!! Show Us What You Are Hauling On Your Bike

Love everyone's bicycle setups! Hauling lots of stuff is great--makes me feel an accomplished cyclist, particularly when my co-workers make comments about how it was impossible to do X on a bike and I say I do it (or something more intensive) regularly.

I haven't taken pictures of too many silly things I've done (though 2.5m boards was certainly one of them--just strapped to the frame), but I did find an old photo of collecting cardboard boxes from local recycling skips for moving house. This setup got stares and people crossing the street to avoid me! It's still my personal best at 11 boxes (most don't fold down neatly--but they are quite strong).

Those of you who are hauling logs directly on your cycles--how do you balance it? I've been able to get smaller logs into my panniers (and always carry a saw with me just in case someone is pruning a tree on my commute), but things get really wobbly if I try to put wet, heavy logs of the size I'd like to collect (and the size some of you seem to be carrying!) onto my rack. I sometimes still do, but then I have to walk the bike home. Any tips, tricks and suggestions welcome!

M Broussard wrote:
Those of you who are hauling logs directly on your cycles--how do you balance it? I've been able to get smaller logs into my panniers (and always carry a saw with me just in case someone is pruning a tree on my commute), but things get really wobbly if I try to put wet, heavy logs of the size I'd like to collect (and the size some of you seem to be carrying!) onto my rack. I sometimes still do, but then I have to walk the bike home. Any tips, tricks and suggestions welcome!

I did just grab a heavy load of two long logs today to haul home.  First I will say that my back rack is pretty beefy.  Some of the racks I've had in the past certainly wouldn't have taken the weight!  Anyway, today as I started off with my load it initially felt pretty dodgy, like it was wiggling around too much.  So I got a third bungee cord and made sure the logs were strapped quite tightly in place.  Loads that wiggle make balancing harder.  If you can keep the weight of the load centered over the tire that helps too.  When I'm hauling logs that extend out several feet from my bike balance is also trickier.


Before I strap on a load I make sure the gears are set so I'll have easy enough pedaling on start up with a lot of weight.  I don't want to be fussing with gearing when trying to get going with a lot of weight.  I will sometimes also work to push off some with my feet to get a bit more initial forward momentum.  When going really slow, like when starting or stopping, it is much harder for me to balance it all.  When it motion I believe it is the gyroscopic action that makes it all easier.  With that in mind I should note that I'm doing most of my hauling in rural locations and along a trail where I don't have to start and stop much.  In fact usually once I have a log strapped on I don't stop until I get home.  If I were in an urban zone where I had to start and stop frequently the extreme loads might not be a good idea, at least not without having a true cargo bike, or trailer where balance isn't as much of an issue.

Part of the fun of this to me is the extra challenge of balance.  Thinking back I think the most challenging point for me is usually stopping or making sharp turns with big loads.  I have lost it turning into my driveway and when coming to a stop by the wood pile.  Thankfully my poor bike keeps chugging along once I unstrap the load and set it upright again.  I did break a plastic clip on my rear light today though.  Fortunately I was able to metalsmith up a replacement without too much effort.  

I'm not sure how I forgot to post in here when I first joined Permies but it looks like I did. I made this little cruiser bike I got for free into a longtail cargo bike with my stick welder. Most of these photos I rode around the block just to test the capacity of this thing. The last one was real world use while painting a house.

Here's the BB posting with a little more detail: https://permies.com/forums/posts/preList/97787/1187005#1187005

Just went to the local Recycling Center (three minutes by bike) and was joined by an army of tough (tougher than me!) German ladies on their bikes.

One had two large bags of what seemed to be a chopped up Christmas tree, one had some sacks with hedge cuttings and the third (around 80 years old, I know most of them) had in addition to her large bag a huge bundle of 2 meter long rushes (reed). It was really a sight to see, should have taken a photo.