Basil Memories Bottle Basket.

Since I rejoined the bicycling world I've been trying to acquire Basil brand carriers for the Schwinn. Basil is the accessories arm of Royal Dutch Gazelle and though they are not the cheapest bike accessories, the few products I've seen in person are well designed and constructed. Sadly they are also hard to find in Perth. Over the course of several bike shops I'd managed to see some of the more restrained (Black or grey) Basil panniers in double and single form but rarely a patterned one and no baskets were to be found despite the Basil Australia online catalogue being full of portaging delights. After moving to Tasmania, Ginger and I quickly decided upon our preferred local bike shop in Ulverstone. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable but more importantly the shop display featured upright bicycles as prominently as it did road bikes. After a chat about different bicycle brands I discovered that despite not stocking them as standard equipment, the Ulverstone shop was absolutely willing to order in any Basil products I wished to buy. I knew I could purchase Basil online but I wanted to support my local economy so I ordered a couple of the cheaper Basil baskets, the wire framed Basil Memories Bottle basket. I'd really wanted the cool-toned turquoise mint colour but that was not available in Australia, I contemplated a clashing green but eventually went for a contrast. I'm rather glad because they are an incredibly jolly shade of yellow.

Basil Memories Bottle Basket in yellow.

I suppose that the Bottle basket is so named because of the milk bottle shapes on the outer side, presumably because the whole thing is reminiscent of a milkman's basket? The Memories Bottle is thick and sturdy powder coated metal with a finger shaped 'comfort grip' on the handle. I wanted something that could potentially carry groceries or other medium heavy items. I imagine a standard reusable shopping bag would line them quite neatly. The baskets attach to any rear rack via built in hooks. I simply slipped them onto my bike and trusted them to stay in place. They did, even when faced with some hefty curb drops. The other advantage of the hook attachment is that when my bike is in storage the baskets whip off with no effort and sit neatly stacked on a shelf while the Jenny cosies up to our other bikes all nice and tidy.

You could easily elastic strap them to a semi-permanent attachment or even
cable tie them if you are very cautious but they seem well designed to stay.

I took the baskets out for a 15km group round trip on a mid-summer day, jettisoning my usual wicker front basket. Being the one with most carrying capacity I was inevitably charged with taking the bike lock as well as my large camera case and a big beach bag I was using as a handbag.

I was very pleased with the baskets and did a spot of grocery shopping on the way home. If I'd been buying more than one item I would have simply plucked a basket from the rack and carried it around the supermarket. The Bottle Memories did not present any problems in terms of back wheel real estate, I carefully noted the distance between my heel and the basket corner - ample room as pictured and that was with the basket not as far back as it could be. I did kick one the first time I pushed off but my poor bike handling skills do not count as a design defect. The only real difficulty I experienced was forgetting that my bike suddenly had a different rear width, I scraped the left basket against a low stone wall as I was cornering but upon inspection the powder coating remained perfect.

If only the full range of Basil baskets was available in Australia, I'm so satisfied with the Memories mix of utilitarian practicality and whimsy that I would gladly go Basil Memories Bonkers on the Schwinn and get the front transport basket too. It's definitely got me planning my next Basil purchase, anyway.

Might As Well Face It: You'll Accessorise the Bike.

Of course, once you have bought your charmingly upright bicycle, you may suffer from the delusion that it is complete. It's not. Any bicycle shop sales person will undoubtedly convince you. Even if they don't, the law may require you to accessorise anyway with helmet, bell and lights so you might as well start Googling 'super cute head lights' and surrender to the madness.

The original Pashley basket.
Looks fine until you try to attach it to the bicycle.
Then it is too miniature!

When I purchased the Pashley, I was so uncomfortable with the service I received at the point of sale that we actually drove straight to Ginger's favourite bike shop and 'completed' my bicycle there. For a start, the famous Pashley wicker basket the original shop presented me with was broken. I asked if they had a remedy and was pleased to be told they could swap it out. It was only after getting the Pashley home and looking over many pictures and web sites that I realised the basket they had given me did not look like the quintessential Pashley basket. It was significantly smaller compared to the bike than examples I had seen online. I wondered if it was because of export differences but I've seen many photos of North American Pashleys with large basket intact so I suppose I'll never know for certain. Worst of all, it did not actually bridge the distance between basket support and handlebars so it could not be attached to the bike. Long before I noticed the size discrepancy I noticed its fragility so part of my mission at Ginger's bike shop was basket replacement.

