Hangload baggage system now on sale in shops in Berlin

We wrote about Hangload at the end of March. This is a baggage rack that lets cyclists carry rucksacks, boxes or shopping bags safely at the rear of the bike. One of these coupled with a normal pannier would be a good way to carry baggage gear when cycle touring if you were going to do some walking as well. 

The company has now started to manufacture these. They can be ordered online from the company or picked up from various shops in Berlin:

• Bagjack handmade in berlin (Ten Twenty Berlin): Torstraße 39, 10119 Berlin, Germany -Opening times: 2:00 – 20:00 
• Radmutter: Petersburger Straße 93 10247 Berlin, Germany - Opening times: Mo: 11:00 - 17:00, Tu: 10:00 - 20:00, We: 10:00 - 20:00, Th: 11:00 - 17:00, Fr: 10:00 - 19:00, und Sa: 11:00 - 15:00.
• Radhaus Kreuzberg: Yorckstraße 77 10965 Berlin, Germany - Opening times: Mo.-Fr.: 10:00-13:00 und 14:00-19:00 & Sa.: 10:00-16:00. 
• fahrradstation:
• Charlottenburg: Goethestraße 46, 10625 Berlin, Germany - Opening times: 10:00 – 19:30.
• Kreuzberg: Bergmannstraße 9, 10961 Berlin, Germany - Opening times: 10:00 – 19:00.
• Prenzlauer Berg: Kollwitzstraße 77, 10435 Berlin, Germany - Opening times: 10:00 - 19:30.
• Mitte: Auguststraße 29a, 10119 Berlin, Germany - Opening times: 10.00 - 19.30.

Klickfix Variorack

One of the most useful items one can use on a utilitarian bike is a basket. Fling a rucksack in it or a shopping bag and you can cycle off. There is a minor disadvantage that what is easily popped in can be easily taken out. Maybe one should fasten the bag in with a lock or a bungee net. Having found the Klickfix Variorack I suspect this would be better. It looks cooler as well, not so house wifely, not that this worries me one way or the other. I was looking for a bar bag to carry an iPad when I came across the Variorack. It is a multifunctional rack for transportation of bags, laptop cases and backpacks on the bike, 21x32x17cm, 450g weight. It fits into a KLICKfix handlebar adaptor. Obviously you can remove it dead quick in seconds when it is not needed. It can be positioned in 2 different heights on the adapter front or back, though I would be tempted to put at the front so I can keep my eye on the bag when the rack is loaded. It might be an idea as well to have the Variorack attached to the bike with a lockable adaptor. The rack comes with a strap and I suspect if her indoors needs a hint what to buy me for Christmas, I might well be tempted to suggest a Variorack.

I decided not to buy a iPad bar bag. When we are touring I can pop the iPad in a Ziplock style plastic bag to keep it dry and stuff it down between clothes in the panniers to protect it against vibration. We have four bar bags of the simple variety already and that's enough.

Carrying rucksacks, panniers and cardboard boxes on bicycles

I am amused/horrified by cyclists who need to carry heavy loads. A favourite is on their backs, rather than letting the bicycle frame carry the load. Another approach is to pop a rucksack or briefcase in a basket on the rear of the bike (better!) but then hold it down with one hand.
Some riders have to wear their load as they use road bikes to tour and commute. Road bikes are useless for anything except as a way of going fast and getting fit. They do not normally come with lugs to attach a carrier.  Others do not have any convenient way of attaching a bag to the bike rack. The standard way to attach a bag is to buy a couple of cheap and cheerful bungees.  These give me the willies. When I stretch them I have a vision  of a skewered eyeball when the hook slips. I have just come across a set of straps with a safer design: ROK Commuter Straps (http://www.rokstraps.com). You loop the strap onto the bike rack, click the buckles together and  tighten the strap around the bag.
As soon as we can find a dealer they will be bought.

An easy way to carry shopping and loads on a bicycle

Two of the many things that cause my blood pressure to rise are seeing people riding a bike with a heavy rucksack or trying to steer while clutching one or two heavily laden shopping bags. To be fair it is not always possible or convenient to use panniers while shopping or you may not want to buy shopper pannier bags or a trailer. We were both pleased to find a sensible device at the VELOBerlin bike show last weekend that modifies a normal baggage rack to carry shopping bags, rucksacks, IKEA blue carrier bags and almost anything else safely.

Copyright: Darius M. Hajiani

It's simple to build yourself either in cardboard, in metal or in metal/plastic sheet. There are plans to manufacture and sell the product or offer licences to manufacturers. Check www.hangload.com. It would be quite useful for touring especially when camping too. It is a good, simple, cheap idea that brings flexibility to load carrying.