Monday, February 7, 2011

There's A Hole in My Bucket. Goodbye, My Tubby Old Friend.

I have mentioned the blue plastic tub that resides behind the seat of Mutant Winter many times. Well, the 2nd best tub in town has bitten the dust.

The same snowy morning that snowblower man yelled at me, the tub snapped right off my bike. Being a good tub, it hung on as long as it could and let go just as I arrived at work. Considering the way it was attached (4 zip ties, directly to rack) and the abuse it took over the last few winters, it didn't owe me anything.

There's A Hole In My Bucket. Goodbye, My Tubby Old Friend.

I prefer a high-riding tub to panniers for winter cycling, because there is often so much muck flying around closer to the ground. Even waterproof panniers would get slammed and encrusted with icy slush, I think. If you use panniers in winter, let me know if that really happens or if it is a false assumption on my part.

Anyway, is this an opportunity to challenge Red Triumph for bicycle tub supremacy? Oh, I think so. Or should I try to go beyond this extruded polymer tub mentality and try for something even sexier? Your ideas, as always, are welcome.

For those of you who don't know what the hell I am talking about, watch this:




I will probably just use a backpack or do the weekend-car-clothing-run-to-work method for the rest of this winter and dream something up next Fall.


Keep Your Lids Snapped On Tight,
R A N T W I C K

8 comments:

Big Oak said...

Ha! I love the music switch.

I see you have tub-envy. You can probably get help for that somewhere.

christopheru said...

For some reason, blogger ate my post. Here is the short version. I use Axiom stormfront bags and have been using them all winter. They don't leak at all and do not get much of anything on them road grime wise. The most I have to do is wipe them down every once in a while. No slush or snow has been flung on them yet this winter. They really are waterproof (rain proof) as they have withstood a 60 minute rainstorm with none of the stacks of paper in the bag getting wet. Another bonus is that the hardware that holds them to the rack is replaceable should it corrode.

TrevorW�� said...

That Red Triumph Tub is a beauty..!
You have to get a colour matched tub like that.

RANTWICK said...

Big Oak - It hurts so good, I don't want help.

chrisu - huh! That's kind of good to know... Another winter bike has been forming in my brain over the last couple of months and its good to know panniers aren't out. My ortliebs have been totally waterproof for me so far too, but I'll bet the axioms are easier to get for us here...

Tw - Any fellow admirer of tubs is a friend of mine... silver/grey tub is a distinct possibility.

John Romeo Alpha said...

I want to stroke your tub.

RANTWICK said...

Damn creepy stroking blog buddies...

Apertome said...

Sorry to hear about your loss. Are you really going to wait until next winter to find a new solution? This seems like it needs to be dealt with, ASAP!

I've been doing the Milk Crate thing, and the idea is nearly the same, except it ain't waterproof. I have put my backpack, which I place in the milk crate, in a garbage bag a couple of times when it was raining/snowing hard. Classy.

RANTWICK said...

Apertome - I was gonna just wear a backpack, but I am hating it. Fix will indeed come sooner, I think

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