[Closed] Shopping by bike

I do most of my shopping by bike, carry no end of stuff back and forth. Have broken two pannier racks in the process by exceeding their 25 kg load on several occasions.

Just need to figure out how to carry multiple sheets of 8' x 4' ply on the bike and I'll no longer need to keep borrowing an Estate car for trips to the builder's yard....

Non-starter for me. I live on a bloody big hill with the shops at the bottom of it. Hauling a week's groceries up there isn't going to happen.

Nice idea, though.

I can walk to the shop for groceries or cycle and put stuff in a rucksack if I need to go elsewhere, generally the only thing I use a car for (Zipcar) is DIY/ garden purchases which are often large/ cumbersome/ heavy.
If that chappy on the blog was offering a loan of a trailer for 6 weeks I'd happily take part but without one, I'm not sure my feedback would be of benefit.

I pass loads of shops on my way to / from work, so stopping off to buy groceries is pretty easy.

When I'm in That London I shop by bike unless its a big foodie shop. Simply sodding off to Borough Market for the small amount of veg n stuff is easy on the foldie, but a Waitrose shop is too much and too bulky to carry on the Foldie.

I'd love to but to be honest I'm scared that I'll get to the shops lock up my bike and get back to find it gone.

The local Tesco has a bike rack but I'd be more interested if they had a decent camera pointing at them to discourage thieves.

I'd love to but to be honest I'm scared that I'll get to the shops lock up my bike and get back to find it gone.

What you want is a hack bike / town bike, which looks suitably unattractive and then a half decent lock.

[i]I'd love to but to be honest I'm scared that I'll get to the shops lock up my bike and get back to find it gone.[/i]

That's what has discouraged me in the past (or having my kid with me). But those quick pops to Tescos Express are now going to be by bike.

I do this with a pair of panniers - surprising what you can get in

I ignore most bike racks as usually tucked out the way and hidden, park next to windows or better under view cctv camera

I was surprised at how little i could get in my 56l panniers! Its basically a hand basket's worth of stuff.

I've love a Cargo bike, but ironically, i'd probably need a garage to keep it in (too big to get in the house) whereas i can park my car for free on the street.

I get an aldi small trolley into my 56 litre altura orkneys or a weeks shopping for 2

I [i]almost[/i] bit off more than I could chew the other day with both kids, a cnoc 14 and 15kg of shopping on board..

I have now had a cargo bike for 5 years.

It is quite literally the best thing I've ever bought. 🙂

[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/big-dummy-raynes-park/sets/72157605772907273/ ]Pictures[/url]

I travel for work by train and bike, with a week's worth of clothes and stuff in panniers. I really want a Burley Travoy for this purpose though.

I shopped by bike for years as a student and until the age of about 25, as did loads of other people. I just used a rucksack.

I have now had a cargo bike for 5 years.

That looks pretty cool. Not sure I could give up the speed and agility of my Il Pompino commuting though, I like riding to work like I've just robbed a bank.....

used to, full weeks shopping in an cavernous rucksack, bit touch and go leaning over to swing my leg over the saddle but once on I could just roll down the hill back home. Since getting a car I got a bit lazy and since kids I doubt I could manage the full shop in one go.

not got any more room to stash a cargo bike or trailer.

There are great trailers on amazon that fold flat. I'm tempted, they are much cheaper than a burley travoy, but less convenient for trains.

I walk to the shop.

Surely the answer for the 'big shop', (assuming you have a family, or just get too much stuff to manage on a standard bike) is to have it delivered?
Most of the big supermarkets have it, and once the Aldi/Lidl's break into that there's really no excuse to not. Yes, it's delivered by a van, but that van will also drop off 20 or so other loads so it's comparatively environmentally friendly.

[i]have it delivered[/i]

That's right of course, but when I'm not using it for doing a big shop I can carry a passenger, 2x 5-litre jugs of cider and some tankards on the Big Dummy.

