I've recently got my trusty bike out again, after letting it sit languishing
in the shed for several years. When I bought it, about 20 years ago, I got
with it a couple of removable back pannier wire baskets, which hook very
simply on to their own rear carrier. They're brilliant for carrying shopping
in, and being baskets rather than bags, you can overfill them with stuff and
hold it all down with a couple of bungees. I love them, but sadly they're
beginning to show their age. The rear carrier itself is terribly rusty, and
the baskets are worn and chipped, with the elastic cord that holds them in
place starting to sag and lose its elasticity.
I desperately want to buy new ones, but no-one seems to have them these
days. I can't even replace the back carrier, as it has an extra little
horizontal bar halfway down, to which the aforesaid elastic cord clips. None
of the new ones I've seen have this thing. I've seen some lovely front
baskets, and a few that sit on top of the rear carrier, but none of these is
as good as my old rusty efforts.
Any ideas? At a push I could make new baskets myself from cane, (I work with
cane for a living) but I can't see how I could get them to clip on as easily
without a nice new rear carrier of a similar design as the old one. And I
really don't want to have to make my own bike baskets if I can help it! A
friend with a bike took one look at mine and said she'd love to have some -
surely someone's still making them?
ally