anyone know of a lockable trunk rack for a commuter bike?
I have an early morning class and would like to be able to lock up my helmet, flat kit, gloves, lights, etc while I am in class. Something I can lock and leave perma-attached to the bike would solve some of my issues with commuting.
Hardshell or maybe even softshell would work. Does not need to be bullitproof, just a decent deterent.
Everything I have seen can easily be broken with a minimum of effort.
The way this seems to work if a locking box is light enough to carry on the bike (and for folks to buy) it isn't strong enough to keep anyone out. If it is strong enough to work it is too heavy to sell.
That's a nice looking system, and could even come in handy from time to time for me... but what keeps the person from stealing the whole rack? I know I can take a rack off my bike in less than a minute, metric screws aren't that hard to defeat. Do it all the time depending on the type of commuting I'm doing.
...what is to keep someone from taking a screwdriver and prying the thing open. Or hitting it with a rock (or even a U-Lock) and busting the thing open.
All that box will do is keep honest people from stealing your stuff and they aren't about to steal your stuff anyway. Any thief with half a brain (most of them likely don't have more than that anyway) will want to know if there is anything in there worth a $5 rock. Even it it is empty they are still going to bust it open to find out.
A box like that has to either be boomproof or it is useless.
Makes my Chrome all that much more valuable to me. Although I would never feel comfortable with something like that anyway. I'd be paranoid about it. Heck, I don't even leave my computer on my bike when I lock it up downtown.
Over the weekend I made some changes to the commuter bike. ignore the date in the pictures, forgot to reset that on my camera
Ok first ride to school and work turned out great. The only time the weight of the loaded crate seems to be an issues is walking the bike. Once I am moving, no problems.
I just zip tied the crate to my rack, because I have a ton of zip ties and not concerned with a quick release crate.
I used a power circular saw to cut the bottom off of the second crate. easy and quick.
There was no out of pocket cost as I have had all the supplies for this project for several years. My hope is that because you can see what is locked in the crate, it will be less tempting to would-be thieves.
The only issue I have at the moment is seen in the last picture. Should be easy enough to fix with another couple of locks. I am pretty sure I have a couple more locks to fix this, but I might buy a set of 4 locks that are all keyed the same.
Another idea I had this morning was a couple of longer U-locks or a cable that would fit from the top to bottom.
Woohoo, I think I just remembered that I have a cable that might work and then I would only need one lock. Just needs to be a long cable.
Next, I am thinking of turning the handlebars into bullhorns and possibly turning this bike into a single speed.
I use a pretty thick cable to lock my front wheel to my u-lock, which is locked to the rear wheel. The cable actually fits through a couple of the vents in my helmet, so I'm able to lock my helmet with the rest of the ride. That's by far the most cumbersome accessory to carry around.
I've seen your milk crate pic before and it reminded me of others I've seen with it.
Seeing that you have a "lockable, breathable trunk" though, yeah... that really cool.
I use a QR Topeak rack that I just take with me. I leave the rack on the bike & slide the bag off and carry it with me. Though not nearly as durable and doesn't have the storage capacity of the milk crate. I lock my helmet with my bike. If you use an old, dirty looking helmet for commuting, nobody looks 2x at it.
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