Self-styled porteur
While we wait patiently for the small-wheelers to blossom again in Melbourne’s on again off again spring, I will present a collection I have been working on incrementally…ingenious carrying solutions, or the self-styled porteur.
A porteur is a bike with a front rack designed to carry a load, (think of the postie’s bike with its smaller front wheel and large front rack). Here is a sneak peak at one that was prepared earlier at cyclezine.net (don’t get lost in the bike porn section, mmmmm)
And here are some home grown variations on the theme: some stylish, some ingenious, one plain weird, all inspired. ( Warning: some of the bikes featured have full sized wheels.)
Craft meets carrier
Dish drainer re-imagined.
Original Raleigh vinyl bag (this bike was one of the inspirations for this blog: always happy to trot it out again)
Lovingly detailed basket.
Even more lovingly detailed wire basket. When I first posted this bike , wondering out loud where this goooooorgeous basket had come from, the rider posted a comment and told me she had made it herself, customising a regular basket. I was (and still am) super impressed and am considering copying.
What did we do before cable ties? Ten out of ten for adapting what looks like a teeny tiny bassinette .
Peugeot folding bike's front carrier: to carry your lunch box perhaps? (This one belongs to Penny the Peugeot, my first and only reader contribution, thanks Simon.)
Ici bike (which I have featured before) with roasting pan for a carrier
Family Star's original front carrier, mint condition. Brilliant.
Phew! Can you believe I had to trawl through 333 photos to find those? Photos with names like ‘repco decal’ ‘malvern star bell’ ‘lawrencia gear shifter’. And can you believe I loved every minute of it? What that says about me I am not sure. Neither am I sure what admitting that says about me…I could go on, but I have some nail clippings to file.
Post posting post script:
One of the comments below is a great link from Feel of Steel to another little work horse. Click here to have a squizz ( and check out the rest of his site while you are there if you are that way inclined.)
Post post posting post script:
I knew I had some more – just found them on my phone
Once was picnic basket
Still is a basket
another bassinet?
Comments are closed.
Little Bike Blog 
Ah I love this! The dish drained is hilar and marvelous!
You might like this then… 🙂 b
http://feelofsteel.blogspot.com/2011/09/little-bike-workhorse.html
this is a beauty! Definitely fits the bill. Thanks
I like the adaptive use of items like baking dishes and dish washing trays.
I’m also impressed by the decorative ones.
Thanks for doing an awesome job on this website! I recently purchased a vintage peugeot folder too and was looking for ideas for a basket. I don’t think I’ll go as far as a dish drainer though =p
hey, thanks for the feed back, always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when I get a comment from a reader. Vintage Peugoet folder eh? Nice choice. Good idea to steer clear of the dish drainer, doesn’t quite fit the look.