Customer Reviews

Bell Quick Release Handlebar Basket

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The basket is fantastic, easy to use and very easy to remove from the bike, and very strong, but just like everything, it is only as strong as the weakest point, and the mounting hardware is all plastic, and one thing that is not mentioned in the description is that it is only rated at 4 or 6 pounds I cant remember exactly , a half gallon of milk weighs 4 pounds! The picture on the packaging shows about 20 pounds of groceries, and if you put that much in the basket the mount twists and tries to slide off the handlebar neck, that could be a killer because the basket would then hit the front wheel and down you go. That would be really sad for that 8 pound dog mentioned in another review. If the mount was metal it would have a 5 star rating but this is dangerous the way it is made, it got 2 stars because of the really handy basket, but if its filled with anything besides feathers its overloaded, and thats by the manufactures numbers.

Great item!! easy to install and easy to use. Haven't had any problems with it since we've purchased. Another thing I liked about this basket is that it's made of medal and seems to look like it will last longer than a regular basket. The size of the product is great! not too big, not too small. Goldylocks has found her bike basket.

Very good basket! Works as advertised!
This is really the perfect size, big enough to fit a small 8lb dog (not that I would know).
It is well built and still as sturdy as the day we bought it!
You won't regret this purchase if you're in the market for a functional basket.

The plastic mounting hardware is not durable. After 4 days of owning and using this basket, the mounting hardware broke, leaving me without a way to get my things home from work today.

Easy to install on my new Raleigh comfort bike. Perfect fit. Exactly what I was looking for, and a lot cheaper than the ones at the bike shop.

Pros: Sturdy metal basket.
Easy to take on and off bike.
Has a handle so the basket can be carried around when not on the bike.

Cons: The mounting unit is made of plastic - unfortunate when the rest of it is metal.
The part of the mounting unit that goes around the handle bars is too small for my bike, which has padded handles. Its possible that with longer screws I could make it work, but the curvature still wouldn't be right.
It uses a zip-tie as a third point of attachment to the bike. This seemed pretty cheap to me, plus if you want to take the mount off, you will have to go out and buy new zip ties (not something I have just laying around the house).

In the end, I returned the basket because I wanted something that would fit my handle bars without a lot of adjusting on my part.

This is a very nice basket and very reasonable for the cost but it has some significant limiting factors & parameters.

Pro's: neat metal basket seems durable enough, quick-releases easily, installs easily, handle on basket makes for handy carrying. Good for carrying light loads (purses, doo-dads, etc.)

Negatives: handle-bar rack is plastic and will probably break if heavily loaded. Connects to the handlebar with two small clamps which will only fit smaller diameter handlebars. Cannot be modified to fit larger diameter handlebars. (My bars are too big in diameter so I can't use the basket.) Consumes a lot of handlebar space so ya gotta find another place for all the other handlebar stuff (lights, bells, etc.) which becomes more of problem with shorter or bendy handlebars.

Its nice enough (and cheap enough) that I'm going to keep it and make it work on another bike. But I can't make it work on the bike I bought it for.

As more weight is added to the basket, the stress pulls against very small screws that are only embedded in the plastic mounting bracket. There is NO WAY you could hold much weight until these screws pull out and the basket falls forward, dumping its contents! I tested it and the small screws pulled out at about three pounds of weight. A good design would have the mounting bracket have solid plastic over the top and around the back of the handlebar to take up the forward stress with the small screwed-in piece that holds the bracket on the handlebar coming up from the bottom where there is no stress. But, alas, that thought did not occur to the designer! Dump this basket before it dumps your books, dinner, dog, whatever, in the road! If you insist on keeping it, replace the small screws in the bracket with MUCH larger ones. Bon Chance!

The supplied mounting brackets are too small to fit on the handlebars of either of my bikes so I have to return the product, which is very inconvenient. The product description doesn't specify a maximum handlebar diameter, and when I contacted Bell by phone they informed me that they don't provide an adapter. After carefully reading the reviews I see that others have had this problem.

Bought this for my cruiser. Installation was a little confusing, but once figured out it went on easily and works great! Nice size, big enough for a bag of groceries if you choose to bike to the market, or for a small dog if you like for yours to tag along. I use it mainly for my keys, phone and water. Love my basket!