Flinger trunk box or similar

10-01-2003, 02:55 PM

I have been looking for some type of locakable hard box for my commuter
bicycle which i can place lights, pumps, tools, and other items in when
the box is locked up. I saw the following box and wanted to know if
anyone has used it and has an opinion on it:

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Have you seen anything similar that is better/worse? How does it mount?
Not much point in having a locking box if it is simple to just take the
box. is it durable?

Thanks.

Naveed

10-01-2003, 05:21 PM

Naveed wrote:

> I have been looking for some type of locakable hard box for my commuter
> bicycle which i can place lights, pumps, tools, and other items in when
> the box is locked up. I saw the following box and wanted to know if
> anyone has used it and has an opinion on it:
>
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> Have you seen anything similar that is better/worse? How does it mount?
> Not much point in having a locking box if it is simple to just take the
> box. is it durable?
>
> Thanks.
>
> Naveed

A while back on the Chain Guard list there was some talk about hard
shell bike trunks. The Allround Fahrrad Set was mentioned (
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] ). This is made in
Germany by plastic manufacturer KHW who mostly makes snow sleds and
outdoor furniture. KHW snow sleds are imported to the U.S. by MPH
Associates Inc. After several false leads (KHW kept giving me the wrong
e-mail address), I got in touch with Lauren Putney ( [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
) at MPH Associates who was very helpful. She told me that they did not
normally sell the Allround Fahrrad Set but they agreed to import one for
me. The Allround Fahrrad-Box was $118. The metal heavy-duty carrier rack
was $13. $15 UPS shipping for a total of $146. . They included a small
animal carrier for free.

I mounted it on an elderly mountain bike that has been heavily modified
for commuting and which is now used as my rain utility bike.
Installation was easy. You need to have a standard rack as the mounting
rail attaches to the rack and to the seat tube (
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] ). That should take 15 to
30 minutes with the 10mm/8mm open end wrench and 5mm Allen wrench
included. Once that is done, the box itself can be mounted or removed in
seconds. The front end hooks under a rail and it is held in the back by
one knob screw. The box is 30 liters in volume, has a key lock, two
water bottle mounts (bottles not included) and a reflector with a
single, very bright nonflashing LED powered by two AAA batteries. It has
a variety of attachments that mount on top. It comes with an open basket
( [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] ) but I will probably
use it mostly with the metal heavy-duty carrier rack (
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] ). The small animal
carrier ( there modeled by the lovely Cleopatra
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] ) is suitable for cats
and very small dogs. **WARNING: the space between the cage bars is big
enough for a cat to get its head though and possibly stuck. Don't leave
an animal unsupervised.** All these attachments mount and remove in
seconds by hooking though holes in the box in front and a single knob
screw in the back. Also available is a child seat.

The box is easily big enough to hold a helmet (
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] ) and anything you would
normally carry and light utility use but not really big enough for a
serious shopping expedition. The box key locks and is proof against
casual thievery. The attaching knobs for the box to the bike and the
attachments to the box are on the inside so no one can simply walk off
with the whole thing. Of course as with anything light enough for
bicycle use, a serious thief could have it open in no time. The box is
claimed to be waterproof, but there are two holes in the top of the
small center compartment where the attachments hook in. As this is my
rain utility bike, that could be a problem. I sealed these holes with
some silicone sealant but haven't had it in the rain yet. The two large
side compartments are separate and seem to be reasonably rain and spray
proof.

On this bike, I had the seat slid back near the rear limits. With it
like that, my legs hit the mounting on the seat tube and the mounting
rail. It also prevented the open basket and the pet carrier from being
mounted due to lack of clearance from the seat. Moving the seat forward
on it's rails corrected both these problems. I'll have to play around
with it so it all fits.

While it is designed strictly for upright diamond frame bikes and there
may be problems with fit even on some of those bikes, over all I would
say that this is an excellent product, very well designed and a very
good value. Contact Lauren Putney at [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] at MPH
Associates for purchasing info.

Lorenzo L. Love
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

"Americans are broad-minded people. They'll accept the fact that a
person can be an alcoholic, a dope fiend, a wife beater, and even a
newspaperman, but if a man doesn't drive there's something wrong with him."
Art Buchwald

10-02-2003, 11:05 AM

Thanks for the input. That looks very interesting, but perhaps more than i
need. Also my wife will be having a baby soon and i'm a little skeptical
of the child seat for it. I think i will try and find out more about the
child carrier portion before deciding. I was hoping for something that
comes off easily to put a child carrier. The nice thing about the unit
you referenced is that you can have a child -and- storage. One usually
requires the other. If i am satisfied with the saftey concerns, it may
serve me well.

10-02-2003, 02:14 PM

Naveed <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
: I have been looking for some type of locakable hard box for my commuter
: bicycle which i can place lights, pumps, tools, and other items in when
: the box is locked up. I saw the following box and wanted to know if
: anyone has used it and has an opinion on it:

: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

I have a black Flinger box for my trike, though it's not
yet installed. Keep an eye on
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

I bought it because a fellow bent rider recommended it. Somebody
else took the advice as well, it seems :-) I only paid 23 euros,
not sure if they got the price correct (at Suomen
Polkupyörätukku). The website lists it for 30 euros at
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

It appears robust, weatherproof and practical. Combine with
pannier bags and you can haul a huge amount of stuff. And is
lockable, though I bet the lock is easy to pick or force open.
Mounting can be only done from the inside. Maybe you could
consider a homebrew mounting system that is convenient to detach.

