how would you design a bike pizza carrier?

Tom Keats · Apr 9, 2003

A pizza carrier that sits atop a milk crate which is fastened to a rear rack.

I'm figuring a square pedestal that fits down like a large, square peg into the milk crate itself,
and a wider storage compartment on top of the pedestal. Maybe I could insulate the storage
compartment with styrofoam overlaid with some sort of wooden doorskin acrylic-lacquered with that
"Colors in Plastic" stuff, inside & out? I'm still trying to decide which would be preferable:
top-opening or side-opening. The pedestal and storage compartment would of course have to be somehow
securely joined together.

My goal is to be assured of getting a pie or two home, with each slice of crust wearing _only_ it's
own allotment of topping, cheese & sauce, and the entire pizza retaining its original round shape,
as well as a lot of its heat. Well, and I wanna build something, too.

I suppose I could rig up something out of a ready-made thermal pizza carrier, but building something
more bicycle-specific from scratch sounds like more fun.

The easy way is to just use a couple of bungee cords -- pass them through the milk crate's
hand-holes, underneath the pizza box, and join the bungees' hooks together over top of the box. But
that still exposes everything to the elements, and allows so much thermal loss.

The notion of wasting duct tape just for the duration of a ride home from the pizzeria appalls my
thriftiness. So, duct tape is out of the question.

Another option is to just mash one end of the pizza box down into the milk crate -- symmetry be
damned. But that often doesn't work very well; it tilts the pizza, so it all slumps down into an
amorphous, lifeless heap at the bottom. A victimized pizza can be a most pathetic and
heart-rending sight.

Anyhow, I'm keenly interested in what ideas and inspirations others might come up with (or have
already come up with.) Especially anything involving gimbals to keep the pie level on hills.

cheers, Tom

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Buck · Apr 9, 2003

"Tom Keats" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> A pizza carrier that sits atop a milk crate which is fastened to a rear rack.

The local pizza shops that delivered to my alma mater used a pizza pan (round, flat and full of
holes) wired to a rear rack. They bungied the pizza in the box in the flexible thermal carrier to
the pizza pan. Pizza always arrived hot with all the ingredients in place.

-Buck

Zoot Katz · Apr 10, 2003

Wed, 9 Apr 2003 21:00:18 -0700, <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Tom
Keats) wrote:

>A pizza carrier that sits atop a milk crate which is fastened to a rear rack.

> Maybe I could insulate the storage compartment with styrofoam overlaid with some sort of wooden
> doorskin acrylic-lacquered with that "Colors in Plastic" stuff, inside & out? I'm still trying to
> decide which would be preferable: top-opening or side-opening. The pedestal and storage
> compartment would of course have to be somehow securely joined together.

I'm quite impressed with coroplast for working out these kinds of things. It's also relatively
durable as finish material. Prototypes can be bashed out of recycled signs before buying a sheet in
colour or translucent. It's light, stiff, weather proof and cheap.

I see a flat bottom airfoil shape hinged at the leading edge.
--
zk

Van Bagnol · Apr 10, 2003

In article <[email protected]>, "Buck" <j u n k m a i l @ g a l a x y c
o r p . c o m> wrote:

> "Tom Keats" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> > A pizza carrier that sits atop a milk crate which is fastened to a rear rack.
>
> The local pizza shops that delivered to my alma mater used a pizza pan (round, flat and full of
> holes) wired to a rear rack. They bungied the pizza in the box in the flexible thermal carrier to
> the pizza pan. Pizza always arrived hot with all the ingredients in place.

How damnably low-tech and elegant.

I was hoping for someone's gyroscopically-gimbaled self-heating airfoil design myself.

Van

--
Van Bagnol / v a n at wco dot com / c r l at bagnol dot com ...enjoys - Theatre / Windsurfing /
Skydiving / Mountain Biking ...feels - "Parang lumalakad ako sa loob ng paniginip" ...thinks - "An
Error is Not a Mistake ... Unless You Refuse to Correct It"

Steve McDonald · Apr 10, 2003

If I could design pizza carriers-----I suppose some kind of genetically-altered cloning would do
it-----I'd give them three arms, to have two for the handlebars and one for the pizza.

Steve McDonald

Karen M. · Apr 10, 2003

Tom wrote: ...

> Anyhow, I'm keenly interested in what ideas and inspirations others might come up with (or have
> already come up with.) Especially anything involving gimbals to keep the pie level on hills.

