Custom Bicycle Accessories: Installing A Bicycle Basket

Make sure the basket is small enough to clear the front wheel and that you can see over it for any road hazards. It should be no higher then a few inches at most above your handlebars and clear your front wheel by a good two inches. You can take a tape measure and see what height you need to look for. You want a basket that is not too wide, certainly no wider then your handlebars. Remember that if you are carrying something on your bicycle above the hub of your wheels, you will have more difficulty in balance. So, keep what you want to put in the basket on the light side. A book, a sandwich and drink with your sweater are fine. Avoid putting the family pet in the front basket however, and place the heaviest items towards the center for better control.

You will need the basket, a package of plastic ties that are available at grocery stores, hardware stores and drugstores in the house-ware dept. A small flat piece of wood around an inch wide and four or five inches long. You also need a pair of scissors to cut the excess plastic tie off when you're finished mounting the basket. Try to get ties that are at least a quarter of an inch in width.

Center your basket on the front of the handlebars where you have clearance to see over the front tire and with a good view over the front wheel. If your basket has a strong rim, you can use this in place of the piece of wood. Take one of the ties and push the pointed end through an opening in the weave of the basket so that it will come over the top of the handle bar either just left or right of the center, where the stem of your bike holds the handlebars. Secure the tie by putting the pointed end through the grasping mechanism built in the tie but do not tighten. Do the same on the other side of the stem of your bike, fastening to the handlebar. If you used the rim of your basket to hold the basket to the handlebars then tighten both ties until secured at this point. If you are not using the rim of the basket and your plastic ties are through the weave of the basket then place the piece of wood through the loops of the plastic ties inside your basket and tighten the ties until secure. You want to pull on each tie so that the basket is kept centered until secured.

Once you have these two in place, you can let go of the basket and begin to make it more secure. Now take another tie, thread the pointed end through the first two ties on the outside of the basket near the stem, and secure that to the stem. If you have room on the handlebars put one additional tie through the basket and secure on both the right and left side of the handlebar, a few inches away from the other two. That will give you better stability to the basket. Remember not to put too much weight in your basket when riding. Put nothing heavier then what the bottom of your basket can hold and no animals. No matter how cute this looks, it's very dangerous for you and your pet.