--
Risto Varanka | [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
varis at no spam please iki fi

10-02-2003, 04:23 PM

Naveed wrote:

> Thanks for the input. That looks very interesting, but perhaps more than i
> need. Also my wife will be having a baby soon and i'm a little skeptical
> of the child seat for it. I think i will try and find out more about the
> child carrier portion before deciding. I was hoping for something that
> comes off easily to put a child carrier. The nice thing about the unit
> you referenced is that you can have a child -and- storage. One usually
> requires the other. If i am satisfied with the saftey concerns, it may
> serve me well.

I haven't seen the child seat. Ask Lauren Putney at MPH Associates for
the "Joy Family" catalog from KHW for some good pics of it.

Lorenzo L. Love
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

"We recognize, however dimly, that greater efficiency, ease, and
security may come at a substantial price in freedom, that law and order
can be a doublethink version of oppression, that individual liberties
surrendered for whatever good reason are freedom lost."
Walter Cronkite, in the preface to the 1984 edition of 1984

10-03-2003, 09:52 AM

On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 22:14:01 +0000, risto.varank wrote:

> Naveed <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> : I have been looking for some type of locakable hard box for my
> : commuter bicycle which i can place lights, pumps, tools, and other
> : items in when the box is locked up. I saw the following box and
> : wanted to know if anyone has used it and has an opinion on it:
>
> : [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> I have a black Flinger box for my trike, though it's not yet installed.
> Keep an eye on
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> I bought it because a fellow bent rider recommended it. Somebody else
> took the advice as well, it seems :-) I only paid 23 euros, not sure if
> they got the price correct (at Suomen Polkupyörätukku). The website
> lists it for 30 euros at
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
>
> It appears robust, weatherproof and practical. Combine with pannier
> bags and you can haul a huge amount of stuff. And is lockable, though I
> bet the lock is easy to pick or force open. Mounting can be only done
> from the inside. Maybe you could consider a homebrew mounting system
> that is convenient to detach.

I am not too concerned about the lock strength. I mostly want to through a
toolkit, lights, cylcometer in it. Nothing too valuable, but that i
wouldn't really feel like dragging with me when i lock up the bike.

Of course, now that i have decided i will probably get one, I can't find
any dealers in North America that will send one to me until spring =P

Naveed

10-03-2003, 10:09 AM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> ,
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] says...
> On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 22:14:01 +0000, risto.varank wrote:
>
> > Naveed <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> > : I have been looking for some type of locakable hard box for my
> > : commuter bicycle which i can place lights, pumps, tools, and other
> > : items in when the box is locked up. I saw the following box and
> > : wanted to know if anyone has used it and has an opinion on it:
> >
> > : [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
> >
> > I have a black Flinger box for my trike, though it's not yet installed.
> > Keep an eye on
> > [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
> >
> > I bought it because a fellow bent rider recommended it. Somebody else
> > took the advice as well, it seems :-) I only paid 23 euros, not sure if
> > they got the price correct (at Suomen Polkupyörätukku). The website
> > lists it for 30 euros at
> > [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
> >
> > It appears robust, weatherproof and practical. Combine with pannier
> > bags and you can haul a huge amount of stuff. And is lockable, though I
> > bet the lock is easy to pick or force open. Mounting can be only done
> > from the inside. Maybe you could consider a homebrew mounting system
> > that is convenient to detach.
>
> I am not too concerned about the lock strength. I mostly want to through a
> toolkit, lights, cylcometer in it. Nothing too valuable, but that i
> wouldn't really feel like dragging with me when i lock up the bike.

Just enough to keep honest people honest, eh? That's about all it's
usually worth doing, IMO. If they really want it, nothing you could
reasonably do to a bike would prevent it.

--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

10-03-2003, 01:49 PM

On Fri, 03 Oct 2003 14:09:39 -0400, David Kerber wrote:

> Just enough to keep honest people honest, eh? That's about all it's
> usually worth doing, IMO. If they really want it, nothing you could
> reasonably do to a bike would prevent it.

exactly. i won't lock anything in it that i really care about, just the
things that i wouldn't want taken by casual thieves walking by the bike. I
bring it indoors at night and at work, so this is really just for running
in and out of stores, restaurants, etc. I have the whole 5 minute ritual
of taking off the computer, lights, pump, bottles, bags everytime i go into
a store and it is starting to get irritating. Also, since i tend to park
in highly trafficed visible spots, it is less liekly that someone will
break open the box or steal it entirely.

If someone really wants to steal the bike and everything on it, there
isn't much i can do about it. making it slightly less difficult and
desirable will problem keep people from even bothering. And, less face it,
putting a hard box on my bike will make it look dorky and no self
respecting thief would want to take it anyway.

Naveed

10-03-2003, 05:41 PM

In article <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] >,
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] says...

....

> If someone really wants to steal the bike and everything on it, there
> isn't much i can do about it. making it slightly less difficult and
> desirable will problem keep people from even bothering. And, less face it,
> putting a hard box on my bike will make it look dorky and no self
> respecting thief would want to take it anyway.

Good point; I'll have to remember that! Of course, just the rack and
bungee cord net on it helps with that look on mine.

--
Dave Kerber
Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.