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    Share your grocery hauling setups to give me some inspiration

    With the increase in fuel prices I decided to "up" my super commuter status to include buying groceries as well. The first setups are rough, and just things that I scrapped from my garage. I'm looking for ideas to carry more things, without buying a cargo bike or getting trailers.

    In particular I'm looking for ways to carry large amounts of water, although I think will just bite the bullet and buy it separately from the rest of the things.

    These two photos are my first attempts. The panniers don't hold nearly as much volume as expected and I need longer straps for the duffel bag in the second picture 😂

    by StandProud94

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    14 Comments

    1. Relative_Bother_1069 on

      Hello, I just saw your posting. My setup is I have two Rock Brothers panniers on the front rack and two larger Rock Brothers panniers on the rear rack. I also have a Schwinn Day tripper cargo trailer that along with the panniers can haul 2 weeks worth of groceries easily. The Day tripper was even large enough to bring home a microwave from Costco. It will hold a case of Costco paper towels Frozen chicken breasts case of tuna easily. I also use the trailer for camping or any other kind of all I may need to do. I got the Schwinn Day tripper on Amazon for like $130 it tracks very well behind the bike it’s not really any wider than the bike with its panniers on it. It’ll haul 75 to 100 lb quite easily. I hope this was helpful!

    5. PensionEmotional5460 on

      I do costco runs with a rear rack with two 20 liter panniers, 14 liter seat pack, and 35 liter backpack. If I need to carry big things like bulk paper towels or toilet paper then I bring a travoy trailer.

    6. MDZPNMD on

      I use a 55l ultralight backpack for shopping

      and sometimes I use my gfs bike with a folding basket screwed into the rear rack, you can either use it as a basket for your shopping bag and folded up you can use it as a platform for packages that you secure with some straps.

      https://preview.redd.it/005ltrsg6tug1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aeff221527a4f5bf0b82f0c797354cbeb9110f72

      (the folding basket is covered by the yellow cover in this picture)

      I’d say get the biggest lightweight folding basket, some pipe clamps and screw it on the rear rack.

    7. Relative_Bother_1069 on

      So, the trailer that I bought the Schwinn Day tripper has an attachment for the rear axle whether it’s quick release or a bolt on axle it’s adaptable. I actually permanently mounted it to the bottom of the frame opposite the chain stay.

    9. Virtual-Half-2399 on

      I use panniers and a foldable box which is strapped to my carrier. A cargo bike would be easier to board/unboard (believe me, it is a procedure to get on the bike if the box is well stacked), but I already have two expensive hobbies 😅

    10. oldstalenegative on

      https://preview.redd.it/vk4d8gbectug1.jpeg?width=3264&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f071b06f7b14d6873877c3955c75beb2c25cb915

      I intentionally limit myself to one lightweight basket on my main commuter.

      Im fortunate to have a grocery store near my work, so I go shopping daily during the work week.

      I do keep a spare backpack at work for when I get heavier items or more stuff that can fit on in the front basket.

      In addition to this lightweight setup on my daily commuter, I also have an older Dutch cargo/rain/oma bike with full fenders and racks both front and rear for bigger shopping runs and/or rainy day commutes.

    12. Zenigata on

      When i started tandem touring (when you only have 2 racks for 2 people so need big panniers)  i looked everywhere to the biggest waterproof panniers I could find, which were altura drylines.

      These turned out to be great for grocery shopping as they can hold about twice as much as standard 20L panniers which are far too small. A large dry bag lashed to the top of the rack took bulky lightweight items and a large wald front basket added more easy to use capacity.

      That was as much as I could manage to pedal home up the hill.  

      As the family grew that was also not enough so we got an e-cargo bike. [On that I supplemented the front storage with homemade front loader shredder bin panniers.](https://www.reddit.com/r/xbiking/comments/1j9vo3a/diy_lowrider_bucketcoolcave_style_panniers/)

      I believe ortlieb have now caught up with altura and also make a large pannier. 

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