How To Carry A Pizza On A Bicycle

Bicycle pizza delivery has a long history, and modern companies in larger cities even have e-bike delivery people.

Naturally, carrying a pizza home on a basic bike can be incredibly difficult, but there are plenty of great solutions to help you get that pie home safe. How do you carry a pizza on a bicycle?

The best way to transport a pizza on a bicycle is a pizza rack with strap. A clever, open-fronted, low-sided wire basket rack has plenty of space to attach bungee cords or rope, so your food stays secure, and the style lets you bring home virtually any size box you want. Plus, these racks are versatile and fit almost any bike.

Best Way To Transport A Pizza On A Bicycle

The best way to transport a pizza on a bicycle is with a front-facing rack designed to hold pizzas.

Several options will get the job done in a pinch, but if you bring pizza home on a bicycle regularly, then it’s a good idea to get the right equipment to carry it.

After all, no one wants a pizza that fell on the ground. Even if it stayed safe in the box, the toppings and cheese are probably everywhere except on top of your pizza, and it never tastes the same if you have to peel the cheese off the box lid.

Wald Pizza Rack

My favorite way to carry a pizza has always been my Wald 257 Pizza Rack from Amazon.

This ingenious handlebar-mounted rack has an open front and low sides, so different pizza boxes will fit.

The wire mesh keeps it lightweight and gives you plenty of places to attach cords or bungees to secure your pizza.

Better still, the handlebar clamps are enlarged to fit 1-1/4″, 1″ or 7/8″ OD handlebars and leave plenty of clearance for your cables, and the whole rack is powder coated black to fit any aesthetic.

For stability, a pair of split, two-part legs hold the weight of your pizza, so the basket never sags.

Plus, they can be mounted to either eyelets or the fork axle to suit a range of bicycles, so no matter what you ride, you can bring fresh hot pizza home easily.

Click here to have a Wald Pizza Rack delivered to your door.

Ways To Carry A Pizza On A Bike

If you live in a large city, you’ve probably seen someone carrying a pizza box in one hand while riding a bicycle.

Although that certainly looks cool, it also takes a lot of skill and is dangerous. You don’t want to wind up in a hospital ER, hungry and covered in hot cheese, trying to explain to a doctor that you have road rash because you couldn’t find a better way to get a pizza home.

Luckily, there are plenty of safe options. Before ordering your next pie for pickup, check out the ideas below to help you get a pizza box home and keep both hands on your handlebars.

1 – Porteur Rack

A Porteur Rack is one of the strongest cargo racks you can find for carrying a pizza (or anything else for that matter) home.

These classic bike cargo racks come in steel and aluminum for more strength or lighter weight. A Porteur Rack is great for pizza and well suited to carrying boxes and bags home.

According to Velo Orange, the “(The) Porteur Rack is a traditional-style rack as used on the famed Parisian newspaper delivery bikes. Those Parisian delivery bikes were reputed to carry as much as 110lbs. of newspapers on similar racks (of course, the bikes had strengthened frames and forks, not just racks).”

2 – Flat Rear Cargo Rack or Platform

Some Porteur Racks can be mounted on the back of a bicycle, but any rear platform or cargo rack style makes a great way to carry a pizza home.

Wrap a bungee around your bike stem and stretch it over your pizza, attaching it to the rack. Additionally, it’s a good idea to go around the box, so all four sides are secure.

Otherwise, there’s a risk of the pizza sliding off the rack as you turn.

The advantage of a flat cargo platform-style rack is its’ versatility. You can carry almost anything on one of these easy to mount accessories, and they aren’t limited by sidewalls of any kind, so shape and dimensions are no issue.

However, the downside is that the open sides make it easier for a pizza box to go flying if it’s not secured in both directions.

3 – Oversize Basket

Bike baskets used to be woven wicker affairs that were an elongated oval or small rounded rectangle shape at the base with high sides.

There weren’t many options. Happily, things have come a long way since then. You can now get lightweight, wire bike baskets in an incredible range of sizes and shapes with high and low sides for carrying different types of cargo, like a pizza.

Place your pie inside and bungee over the top to keep t from bouncing out as you ride.

4 – On Top of A Smaller Basket

Using a smaller bike basket to transport a pizza box is not ideal, but you can do it. Instead of fitting things inside, set your pizza horizontal over the top.

Then you’ll need to secure it with straps, rope, or preferably bungee cords. I strongly recommend adding bungee cords to every bike repair kit and carrying them with you because of how useful they are.

Pizza isn’t the only thing they can hold but reaching around a square box to keep it shut and grab ahold of the basket or handlebars without needing to tie a knot will undoubtedly make things easier.

Especially if you carry a lot of pizzas or stuff in general on your bike, bungee cords are a must-have item.

Helpful Tips To Know About Carrying A Pizza On A Bicycle

The most significant decision you have to make about carrying a pizza on your bicycle is whether you want it out front where you can see it or behind you and out of the way.

I suggest putting it where you can keep an eye on it.

Here are some helpful tips to know about carrying a pizza on a bicycle.

• Wind chill can come from your motion or traffic rather than natural wind. You may want to invest in an insulated pizza bag, so your food stays hot as you ride home.

• If you are carrying a take-and-bake or frozen pizza, it may not come in a box at all. Be careful when securing this style of boxless pizza, as a bungee cord can slice into the uncooked dough, leaving you with a mess. Bring a metal pizza pan or cookie sheet to set your pizza on, and you won’t have that problem.

• Any rope will do in a pinch when you can’t find bungee cords. You can even use a shoelace, though I don’t recommend riding around town with an unlaced shoe.

• Finally, you may want to opt for a soft-sided, insulated, backpack-style carrier for pizzas and food if you are delivering rather than carrying it for yourself. Check out this video from a working bicycle courier.

Final Thoughts

There’s no reason to risk your life riding one-handed to get a pizza home. With racks, baskets, and even backpacks designed to keep food hot and safe, you can order a pizza for pickup anytime.

All you need is a couple of bungee cords, a piece of rope, or some paracord to secure the box in place, and you’re ready to go.