Okay, today’s finally tipped me over the edge. I should do something about this. I’m trying to get a decorated cake across Cambridge. I’d normally bike, but I’m catching two buses due to needing to carry the cake. How does one transport cakes, pies, and pizzas on a bicycle? #BikeTooter
Thanks everyone for the thoughts on transporting large round foods by bike. I felt silly after doing an internet search recently and discovering that there’s a thing called a “pizza rack” that you can mount to the front of your bike. Maybe I’ll get one of those… #BikeTooter
@sheromon "you wouldn't start from here" ?
Actually, I often see Uber Eats etc backpacks discarded on the nature strip, and one of those might be exactly what you're looking for. You;d have to concentrate a bit on sitting upright, but it would provide the suspension you'd need to a fluffy cake.
If it's a dutch fruit cake just hammer it into a U shape and hang it over your handlebars, then hammer it flat at the destination :)
@sheromon For "small" things my larger pannier has a flat bottom the size of a grocery bag and that works well (sometimes with a towel to prevent moving around). I haven't tried larger stuff, but I now have a bike trailer and I could probably put a large thing in a box and strap it in place and it would be fine?
Jun 20, 2026, 1:16 AM@sheromon a Bungie net and a rack can work. You may want to put a plywood panel under the cake/pie so the Bungie net doesn't pull the edges down.
Jun 20, 2026, 1:18 AM@sheromon I sometimes make pizza for neighbors a few blocks away. It's always a headache, and lately I just walk it over there. But I've been thinking to make a box that I can strap firmly to the bike rack. For a cake … to protect against shock it'd be cool to have a noodle vendor swing? 👇
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JZtQUeMX3Gs/WMonucZ9_xI/AAAAAAAAARw/24hWSbGPDicDyybd9QhYr8NWEP_XEylhwCLcB/s1600/IMG_0141.JPG
@fgbjr Whoa. That’s cool, although probably more complicated than I’m hoping for.
Jun 20, 2026, 4:19 AM@sheromon Indeed!
This is a _well technically_ answer:
I took delicate spillable desserts by bike around Berkeley
by gimbaling them in my arms
as the passenger on my sweetie’s long tail bike.
I mean, even in a car or bus, I’d have been gimbaling them rather than driving. The reasonable solution is possibly to choose less fragile desserts for occasions. But we liked these!
@sheromon in Amsterdam I typically see regular folks just hanging a pizza in a box in a bag from their handlebars. The people who deliver them for a living have large square backpacks to hold them
@sheromon carefully?
Jun 22, 2026, 4:40 AM@sheromon I really love my Specialized pizza rack, but it looks like they don't sell it anymore. 😞
@sheromon I've done a few pies carefully in the BlueBike basket with a towel underneath for padding. Once I did a tart that was peaches over pastry cream across Cambridge. Again on a BlueBike, choosing the least bumpy route and going pretty casually.
At some point I want to get better options to mount to my bike, but until then BlueBike is pretty good. I think either way I'd stay away from cake, bouncing is just going to compress it and ruin it. I usually make cookies partially due to their robustness on a bike.
@DemonHusky @sheromon the towel for padding is something I saw in a random youtube video I pulled up while researching my options for transporting pie via bike recently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WQcd8DahOI
I think you're bang-on that the main factors are taking it easy and routing to treat the pie as well as possible. No clue about cake.
@sheromon I've done pizza on a thin rear rack before, the boxes are sturdy enough to just strap down quite well in both directions. Might crumple the cardboard a bit, but will secure the pizza.
I've not done more delicate foodstuffs, though. I did a 5" pie from Petsi on an electric bluebike the other day in my usual (insulated/padded) shopping bag and it was no worse for the wear. A larger pie might not have fared quite as well, but I think the main issue there would be the lack of horizontal space.