amusingly) put. I will readily concede as a single > person, my concept of carrying groceries is probably far less than > that of many other people! > > On Sep 9, 6:47 pm, PATRICK MOORE <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > On Wed, Sep 9, 2009 at 12:12 PM, JoelMatthews <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I give this > > one to Joel. No peer-reviewed research, though, Just one individual's > > biased prejudice. > > > > Certainly it is possible to get groceries, do errands with a tourer. > > > I says as much. But as I say also, it is a lot easier to do errands > > > with a top of rack basket or, as I do with my city bike, a bag on top > > > of a porteur rack. > > > Aha, but (breaking in to his Inspector Closeau voice) you 'ave not tried ze > > trash can pannier! Nozzing better. Baskets! Bah! Porteur racks! Pffft! (Back > > to his rational voice): four paper grocery sacks per load. Try *that* in you > > Wald Newsboy. > > > > Bending down to pull off side mount panniers, > > > opening up and sealing roll down panniers, loading panniers with > > > groceries when they were really designed for carrying clothes and > > > gears - bread - avocados and soft fruit especially are frequent > > > victims when I use the touring bike for groceries. > > > > As for doing centuries - I find all measured cycling a bore, and do > > > not bother. Presumably most people who do centuries do so in a spirit > > > of competition with like minded cyclists. Sure, you can ride 100 > > > miles on an Atlantis. I have ridden up to 150 miles per day on my > > > touring bike. Touring bikes are not going to do a century as fast as > > > a bike designed for more spirited riding. > > > I have neither toured nor done a century, so I am fully able to give a > > biased and useless opinion: that makes sense to me. > > > > > Really? Based on what do you claim these racks are better or not? > > > > Let's see your peer reviewed studies. In my research I found the Nitto > > > > rack to be just as good if not better then either of those options. > > > > The BG I'd get but as an experienced tourer I'd never get the Tubus > > > > racks. > > > > So your opinion about the Nitto rack is better than mine? In mine, > > > and other opinions I have seen on touring web sites, the Nitto is a > > > compromised design. > > > > I, like thousands of experienced tourers use Tubus racks. They are > > > wonderful, solid, and work very well with both Ortlieb and Arkel > > > mounting systems. > > > Ah, the Tubus Fly! 12 oz for a 45 lb load. Mmmmmm ... > > > -- > > Patrick Moore > > Albuquerque, NM > > Professional Resumes. Contact [email protected] --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
