Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Bicycle Baskets for the Dogs



I am looking to put a bicycle basket on the back of the bike for the dogs, and I am casting about for ideas.

Most of the commercial carriers are ugly and flimsy-looking Sherpa Bag type things, while a plastic crate is pretty ugly in terms of aesthetics, and would seem to offer too little protection for the dog in the advent of an accident.

Another problem is that most bike baskets for dogs look like they are designed to carry teacup dogs.  Is it possible to carry a Jack Russell or two?

The wicker job below looks pretty great, but also very specific.  Where am I going to get one of those!  How about on Amazon?  And more here.



And then buried in an on-line forum for moped riders
, I found a picture of the rig below with the following notion:  Basket from Target and portal made from a recessed lighting fixture.  It looks like bolt-through fasteners were added for the shock cords on the lid.  I think I could do this, and it would be very cool and safe.




It occurs to me, however, that it should be possible to put two dogs on a bike, with one dog each loaded into side panniers, and with each dog facing forward.  A woven pannier like this would be awesome, but I am thinking a regular cloth-sided pannier, with a hard bottom, and a head slot for each dog on top,might be more practical as these would mount easily on my existing Blackburn rack and would keep the weight low too.  Suggestions?

More research:  I found this Dutch site which is really very good.  The maker of these wicker bike baskets is a marvelous, talented, and artful craftsman by the name of David Hembrow. Check out his work, and say Thank You that this kind of stuff still exists somewhere in this everything-made-in-China-from-plastic world.  Yes!  Full standing ovation
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