DIY: PIMP MY RIDE

How nice was the weather in Sydney today?! Was planning to do work but that idea went when I woke and saw the sunshine.

Ever since I saw a bike locked up around Ultimo with a similar bike 'basket', and ever since my back has been dying from carrying KILOS on a shoulder bag pretty much every day, I've been meaning to make a 'basket' like this for my bike. I know road bikes aren't really the type to attach baskets to so I was worried it might look a bit odd- but I'm happy with the result.

Need:

• bike
• bike rack
• milk crate (acquired, err, legally...)
• 6 cable ties
• saw

Do:

Cut half off one side of the crate + quarters off the other two adjacent sides. Milk crates are actually surprisingly easy to saw off, the only reason they seem so strong whole is because they're so cleverly designed. I had a pretty blunt saw and it worked fine. Why cut half of the crate off you ask? If you stuck the whole crate on the bike rack, it'd be too close to the seat making it near impossible to sit down/ very uncomfortable to cycle.

Attach crate to bike rack using cable ties. Since mine is a road bike, I used a special rack and had to attach it under the seat. Most most bikes however would allow normal bike racks to be attached to the wheel.

I used 6 cable ties in total (depends on the bike rack) to tie the crate to it and trimmed it after tightening.

I drilled a hole in the crate after tying it on to attach a reflector.

On ya bike! Now to dodge those pesky magpies (aka bane of my existence).