# Finally tried it... grocery shopping via bike.



## Ape0r (Oct 2, 2007)

Well, these high gas prices have me wondering if I could give up having a car altogether. A post by another member of this forum inspired me to try grocery shopping. One set of rather ginormous panniers later, I was off!

Almost had a crisis, left my driver's license in my backpack after I returned from the pool... so I had another first - buying beer with my student ID =).

The bike was a little shaky starting off, but handled as well as ever once I was rolling.


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## blackhat (Jan 2, 2003)

looks like you're good to go on the pasta front for a few days. cool bike too.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

Nice looking bags. I've been thinking about grocery shopping too, but I'm considering something like a BOB.


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## MIN in PDX (Nov 29, 2007)

I've been giving this a shot recently as well. I cram as much as i can fit into a backpack since I like my bikes simple.


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## Ape0r (Oct 2, 2007)

blackhat said:


> looks like you're good to go on the pasta front for a few days. cool bike too.


That stuff is like solid rocket propellant for your legs!


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## Hollywood (Jan 16, 2003)

cool rig.

there's a change in the air for sure. I sense more and more commuters out lately. I went to TJ's market tonight on my basket bike. Standing with me in the Express(?) lane was a guy with a rolled-up pant leg holding an Ortleib pannier. We had a quick bike chat. Sadly those sightings are rare in my neighborhood but seem to be increasing. :thumbsup:


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## Doggity (Mar 10, 2006)

Nice panniers! Where'd you find 'em? I've gotta do this...I've got an old, vintage geared MTB somebody gave me, that's just beggin' to be converted to a grocery getter/townie bike.


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## barbedwire (Dec 3, 2005)

I've always wondered. Can you feel the weight shifting around, especially with that gallon of milk that you have to put to one side or another?


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## Data Junkie (Dec 31, 2006)

I have a kid trailer I have been meaning to put to this use. Lately just using my cheap novara panniers. Milk is a pita and I have been switching to half gallons. Especially when I grab something on the way home from work and I happen to be using my messenger bag.


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## undies (Oct 13, 2005)

barbedwire said:


> Can you feel the weight shifting around, especially with that gallon of milk that you have to put to one side or another?


I frequently carry heavy items in a single grocery pannier on my bike. Sure, I notice the weight and it does throw the bike's balance off somewhat, but once rolling it's barely (if at all) noticeable. If you have any bike handling skills at all it shouldn't be an issue, and it's certainly no reason to *not* grocery shop with your bike. 

Just don't do like I did yesterday, when I bought two bags of groceries forgetting that I'd taken one of my grocery panniers off. I was able to stack both grocery bags into the single pannier but it was a bit unwieldy


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## Thommy (Sep 23, 2003)

Did anyone mention "nice bike!"?!!! Seriously, nice looking bike. Like you I use my bike for grocery runs. My panniers are a little smaller so I go to the store about twice a week for small items (half gallon versus full gallon). I look at it as a warm up ride then come home put away the goods and grab a road bike. The weekend trips call for the Burly Nomad. Ya gotta get a trailer before they go up in price. Any ride on your bike is a good ride.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

Good on ya! Now try a weeks worth of groceries for a family of 6.

I'm seeing a few more also. The last time I went, there was another bike locked up to the railings in front of the store. I had to weasel my bike and trailer in there because they don't have a bike rack or anything else to lock a bike to, except those fat metal railings meant to keep grocery cars from wandering into the road from the sidewalk.



Data Junkie said:


> I have a kid trailer I have been meaning to put to this use. Lately just using my cheap novara panniers. Milk is a pita and I have been switching to half gallons. Especially when I grab something on the way home from work and I happen to be using my messenger bag.


I put gallon jugs on the seat and use the lap belt to strap them in. To be honest, half of them end up somewhere else in the trailer by the time I get home, but as long as they don't land on the bread or eggs, that's okay (fragile items are put in the back of the trailer). Whole gallons in a messenger bag would suck.

On a side note, my wife had the 3 girls out for something a few nights ago, so I took my son out to eat in the trailer. He was highly amused and happy. he loves riding in it. I felt sort of weird sitting and eating in a burrito joint (California Tortilla) all sweaty. But I don't think I was too noticeable.


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## gowencm (Mar 4, 2007)

the polished fenders are all class. nice work.


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## Ape0r (Oct 2, 2007)

Doggity said:


> Nice panniers! Where'd you find 'em? I've gotta do this...I've got an old, vintage geared MTB somebody gave me, that's just beggin' to be converted to a grocery getter/townie bike.


I got the panniers here - www.treefortbikes.com - just search for champlain and they'll be the only result. I went with them because they're huge and were way cheap at $68! Price has gone up since I ordered . Looks like Tree Fort still has the best price on them, at least as found on google.

I really couldn't feel the weight shifting around at all, even with the fairly large volume of liquid that I was carrying. Loading up was a bit of a pain, what with trying to keep the bike upright and all, and starting wasn't the easiest. However, once I was rolling, everything was rock solid.

Thanks for all the comments on the bike! I bought it off of E-bay from a gentleman out in Arizona back in December, and spent a good week fixing it up. Swapped the wheels for the Bonties that you see, which came stock on my dad's Pilot 5.2 (he decided he needed Ksyrium ES after riding all of 500 miles on those Bonties!). Also changed the front brake to get more reach for the 700c wheels. Swapped cassette, chain, bar tape, seatpost, and finally added the fenders as well as the stock pedals from my MTB. Everything else is stock. I'm especially impressed with the paint on the bike - it is a 1977 model year as best I can tell, which makes it eight years older than me!

Electronic DA/11 spd campy nothin'. All I need is my 12 speed Suntour/SR/Shimano/SRAM/Dia-Compe mix!


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## llama31 (Jan 13, 2006)

Nice. I bought a set of panniers this past winter and have been grocery shopping with them. It's a nice way to get errands done while squeezing in some extra exercise. We ride to the farmers market most Saturdays, and to any one of several grocery stores about 2 or 3 times a month. We still drive to the store too, but we have cut out a number of car trips.

I don't see many people doing this in the Baltimore area. There is a pretty large biking community here but i don't see many people riding to the stores. maybe when gas hits $5/gallon?


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## Slim Again Soon (Oct 25, 2005)

*No rush to ride*

I haven't seen any appreciable change in bicycle commuting where I live (Deep South).

Maybe when gas hits $6.

I've got a 1970s-era Robinhood bicyle (one of the Raleigh brands), with fenders and upright bars. Hand-me-down from my father-in-law.

View attachment 129571


In the process of greasing up the bearings and sorting it out (if I can figure out the Raleigh peculiarities).

Going to slap some baskets or panniers on this puppy and give it a go as a grocery/errand machine.

Already commuting to work daily (if it doesn't rain). Using a bike on a feed run will pretty much keep the Suburban parked permanently, except for hauling the boat and trips to Lowe's.


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