Use that disc wheel set-up, somehow. HTH --Karen M.

J. Bruce Fields · Apr 10, 2003

Why not just strap one of these:

http://www.keeperthermalbags.com/pizza.htm

to your back rack?--Bruce Fields

Chris Phillipo · Apr 10, 2003

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> Why not just strap one of these:
>
> http://www.keeperthermalbags.com/pizza.htm
>
> to your back rack?--Bruce Fields
>

It's easier to carry once you've eaten it.
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia http://www.ramsays-online.com

John Rauser · Apr 10, 2003

[email protected] (Tom Keats) writes:

>A pizza carrier that sits atop a milk crate which is fastened to a rear rack.

This isn't exactly what you asked for... it doesn't sit atop a rear rack, but when I lived in Japan,
I used to see people delivering hot food on motorcycles all the time. There was an insulated box
suspended on a little boom fastened to the back of the motorcycle. The suspension absorbed shocks,
and negated sideways forces on the food during turns by allowing the box to swing side to side. I
always thought it was a pretty cool contraption. You can see a photo and description on this page:

http://www.jinjapan.org/nipponia/nipponia9/what02.html

Best,

-J

dwmurphy · Apr 10, 2003

>It's easier to carry once you've eaten it.

Been there, done that

Cappy · Apr 10, 2003

Once when I was in college I bought two small pizzas, slipped them sideways into the two wire
carrying baskets attached to the rear rack of my bike, and rode back to them dorm.

Big surprise: When I reached my destination, there were no toppings at all left on the pizza. The
sauce, cheese, and pepperoni had slipped off the pizzas, slid out of the boxes and through the
wires, and were gone, gone, gone.

Believe it or not, the school I attended was an elite, prestigious institution of higher learning.
And one of the first things I learned there was, never carry your pizza sideways.

Cappy

Bernie · Apr 10, 2003

[email protected] wrote:

> >It's easier to carry once you've eaten it.
>
> Been there, done that

It may be "more convenient to carry once you/ve eaten it" but if you have bungee cords, it is not as
easy to carry "at speed".

Bernie

Tom Keats · Apr 10, 2003

In article <[email protected]>, "Buck" <j u n k m a i l @ g a l a x y c
o r p . c o m> writes:

> The local pizza shops that delivered to my alma mater used a pizza pan (round, flat and full of
> holes) wired to a rear rack. They bungied the pizza in the box in the flexible thermal carrier to
> the pizza pan. Pizza always arrived hot with all the ingredients in place.

That's a nice and simple solution.

But my self-imposed "problem" (in the mathematical sense) is threefold:

1) I want to retain the milk crate as a more-or-less permament fixture. I'd like to design something
more adapted to a milk crate, than to a bicycle rack. Interfaces sure can inflict complications
;-) ) I usually put my bag-o'-tricks (pump, tubes, tools, lights, rain gear, etc) in the milk
crate. It would be nice to be able to still pack all that, as well as a take-out pizza on top.
So, I'd like to rig up something that mounts securely yet is easily removable, and doesn't cost
much existing cargo area.

2) I'd prefer to avoid using bungees. Besides being wary of them from a safety standpoint, I'm
always mislaying them or otherwise losing them.

3) This is sort of a DIY hobby/project for me, so I'm as much if not more interested in the design,
constructing, and perhaps decoration of the thing, as I am in it's eventual, practical use.

cheers, Tom

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Tom Keats · Apr 10, 2003

In article <[email protected]>, Zoot Katz <[email protected]> writes:

> I'm quite impressed with coroplast for working out these kinds of things.

Thanks! I like that idea.

> I see a flat bottom airfoil shape hinged at the leading edge.

I wasn't originally considering aero, but that gets me thinking, too. Top-loading would be easier to
construct, and there'd be no worries about the pie sliding out in the event of side-door failure.

cheers, Tom

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Tom Keats · Apr 11, 2003

In article <[email protected]>, John Rauser <[email protected]> writes:

> There was an insulated box suspended on a little boom fastened to the back of the motorcycle. The
> suspension absorbed shocks, and negated sideways forces on the food during turns by allowing the
> box to swing side to side.

Now, /that's/ elegance in simplicity.