Being a Roadie-centric retail outfit, the shop was filled with the usual clipless pedals and green lyrcra taint cushions but there was also a small collection of decidedly upright accessories. I had previously spotted the Bontrager faux-wicker front and rear baskets as well as some Brooks items and was keen to investigate. Fortunately for me, the macho branding of the shop had produced mainly macho customers and the demand for faux-wicker was low, to say the least. I was offered my front and rear baskets at a discount (though the Bontrager rear was incompatible so I ended up with a nice enough 'no-name' rear basket)

'No-Name' basket even had a plate
for rear light attachment!

The Bontrager basket is satisfyingly large and the Pashley basket
rest gives extra support to the handlebar mounted
quick-release system of attachment.

"It's not you, it's me. And my regret at
ever having purchased you."

I had also spent far too much time looking at pictures of honey coloured, luxurious Brooks leather grips on the internet so when I saw a green pair (The last pair of Brooks grips in the entire shop) I wondered if they'd look nice on the Pashley. They were offered to me at half price. I bought them. Rashly. For the Pashley. Yes, after careful consideration, I realised they were too chunky. I also realised that GREEN WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! Now the grips wait patiently in a cupboard for a bicycle to call home while the Pashley continues to sport the black plastic originals. One day, Brown, Slim-line Brooks grips! One day!






After my silly grips purchase, I even toyed with the idea of crocheting brown covers for the plain Pashley.

Honestly, the less said about that - The better.

Thankfully, Pashleys come with lights and bell so my insanity was curtailed on that occasion. For the Schwinn Jenny I bought the cheapest, most standard wicker basket in the shop of bicycle purchase and have been looking for a larger and nicer one ever since.

The quest for basket perfection is equalled
only by the search for the perfect lip balm.

Knog Boomers front and rear.

I also bought Knog lights which happened to be available in almost the same colour as the frame. Although if I had my time over, I would have bought the USB rechargeable versions rather than the battery powered. There's nothing wrong with the battery powered, I'm just not very good at remembering to keep batteries in the house. 

K-Mart bell.
They also sold streamers and
'Spokie Dokes'.

Of course, there are as many ways to spend money on your bike as there are outlets ready to sell you things and the bicycle world is full of $400 saddle bags that will make you ache for their leather-strapped beauty, but you can still add a personal touch to your bicycle without breaking the bank. You'd be surprised at the possibilities in your local K-Mart or craft supplies shop if you are quirky or love a spot of twee. Online shopping is great for finding bicycle accessories you didn't even know existed (Like many kinds of novelty valve-caps!) but there's also a lot to be said for exploring the ignored corner of your local bike shop. Even Roadie-centric retail will often stock a couple of items they begrudgingly included to appeal to the girlie crowd. I saw some mammoth Electra brand 'ding-dong' bells in one of my local shops despite the fact they don't stock Electra bikes. I may yet buy one. The largest range of upright bicycle accessories in Australian bike retail outlets would have to be Basil, the accessories offshoot of Royal Dutch Gazelle. They make a huge range of bike bags, baskets, seat rain covers, garlands, pet carriers and other things people in transport biking countries take for granted. If your local bike shop is a stockist, you have been blessed. If not, try asking. The same goes for anything you've seen online. Sometimes you'll get a condescending look but other times you might discover that the proprietor has been wanting to stock more accessories but wasn't sure if there was a local market beyond the Roadie customers. (This has happened to me in a few places.) If nothing else, you're building a relationship with your LBS (Local Bike Shop) that will definitely benefit you both in the future.

If you can only afford the low-end metal basket from
your LBS, check out the dollar ribbon bin
in your local craft shop. This took me an
hour and one too many whiffs of super-glue.

I'm not really one for adding a lot to my own bicycles
(though I love to see it on other bikes) but even I
couldn't resist attaching a pretend poppy to my basket
because it matched the red clips on my bungee strap.

99 Problems and a Bicycle Shop Proprietor is one.

The journey into madness begins with a ridiculous thought, 'What if I had...two bicycles?'

Actually if we're going to be accurate, it begins with Googling things you don't currently own, knowing full well that in this material age, constantly looking at pictures of things you don't own is the fastest way to wake up owning them. Thus, many pages of upright bicycle pornography later I decided to buy a bicycle with a fully enclosed chain case and hub gears and the capacity to carry an extra heavy load. For 'all weathers', you see. Though Perth winters are ludicrously like Summer in other parts of the world, I was knee deep in a plan to move to Tasmania and thought only of my bicycle future. Cough. Honestly. A super sturdy, all weather, upright tank of a bicycle was what I needed. The hunt for a proper Dutch bike in Perth was ON.