🙂

There are great trailers on amazon that fold flat. I'm tempted, they are much cheaper than a burley travoy, but less convenient for trains.

I'd love to but to be honest I'm scared that I'll get to the shops lock up my bike and get back to find it gone.

The local Tesco has a bike rack but I'd be more interested if they had a decent camera pointing at them to discourage thieves.

This ^^^

I think the problem for many cyclists in the UK is that they don't have a cheap/knackered enough looking bike to leave it outside a shop on a regular basis and have any hope of it still being there. If there was room in my cellar for one more bike it'd be a tatty looking old Dutch Herrenfiets.

Still waiting to hear back from the Wiggle/CTC fella.

I regular nip down the high street on the bike.

Bought a £40 bike, couple of panniers and a decent lock, panniers off when parked, fill them whilst shopping and its so easy.

Most of the time I can park the bike closer than the car anyway but for a big shop, its all uphill so the car wins but just for nipping bank, haircut, or for some lunch, its well easy.

Wouldn't do it on the Orange though as it wouldn't be there when I got back so get a unattractive bike, this one was owned by a kid previous and its got them panini football stickers stuck on various bit of the frame and hologram stickers !!! Nice....

Dez - the CTC (assuming you mean Gavin Wood) fella is my brother. There's been a bit of a re-shuffle as far as his job is concerned & he's been off for a month. He's started back today, so I'm sure he'll answer your query as soon as he can. I'll give him a nudge though 🙂

Nice one woody - I just presumed he was waiting until he got enough sign-ups. No rush 🙂

The CTC fella is me, and yes, I'm Woody's brother. If you've sent me an email about the Shop by Bike trial I'll get back to you ASAP. And anyone thinking of signing up, do so! You'll be helping me out, earning a £10 Wiggle voucher, and more importantly giving us some ammo to lobby the supermarkets to provide better facilities for people who want to shop by bike.

Ta 🙂

The Tesco in Cambridge, which I cycle past on my way to work, has loads of cycle racks. One set right outside the store front, so you can see your bike from the tills and another larger one in the main carpark - very cycle friendly. Only thing which isn't cycle friendly are the stupid self service tills which can't cope with panniers / courier bags and just go on about 'unexpected item in bagging area'.

I shopped by unicycle last week if that counts. Saves on the worry about your bike being nicked - I simply popped it next to the door just inside the supermarket, visible from customer services (was using a 26er, which is a bit big to carry around - I've carried a 20" wheel around shops with me without anybody getting upset).

footflaps, I've had that problem before, but this time it seemed to work fine with my rucksack - at least after getting the machine to weigh my bag properly (I think I upset the sequence by putting my bag down before pressing the button to say I was using my own bag, so had to get assistance there). Not even a problem taking stuff in and out to repack - it complained about item removed, but once I put it all back it was happy. One little detail I remembered this time was to take my wallet out of the bag before putting it down!

local morrisons (woking) built new cycle parking inc this one right by the entrance when they extended the store.

[img] https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/x8rWwEtWFXCndeuNe8NuG6NWr7m8JK31N13E3oWkL28=w334-h200-p-no [/img]

[img] https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/xz2T-TOV17eFGx1to4GLduKDqu5Gaq5PuRBOXGICTls=w335-h200-p-no [/img]

[img] https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_DEaJQ2APeC30KKpePa-nrRjDHvRS9M37eyieOp_Bvw=w335-h200-p-no [/img]

Morning bump 🙂

Could I ask people to tweet, FB, blog etc etc the link please? 🙂

Ta muchly!

http://blog.wiggle.com/2013/05/28/shopping-by-bike/ <

I think I've done my bit in that respect 😉

Re self serve tills, I just pile up the stuff on the 'out' side on the metal plate and then fill my bag after I've paid, that way I avoid ever upsetting the machine with my courier bag. I gave up trying to reason with the machines after many failed attempts. They don't seem to respond no matter how loudly I swear at them.

