Papa's got a brand new Box! - Part 1.

I'm always searching for ways to streamline carrying things on bike. For most local shoots, I'll take out the Bilenky or the Xtracycle. However, some shoots require me to go multi-modal, using a labyrinth of trains and buses to get to my location (like my recent shoot in Palmdale!). When I'm using other forms of transit, it becomes difficult if not impossible to take my larger cargo bikes.

So what's a bicycling photographer to do?




Well....take a "regular" size bike and outfit it to suit your purposes. This is where the Ortlieb Shuttle-Bike comes in.




The Shuttle-Bike is essentially a semi-hard rolling suitcase that snaps on to your bike via an adapter for your rack. The case has casters and a telescoping handle for easy off-bike hauling. It also has really well-sealed zippers so you're covered in event of a downpour.

The Shuttle-Bike functions like any suitcase and offers some pockets and compression straps to shrink your clothing a bit. However, my interest is in using it as a semi-hardcase to put my camera gear in.



If you look on the Ortlieb sie, it has a few pictures, but none that really do a good job of showing how it works on a bike. So here are some snaps to show you how it all works!

Here you can see how the back of the case mates with the adapter on the rack. You mate the circular pieces and push down until you hear an audible click, letting you know it is firmly in place.





Another nice touch is the combination zipper lock. It's not going to keep a determined thief out of there but it will keep honest people honest (for a few minutes) and prevent accidental opening of the zippers.



I'll show how it fits all my camera gear in the next post!