Even before I'd bought the Schwinn I'd desperately wanted to try out a Gazelle and this time, I found a stockist. Ginger and I hopped to the four-wheel and went forth to this wonderland of imported delights. It was here that I had the most uncomfortable bicycle shop experience of my life. So far as I knew, this was the only Perth stockist. The shop was crammed with bicycles and unfortunately for me, the SINGLE Gazelle was right in a corner behind some other bikes and the front door. There was also a Lekker, which I was interested in trying. The Proprietor made a bit of a fuss about us wanting to see such 'difficult to reach' bikes but at this point we thought it was good natured grumbling, shop banter. He spoke highly of Gazelles and said his wife had an old one that kept on keeping on. I was eager to try it out despite reading of some recent 'downgrading' of parts in the manufacturing. It was the traditional Dutch geometry and weight that I wanted to experience. I politely requested a test ride. The Proprietor stared at me as though I had asked him for a reach-around. He thought his declaration that his wife was very happy with her Gazelle should have been sufficient evidence for us to purchase one. The thing is, Gazelles are not as cheap as Schwinns. The bikes I was about to test still retailed for well over $1000. They are by no means an impulse purchase (Not that any bicycle should be an impulse purchase!) and certainly not one to be made without getting a proper feel for the bicycle. His grumbles followed us into the alley behind the shop. Realising what kind of guy we were dealing with, I then politely asked if the seat could be adjusted to height before test-riding. He complained out loud as he went to get a spanner and he didn't even do it himself, he asked the shop mechanic to do it. We were the only customers in the shop. It was with relief that I watched him retreat back inside to complain to nobody in particular about our inconveniencing him. We were left with the mutely apologetic mechanic.

Crimes against Bicycle Shop Proprietors: Asking for the seat to be adjusted.

Once I was permitted to ride the Gazelle I found it was (to me) a radically different geometry to the Schwinn. To make a car comparison, it was like being in a monster 4WD designed to have a 'high driving position'. I felt as though I towered above everyone around me. The seat was tilted back thanks to the different post angle. Though it doesn't look it, my feet were quite high off the ground so if I wanted to stop I had to dismount the saddle completely. You can see in the picture below that though the distance between peddle and ground is small, the way the seat is positioned means I could not put my toe down directly in line with the saddle, not without titling the Gazelle a lot and its weight made that a difficult proposition. The handlebars felt almost too close (I was told they did not height adjust, although that might have been bollocks.) and I had to mind where they intersected with my knee on tight corners. Mostly, the bike felt both lighter than I expected (in motion, it weighed a tonne at rest) yet simultaneously rooted to the bitumen. I was surprised by how unstable I felt at times, having grown accustomed to the comparatively featherweight Schwinn following every sway of my hips as I cornered, the Gazelle felt like a beast independently deciding how we would turn. It required more conscious control of weight distribution. Clearly, Dutch bikes needed a tweaking of my skills.

"Young Man, are you photographing my person? How fucking impertinent!"

Next, I tried out the Lekker. With seat adjustment of course. Similar geometry but cornering was dicier, at lower speeds I wobbled and when turning, the handlebar grips physically touched my leg and blocked my turning motion. I considered asking for the handlebars to be raised but as I was already leaning towards the Gazelle, I decided it wasn't worth it. Again, I was surprised at how 'fast' the bicycle felt for its weight. I could see that once I understood them and levelled up my skills ever so slightly, either would be a pleasant ride. They both had the fantastic Dutch stand, solid rear racks with bungee cords and skirt guards. Overall I spent about 15 minutes examining and riding the bikes up and down the alley (combined). They were worth exploring and I was seriously considering the Gazelle despite it being an older model, severely shop-soiled and the chain case and skirt guard being soft. (Only a problem because I wasn't sure I could get replacement parts in the event of catastrophic tearing.) I asked the mechanic if I could have one more go on the Gazelle to confirm my preference. (Again, there's no other customers and it's a Saturday. Not even near closing time.) Unfortunately The Proprietor heard me and said with disgust, "You'll wear out the tires, I've got to sell those, you know," and it was at this point I decided he would not be selling 'those' to me.

Showing my fat bottom to a pair of bins, examining a Lekker.

I smiled, thanked them both for their time and promptly left, ignoring the complaints about us not buying anything ringing in the air behind us and mentally sending The Proprietor to blazes. That was it for Dutch bikes in Perth so we drove to the only Pashley stockist in town where I was ultimately to buy my 'all weather' bike, albeit not a Dutch one. We've since been to many an independent Perth bicycle shop and discovered that The Proprietor is infamously rude to everybody all the time and a local joke amongst other bicycle shop proprietors. Ginger later saw him on a train, being rude to a tourist. No wonder the shop was crammed to the point of stock damage, I doubt he sells much with that kind of service.