Email sent 🙂

Time I started this - been meaning to for ages....

A lot of the self service tills in my tesco have the 'i'm using my own bag' function - put bag on, THEN it starts to weigh..

Brill!

DrP

Saw a chap in waitrose pulling his kiddie trailer round, self scanning and putting stuff straight into the trailer. Walked up to the checkout, paid, out the shop, clipped trailer to the bike and he was gone before I'd opened the car boot.

Brilliant idea.

A lot of the self service tills in my tesco have the 'i'm using my own bag' function - put bag on, THEN it starts to weigh..

Have to say I've never got that to work with my bags, they weigh too much for the machine to accept.

People using the 'big shop' as an excuse, give it up, the big shop that is! Just shop more often, youll find you can then buy more fresh stuff and its easy if you just nip in on way home from work.

That said, i can fit a £70 asda shop into 2 panniers plus a bag or two. Only things that cause problems are large volume items like toilet roll or multi-pack type items. Usually just strap those to the top of the rack tho.

Or get a trailer if you fancy one...
[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6749520587_314270cd4a.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7012/6749520587_314270cd4a.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/dickyelsdon/6749520587/ ]IMG_1601[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/dickyelsdon/ ]dickyelsdon[/url], on Flickr

Between a 90l pannier on one side and a council recycling box bungeed to the other, I can get a family Big Shop on the back of my bike and still have space on the front box/rack to call in for a 20kg bag of chicken food on the way home 🙂

A lot of the self service tills in my tesco have the 'i'm using my own bag' function - put bag on, THEN it starts to weigh..

Has visions of Mrs PP plonking our EBC trailer on the self service checkout....

😆

I'd quite like to get a trailer and give this a go, but I only really get the time at the weekends and try to get out with the kids then. My hack bike has a LOCT seat for the youngest to ride with me and a trailerbike for the eldest, with panniers for shopping (it's better for family rides if I have all the weight!).

Now if I could just attach a trailer to the trailerbike we could get a full weeks shopping.....

There's a chap I see in my local town occasionally with a hardtail/tagalong/2wheel trailer with 2 children in it combo, looks about 20ft long but seems to work ok.

Has to take a very wide swing at corners though.....

Yes,older bike with panniers. Just make sure you balance the weight in large panniers or you'll end up leaning to the right (or left) obviously - depending on which is heavier! much more interesting than going in the car.

[url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3803/8805674292_5f726a8525.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3803/8805674292_5f726a8525.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/57182396@N07/8805674292/ ]IMAG1014[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/57182396@N07/ ]neil.d.cox[/url]

Someone above mentioned they did not fancy the trade off in speed compared to their normal commuter. I sold my Pompetamine Alfine 8 to get this. Weights are not dissimilar surprisingly (not including bags), tyres are bigger on the Ute, but it rolls very well. Test ride one if you can, I use it for local deliveries, bit of shopping, collecting small stuff for the farm... We'll see ifit manages 2 25kg bags of feed next winter! I expect it will!

Can't fit the big shop on?
Tsk tsk....

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I regularly shop by bike but tend just to go more often and carry it by rucksack. One of those cargo bikes would be great though.

Living for the last ten years in Holland and Denmark, this thread just seems weird. [url= http://christianiabikes.dk/da/generel-transport.html ]Things like this[/url] are everywhere - not just being ridden, but also left outside overnight without being stolen. That last thing is the oddest, to British eyes.

His forks were straight bladed when he started...

All my groceries by bike or on foot, Turkish grocery store round the corner for exciting fuit vegetables and olives and way cheaper than Tesco, everything else I carry in a courier bag, picking up bits at lunch time or on the way home.

It happens that the usual Tesco's I use is opposite one of the best beer pubs and micro breweries in London so it's never a chore.

I think the key is just making it a habit and part of life and totally usual.

I've found I'm actually going out for fewer rides than I did but nearly all of my chores include a bicycle.

I love it!

have been shopping by bike for the last five or so years.... pretty much since i came to germany.

