Carrying a load on the bicycle

Many people will know that cycling is a beautiful thing, the wind in your hair, the sense of freedom, and we want to put 0 traffic, zero queues and steps everywhere. I may be biased because I cycle 360 days a year, but spring and autumn is the best time to go. As a practical person who always tries to combine the useful with the pleasant, and using the bicycle for commuting and not for leisure, cycling without cargo gear has never made sense to me. And so, while cyclists try to lighten their bikes, I have always tried to weigh them down with various accessories such as a front and rear basket, panniers on the handlebars and a backpack on the shoulders.
And yes, in life it has happened to me that the basket would fall from the weight, the bags would touch the wheels or my heels and the space wouldn't be enough and so I would also come home with the bags on the handlebars. That situation when you say “I'll pick something up” and you go out leaving the supermarket empty.
Of course, the question of bags on the handlebars aside, mmm... is one or two better as a matter of balance?! But how much load can you carry on a bike without compromising either its function or the rider's balance?

There is a maximum weight for a bicycle, it is personal for each make and model, but it is usually around 100 kg. There is a belief that carbon bicycles are stronger, but this is actually not the case, in fact for some carbon bicycles the maximum weight is even 75 kg! Of course, it wasn't made to empty a supermarket!

So after deducting the weight of the rider, the difference is what we can load on our bike, the weight of various accessories carrying objects and cargo included.

So, apart from the fact that every year the difference decreases, the weight we can load is still enough to carry something with us, unless we want to do a lot of shopping, which, however, in addition to being heavy is also bulky, and so we would also need more space and consequently perhaps a cargo bike, but perhaps you, unlike me, prefer to do your shopping by car!
Returning to the classic loading bike, there remains the question of balancing, what are the limits for carrying the load and not risking falling off balance?! And difficult to find any information on this subject, I would say that the rules are more or less the same as those for carrying children, with the difference that, of course, the responsibility and risk are quite different. So, as a matter of balance, in the front it is better not to carry more than 15 kg, since most baskets can carry 5 to 7 kg maximum. I once saw a little girl being carried in the basket, still, when I think of it my hair stands on end! Likewise, the load must not obstruct your sight or your balancing ability.

For the rear load, I would say the limit is 25 kg, and it could be divided between the side bags and the luggage rack with or without basket. Again, the load should not hinder riding such as touching the feet or wheels when pedalling.

One of the solutions could be the shopping trolley, which can carry between 45 and 50 kg. Personally, I am much more convinced by the shopping trolley than the child carrier solution because of the issue of safety and comfort. In the case of the trolley there are some precautions to be considered: the trolley must be marked with a flag, the length of the bicycle plus trailer must not exceed 3 metres in total.

However, if you plan, as I do, to do your shopping strictly or at least predominantly by bike, go on a picnic, to the beach, develop a job on two (better three ) wheels or do all this plus transport the children, I would suggest the solution of a cargobike (familybike). A bike capable of carrying up to 100 (in some cases even more) kg of even voluminous cargo, in addition to the weight of the rider, in some cases is also a masterpiece of design, as in the case of TAGA BIKE, which has been awarded no less than 4 major world design prizes!

Drive in style, but don't forget about comfort and practicality!