After the squirrels so kindly chewed the zipper out of the bag I had on the front of my bike, I started looking for ideas on what I could use to carry stuff by bike. I found several ideas online including DIY bike panniers and bike buckets which were the two I liked the most. The panniers were made by taking two grocery totes and sewing the handles together to drape over a rear bike rack. The design was fairly easy and by adding a couple of pieces of masonite the stiffen the sides, they would hold up their shape decently it looked like. I especially liked how light weight they were and compact for storage. On the flip side, they didn't look that sturdy and I had a feeling they wouldn't last long exposed to the elements. They also didn't provide any protection for items I might want to keep dry.
The other idea that I liked was the bike bucket. One of my friends is also a big proponent of the bucket and I'd seen him use his on many occasions when we would meet up at locations all over PDX. The bucket design was also very sturdy, provided protection from the rain (very important around here), and best of all gave new life to cat litter buckets that would otherwise just be recycled. The downside to the buckets is that they are heavier than the tote panniers and rather bulky so you have to have somewhere to store them when you don't want to use them. Luckily, I have space in the shed to put them so storage wasn't a big deal but I can see that an apartment dweller may want something a bit more compact. The design itself was pretty simple with just a little bit of work drilling holes and cutting sections out of the plastic side ridges. The hardware list was also pretty minimal consisting of two cargo hooks, half a rubber bungee with hook, and associated nuts, bolts, and washers. Total for all of that was about $7 per bucket.
I finally decided on the buckets for the extra durability (must protect the beer!) and for the fact that I wouldn't have to sew anything. What can I say, it's not my strong suit. My mother-in-law tracked down one bucket for me to experiment with and soon a couple of others arrived from another friend. Unfortunately, Tidy Cat did not have street style in mind when they decided to make their buckets bright yellow with turquoise lids. This would obviously not do. Since I had quite a bit of primer left from my last effort of working on the pickup, I primed the first bucket with a dark gray and then we headed to the hardware store to find a good color for the buckets. While there, I noticed chalkboard paint and decided it would be much more fun to make a surface that you could change on a whim and something that my son could help decorate with ease. I coated the sides of the bucket with the chalkboard paint and added a semi-gloss black for the top. The result turned out very well and the only problem I've noticed is that the paint chips off easily which is probably due to the underlying surface being too smooth. For the second bucket and I roughed up the plastic surface with 60 grit sandpaper before applying the primer. It's still drying between coats so I'll let you know how that works.
For a great compilation of all types of panniers and buckets try: http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Panniers/
The buckets I made were basically from this design: http://www.commutebybike.com/2009/12/09/how-to-make-bike-buckets/
Happy biking!
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