[img][url= http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3833/8962070141_784eb20937.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3833/8962070141_784eb20937.jp g"/> [/img][/url] [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/72344643@N00/8962070141/ ]DSC_0206[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/72344643@N00/ ]sod_the_taxman[/url], on Flickr[/img]

much easier than parking a car in town.

used to do all my shopping by bike at uni, just using a huge rucksack.
Still get local stuff and food, go into town and do errands by bike.Much less faff than parking, traffic and walking miles.

Big dummy. Your photo set is great. I can see you have quite a deep relationship with your Surly. It is woven into your life in a positive way. I'm well impressed. Does it have a name?

Leader price do compact toilet rolls. Happily both Leader Price and Lidl on on our route to the pool. We usually shop on the tandem at 2:00 in the vid on this [url= http://www.larepubliquedespyrenees.fr/2013/06/02/pau-une-centaine-de-velos-en-tout-genre-pour-le-grand-prix-altermobile,1134460.php ]page[/url]

I was doing it when first child was born and I was on paternity leave, the snow made the roads sh1tty so I used to blam the mountain bike across heaton park and load a rucksac, but as others have said, you end up going most days

it's organisation that is the key, you need to keep on top of the meal planning and always be topping up the staples

Shopping...

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8288/7717160046_3f5fdb288c_c.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8288/7717160046_3f5fdb288c_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/takisawa2/7717160046/ ]IMAG0797[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/takisawa2/ ]pten2106[/url], on Flickr

School run...

[url= http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7257/7558582866_80f28fa210_c.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7257/7558582866_80f28fa210_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/takisawa2/7558582866/ ]IMAG0774[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/takisawa2/ ]pten2106[/url], on Flickr

General haulage...

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8227/8449659865_cdaa35fa9d_c.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8227/8449659865_cdaa35fa9d_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/takisawa2/8449659865/ ]IMAG0116[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/takisawa2/ ]pten2106[/url], on Flickr

Best bike I've ever bought, by a mile.
Was £600 from Charliethebikemonger. Reckon I've easily saved that in car use.
Plus, what price the fun factor. 🙂

neilc1881...I've had 4x25kg bags of Cotswold chippings on the back, from Wickes. It rode fine. 🙂

Big dummy, some cracking pics of your ute-love in there! I think this may be my next cycle scheme bike. Roll on August....

They're a life changer mate.

(Big dummy's is a big dummy by the way, not a Ute.) 🙂
(They get a bit protective them Surly folks)...

Oops! Like the idea of the school run on it too btw. Would be perfect for my needs - 1 mile from aldi, 1/2 mile from school and just under a mile from work. I get all my basics from aldi, and I'm fortunate enough to live right in a proper town centre, so use the butcher, fruit shop etc most days.

Ute looks like a winner price wise over the surly. Any other contenders.

Test shop yesterday. Dropped son off at his footy and took the bike & trailer to Tescos.
Met a new friend on the way 🙂

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Only slight issue was riding trough the car park, some woman driving straight at me. But it was me going the wrong way... just not designed for bikes to ride through, these car park things.
No other problems, trailer was great down the hill.

Saw a bloke cycling with a Flymo in his hand yesterday! Stupid more than impressive really 🙂

I fall into the "no room in the flat " camp on this. As soon as I have enough space I'll get a town bike.
Near me, all the bike racks on the High Street and at the tube are battered and plundered daily so it would have to be an ugly one.
Fair play to those who do.

As mentioned on the 'utility cycling' thread. I'm still looking for volunteers to take part in a shopping by bike trial for an EU funded project.

It's nowt too onerous, shop by bike once a week for about 4 weeks, and return a questionnaire. I've just kicked off 150 volunteers this week but will be launching another at the end of July ( http://blog.wiggle.com/2013/05/28/shopping-by-bike/)

If anyone has any earth shattering ideas as to how to recruit more volunteers, let me know please.

Ta 🙂