Kettler Bicycle Accessory: Detachable Rear Mounted Metal Wire Bike Basket with Carrying Handle

I'm a student, and I'm currently living in Los Angeles without a car. For those of you not familiar with LA's car culture and sorely lacking pubic transportation system, you'll have to just take my word for the fact that many think I'm crazy. My bike is the only thing that makes living this way at all reasonable, and this bike basket makes my experience shopping by bike a breeze. The basket pops on and off the bike rack easily, but stays firmly on for all of my 6 mile ride home from campus, even when it's full of heavy groceries. It also doubles as a shopping basket, which I love for two reasons: 1) I rarely remember to carry re-usable shopping bags, but lots of places give points/discounts for not using their bags, and with this basket I usually don't have to. 2) It keeps me aware while I'm in the store of how much space I have. Yes, I can pack the basket on the bike much tighter than is reasonable to do in the store while shopping, but it's a good reminder. I have had one problem with the basket: it attaches to your rack with a spring-loaded mechanism on bottom, and contacts the basket with 4 screw-on rubber stoppers. I had a minor accident on my bike (swerved suddenly to avoid being hit by a car, hit the sidewalk). The basket popped off partially, but I hurriedly put it back on and headed home. I later noticed that one of the stoppers was missing, along with the corresponding spring. In the past, I had noticed that with abuse the stoppers occasionally twisted out of the right orientation, and apparently the fall was just enough to pop off one that had been loosened. Notably, I was still able to use the basket in this condition, but it was less stable. I was bummed and considered replacing it, but first I gave emailing the company a shot. Within a few days, I had two spare stoppers and springs at my apartment, FREE OF CHARGE. In summary, I would definitely recommend this product. That said, remember that between popping the basket on and off, and dealing with the weight, the stoppers take a lot of abuse. I would recommend checking them now and then to make sure they aren't coming off or twisting out of the proper position. Before I actually lost a stopper, I never looked closely enough to realize that the stoppers screw on, and can be tightened if they loosen/shift. Honestly, I don't find that to be much of an inconvenience to deal with in exchange for the convenience of removability. [Side note: I use this basket in combination with Sunlite Bicycle Bungie Cargo Net, Black . While I would never use it to strap something really heavy to my bike, as the cords are thinner than your average bungie, it is fantastic for keeping groceries firmly in the basket, and for strapping my backpack to the rack when I'm not using the basket. If you're someone who plans to shop by bike on a regular basis, I highly recommend this option. Panniers also have their advantages, but from what I've seen, the high quality ones are out of my price range, and you also really can't leave the nice ones on the bike and unattended--they WILL get stolen. This basket is removable, and so in theory has the same problem, but this isn't obvious without a bit of inspection. And honestly, at under $30, I'd rather lose this basket than a fancy set of panniers.]

The basket is great for generic bike racks (using it on the stock rack of a Specialized Vienna Deluxe 3). It fits quite securely although I do use bungee cords with it just for extra piece of mind. I do wish they would add some sort of clasp to the mounting brackets just to be sure they don't come apart going over a bump (not that it has happened). As it is the basket is very quick and easy to install and remove on a rear rack. Also I like that it uses rubber mounting feet so it doesn't scratch the rack. I do have complaints which kept me from giving it 5 stars. First it came in a packaging box that had no damage to it. The basket was padded in the box. But the basket was slightly deformed. Nothing major, but the basket is made of very thin meshing that is quite easy to bend. The dents and oddities were very easy to bend back. The handle is nice, especially for trips to the grocery store, but it comes off extremely easily. The first time I went to use the handle, it came off. All that it needs is an extra couple of centimeters in length and this wouldn't happen. I purchased a bungee cargo net to put over the top to keep things in. Unfortunately the holes in the meshing are too small to put the bungee hooks into. You can still mount the hooks to the basket's handle area and stretch the netting around the edges, so it works, but not as well as if I could put the hooks into the meshing itself. I am happy with the product but can't help but think that a little more thought, and even an extra pound in weight (to make it a bit tougher), wouldn't be a bad thing. I would gladly buy a basket that mounts to generic racks securely, isn't so fragile and had a handle that would stay put. Unfortunately, such a basket doesn't exist from my internet searches. This is best I could find.

I loved it. I reinforced the mount with velcro strap because of a tip left in another review, and it went on and off with relative ease. It was sturdy enough to handle a moderate load, and worked on multiple differently-sized racks. However, almost precisely 30 days after receiving it, a weld on the bottom bracket failed, rendering it useless. Can't return, didn't get a full month of use out of it. I would be tempted to think that maybe I just got a lemon, maybe the product is usually better, but upon examining the welds on the other brackets I realize they were similarly vulnerable. Regret purchase. As a consolation: the cheaper permanent mount basket I replaced it with is wonderful. I dont know why I thought I needed a removable basket.

