I’m working on DIY solutions for storage on my bicycle. Looking around at useful stuff I see, one of the most common, hipster, useful, cheap, and crunchy things to do is to simply bungee a plastic milk crate on to your rear rack.
Milk Crate Bike in the reading area in Klyde Warren Park.
(click to enlarge)
The Dallas Morning News Reading & Games Room area in Klyde Warren Park is one of my favorite spots in the city. It is a quiet, leafy, relaxing spot, with games and stuff to look at. I was there for a few minutes to catch my breath. The powers that be came by and made this woman move her bike (it was leaning against a tree) – but she didn’t seem to be too bothered by it all. I’m afraid that I had already given in to The Man and had my bike locked up on the official bike racks.
So sue me.
Bill Chance 
Hi Bill,
Having commuted with a rear crate for a while, I discovered a few things:
a) top heavy, especially if you are carrying something more than a lightly loaded backpack. When carrying a box of books, this was murder, I could barely keep the bike upright when walking it around.
b) butt-room: the crate often ends up too close to the seat and can be uncomfortable
c) u-bolts are better than bungees for keeping it on
So, there are a few other things you can do if you have bungees and 4-gal square buckets: you can pretty tightly bungee square buckets to either side of your rear rack, the flarings on the buckets often rest well on the sides of the rack. Also with a pair of 6″ 1×2 wooden flashing and u-bolts, you can attach the boards to your front fork with the u-bolts and mount a pair of buckets with bungees low in front. This forward area is the most stable place to put a heavy load.
Also, square buckets come with lids (think rain, wind) and also present better mounting surface for reflective (and subversive) stickers.
Also if you’re going around with a load, I suggest keeping an eye out for a two-footed kickstand.
Cheers,
Thanks for the comment and the ideas. I’ve looked at the plastic bucket DIY panniers, but am working with two military surplus “mussette” bags. I do have some big, cheap Wal-Mart panniers that work well for grocery trips.
I do have some light plastic boxes with locking lids that work well (you can see a small, blue one on my front rack in a lot of my photos). People make fun of all the stuff I strap on my bike – but for me it’s about organization. I want to have everything pre-packed so I can go out for whatever reason (commuting, photography, writing, laptop, hot weather, rain etc.) without having to think to much about what to take..
I’ll write up a “how-to” when I come up with a system that I like.