Taking over an existing electric bike shop certainly opened up opportunities to add our own personality to both the service and range of products we offer. Of course, the bulk of this focus centres on the types of electric bikes and electric trikes and special needs devices to get people riding with confidence, with energy and with better endurance.
But what we have found is that whatever the goal or driver to get back onto a bike, to ride for the first time or to use electric bikes to rehabilitate, everyone wants to make their bike their own. Injecting some personality into the framework (excuse the pun!) of the bike is half the fun and certainly we have enjoyed changing this part of the business as well.
Bling comes in many forms and doesn’t need to cost the earth! The Basil brand from Netherlands has opened our eyes to the potential to update a classic bike to become an individual statement of personality. Of course, the Dutch have been doing this for centuries and they have thought of it all, from the simple bell to interchangeable front baskets, from the quick release MIK system for rear baskets to panniers, double bags and more. We just love it! The colours! The designs! The quality! We don’t only stock Basil but it was Basil which started us on the journey of making your bike functional and beautiful…
Basil Cycling Bells
It all started with the simple bell. How can you resist going from a plain, small ding to a loud, bold and beautiful ding-dong! One customer asked to make her white bike more red…well we could offer so many choices
Best thing of course, is that these bells match the bags and baskets from the Basil range so you can mix and match and create a theme!
For those who prefer the more subtle approach, we are also selling the gorgeous Knog bells, we have the matt black, chrome or brass options which you hardly notice until the beautiful tuning fork sound emits.
Basil Front Bags
Our BF ezi-Step 2+2 has been fitted with a rear Thule Yepp Nexxt Maxi baby seat and a Basil front handbag for those special possessions you want to be able to see at all times. All we need to do now is mount a side mirror to help being able to see those precious items both front and back!
Basil Denton lidded basket brings a real Dutch flavour to the Lekker e-Jordaan electric bike. This model comes in a range of sizes and colours but we think the rich brown goes so well with the vegan leather saddle and handlebar grips. Useful for picnics, protecting your load and oh so stylish!
This Basil front basket is mounted using the special KF adapter, which is also used by many of the other front baskets in the Basil range. In this case, the gorgeous fabric basket which has a full lining and drawstring cover, has been mounted on the rear of our folding BF i-Ezi electric bike. Notice how the basket stays in place even with the folding bike has been placed in it’s first fold position for standing! A clever and innovative approach to enable our customer to use her favourite basket on our smallest bike.
A classic look with a simple seagrass basket mounted onto the front rack of this Lekker OutBack.
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Basil Rear Baskets
Rear baskets are just so useful. They can be fixed in place and remain on the bike all the time or quick release. The Basil quick release mechanism is called MIK and we use a MIK mounting plate to enable the interchange of baskets on the rear rack of any electric bike.
Basil rear bags
Bags can be attached to a rear rack either in pairs or as a single. The Basil range has double bags, which are joined above the rack or single panniers, carry alls and shoppers.
Basil Blackberry Magnolia Shopper bag – just one can carry up to 18L
The Basil shopper bag doesn’t always have to be mounted as a side bag. On this semi-recumbent we have mounted the shopper on the rear and matched the bell to tie the colour into the bike frame.
Rear panniers don’t always end up clean! On our recent Brisbane Valley Rail Trail trip, these single waterproof panniers clipped to the side of the Lekker Amsterdam GT did a fantastic job at keeping out the dust!
Basil Beautiful
The range is extensive, versatile and inter-changeable. I think we should all take a leaf out of the Dutch book and select the right bag or basket for the occasion and not think “one size fits all” – after all, what you need for the grocery shopping is hardly the same as the little bag you need to meet your mates for coffee down at the local café or to take the family on a picnic to the neighbourhood park!