This is a very nice basket, at a decent price. I'm quite happy with it. The basket is sturdy and appears well constructed. Has a spring system that attaches well to a standard rear rack. The handles work well for carrying the basket once it is removed. It is perfect for picking up a few groceries but is not designed for a weeks worth of shopping. I would recommend some bungy cords if the basket load is going to be very heavy to ensure that it stays secure; but for light loads it works fine. Also may want a net for the top to keep stuff in if the route is going to be bumpy or very windy. Decent basket for routine use.

Well, I will have to pay more attention to previous feedbacks I found about this product. Indeed, the system that holds the basket to the bike is extremely bad constructed. I attached the bike for a short ride, proud of my new acquisition. 30 minutes later after arriving to my destination, the first 2 pieces of the mechanism (one spring and one plastic piece that holds it) where gone forever, lost somewhere in the streets. The problem is that the type of plastic used for this piece just doesnt hold the tension of the spring when stretched.

This basket has mixed reviews and for good reason. I bought it anyway because it was at the price point I needed and I thought I could live with its faults. I have had the basket for several months and can report on it now. After some home repairs, we are getting along fine. If your budget is limited and you are willing to do a little fixit work, this basket may be a good choice for you. PROS: There are some cool features on this basket-- the handle is helpful for taking it off the bike and inside a shop. The little pull bars underneath that are spring mounted make it easy to position this basket on the rack. The basked holds a LOT of stuff. The materials seem sturdy. CONS: Make sure you understand before you buy this basket: It absolutely, positive WILL NOT stay on your rack by itself. You MUST secure it with a bungie cord or similar. [e.g., one end of cord on front of bike rack, cord up and over basket, other end of cord on the back of bike rack] The handles on the bottom pull out spring loaded clips which position the basket on your bike rack. But if you brush the basket even lightly after placement it will immediately unclip itself. Don't even think of putting weight in the basket or riding over a curb or bump in the road if you haven't secured the basket with something else besides the spring loaded clips. The basket will fall off. The spot welds which attach the basket to the spring clips are very poorly done. On my second trial use, with no weight ever yet put in the basket, the basket detached from the clips while I was rolling the bike down my apartment hallway and through a door. The clips were still attached to the bike rack but the basket was swinging loose. I have reattached the basket to the spring clips using paperclips and needle nose pliers. This works well and I added the clips to all four weld spots after a second weld spot broke a week later. The spring clips can come off easily. Each of four springs are held on with the plastic clip that fits to your bike rack. The plastic clip screws on and, therefore, can screw off after lots of use. I almost lost a spring and clip when they came undone, but I found them and screwed them back on. Be prepared to do a visual inspection from time to time to make sure the ends of the spring are still tight. BOTTOM LINE: If you go into this purchase knowing that you need a bungie cord and will need to make repairs (or do preventative surgery before the breaks happen), you won't be disappointed. After doing my homemade fixes and always using an elastic cord to hold the basket to the rack, I have had no additional problems. The basket holds a lot and is doing its job.

I bought this basket for my recumbent trike, mainly to carry bags of trash to the neighborhood dumpster, and maybe take my dog for a ride, now and then. It was too small for my dog, but big enough for a full kitchen-size trash bag. I never actually used it, so don't worry that you'll get the one I returned and have it smell like a junkyard dog. The basket mesh is easily deformed; it's sort of a heavyweight window screen. That didn't bother me, as it is strong enough, and not too heavy. I sent it back because I wasn't happy with the mounting system. It could have been ideal, as it attaches and detaches from a rack easily and quickly. What I didn't like was the plastic pieces that grab the rack rails. They are designed to fit either thick rails or thin rails well, but I thought that the grip on my medium rails was somewhat insecure. I'm sorry I didn't measure the clamps, so I could report the optimum rail sizes. Mine are about 3/8 inch thick. I would recommend this basket if it happens to fit your bike correctly.

I have been using this basket for a month now. It is holding up really good, it holds my bag of books, groceries, and everything else I need to carry. Comes on and off in a snap and seems to be very strong and durable. Plus, it is alot cheaper than buying a special bag to attach to your bike, I just set my backpack in the basket and I am good to go. I do worry that it might be stolen when I leave it on my bike and there isn't a way to lock it down - it is made to come of very easily (for convenience). Hasn't been ripped off yet though.