I guess "engineering" is easy -- the trick is in _not_ over-engineering

So much for gimbals.

cheers, Tom

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Chris Phillipo · Apr 11, 2003

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> In article <[email protected]>, "Buck" <j u n k m a i l @ g a l a x y
> c o r p . c o m> writes:
>
> > The local pizza shops that delivered to my alma mater used a pizza pan (round, flat and full of
> > holes) wired to a rear rack. They bungied the pizza in the box in the flexible thermal carrier
> > to the pizza pan. Pizza always arrived hot with all the ingredients in place.
>
> That's a nice and simple solution.
>
> But my self-imposed "problem" (in the mathematical sense) is threefold:
>
> 1) I want to retain the milk crate as a more-or-less permament fixture. I'd like to design
> something more adapted to a milk crate, than to a bicycle rack. Interfaces sure can inflict
> complications ;-) ) I usually put my bag-o'-tricks (pump, tubes, tools, lights, rain gear, etc)
> in the milk crate. It would be nice to be able to still pack all that, as well as a take-out
> pizza on top. So, I'd like to rig up something that mounts securely yet is easily removable,
> and doesn't cost much existing cargo area.
>
> 2) I'd prefer to avoid using bungees. Besides being wary of them from a safety standpoint, I'm
> always mislaying them or otherwise losing them.
>
> 3) This is sort of a DIY hobby/project for me, so I'm as much if not more interested in the
> design, constructing, and perhaps decoration of the thing, as I am in it's eventual,
> practical use.
>
>
> cheers, Tom
>
>

Well if you can struggle through your prejudice of bungies I would take a pizza box size peice of
particle board or 1/2" plywood. Attach that to the top of a milk crate by way of a side mounted
hinge so that the plywood is centered on the crate when in the horizontal position. then put 1-6
pizza boxes on top, use another equal size peice of plywood on top and strap it down. No deforming
of the boxes and when not in use your crate has a cover which is easily opened.
--
_________________________
Chris Phillipo - Cape Breton, Nova Scotia http://www.ramsays-online.com

Jym Dyer · Apr 11, 2003

> Why not just strap one of these: http://www.keeperthermalbags.com/pizza.htm to your back
> rack?--Bruce Fields

=v= The front rack works better, or better yet, a front basket with the appropriate alteration:

http://www.things.org/~jym/bicycles/pix/nyc-pizza-bike.jpg

Basically you get bolt-cutters and separate the very front of the basket and bend it down, then put
a bungee cord around the whole works to secure the pizzas and make adjustments.

=v= Almost every pizza delivery bike in New York City works like that. <_Jym_

Larry Schudt · Apr 11, 2003

My picture of this thing is like a spoiler, or wing, attached to the top of the milk crate. It
probably won't look any sillier on a bike than it does on some cars. Anyway, the spoiler is hollow
and is hinged to allow it to open.

Eric · Apr 11, 2003

This thread reminds me of a scene from _Married_With_children_. Kelly comes in carrying a pizzabox
sideways, like a book under her arm.

Peg: Kelly, that's not how you carry a pizza. Kelly: It is when you're on the back of a motorcycle.
Peg: No, it isn't.

E

Cappy <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Once when I was in college I bought two small pizzas, slipped them sideways into the two wire
> carrying baskets attached to the rear rack of my bike, and rode back to them dorm.
>
> Big surprise: When I reached my destination, there were no toppings at all left on the pizza. The
> sauce, cheese, and pepperoni had slipped off the pizzas, slid out of the boxes and through the
> wires, and were gone, gone, gone.
>
> Believe it or not, the school I attended was an elite, prestigious institution of higher learning.
> And one of the first things I learned there was, never carry your pizza sideways.
>
> Cappy

Fabrizio Mazzol · Apr 11, 2003

"Tom Keats" <[email protected]> wrote in message ...

> Anyhow, I'm keenly interested in what ideas and inspirations others might come up with (or have
> already come up with.) Especially anything involving gimbals to keep the pie level on hills.

Tom, you seem like a nice enough guy but, you really do look like **** on the bike and you have
mentioned in the past that looking terrible doesn't matter to you, so why not hit rock bottom and
get yourself one of those damn recumbent things, then you can just jump in and throw the pizza on
the back seat and head home.

how would you design a bike pizza carrier?

Tom Keats

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Buck

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Zoot Katz

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Van Bagnol

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Steve McDonald

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Karen M.

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J. Bruce Fields

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Chris Phillipo

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John Rauser

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dwmurphy

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Cappy

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Bernie

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Tom Keats

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Tom Keats

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Tom Keats

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Chris Phillipo

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Jym Dyer

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Larry Schudt

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Eric

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Fabrizio Mazzol

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