Hasta La Gadget!

The quality of the Urban Outfitters bike crate comes across perfectly in this over-zoomed image

When it’s not busy filling its shelves with cheap, crappy, fashion versions of bikes and record players, Urban Outfitters likes to spend its spare time courting controversy. This time the product of contention is the Classic Crate Wood Bike Basket.

I’ll leave you to Google “urban outfitters rip off,” but the short story is that many, many independent designers complain that the chain-store copies their creations without permission. Usually, though, these “homages” are simply very similar — and non-litiginous — takes on an obvious idea. And so it is with this bike basket.

Closely modeled on the hand-crafted Custom Porter Crates from Bates Crates, the basket is a wooden crate which mounts onto the front of your bike, fixed to the handlebars. Cole Bates invented his crates after waking up one morning wanting to surprise his girlfriend with pastries and coffee. Thus, the two models feature inbuilt cup holders to get the coffee back from the bakery without spilling.

Amazingly, Urban Outfitters’ crate also has these cup holders. It also looks heavier and much less well made, right down to the fixing method. The Urban Outfitters version just straps onto the handlebar and hangs there. The Bates Crates have proper metal fixings which clamp the basket into place, along with rods that support them from beneath. Bate’s makes his baskets from various reclaimed woods. The chain-store version is pine, and you have to put it together yourself.

Th other difference is the price. Cole Bates hand-crafted designs cost $125. Urban Outfitters’ tat can be had for $40.

Custom Porter Crates [Bates]

Classic Crate Wood Bike Basket [Urban Outfitters via Urban Velo]

See Also:

• Portable, Battery-Powered Turntable. For Playing Records
• Tat
• Snap-Together Camera Kit for Cheap Film Fun
• Retro Radio Puts Vinyl Back in Music