Top boxes on bikes are a really good accessory. You can keep a lot of stuff in there and it doesn’t affect the width of the bike so it’s great for commuting. Louise’s bike didn’t come with a top box and we have been thinking of fitting one for a while.

The consideration we had was that it would be very useful to have somewhere in which we could lock our tent on our trip to the Gambia. We looked at different solutions outside of aftermarket because no one makes a low profile box that is wide enough to fit 59cm tent poles. We looked at army surplus ammunition boxes but most are made of steel and weight a tonne. We looked at having friends build us a custom made box out of 2mm aluminium sheets but that fell through.

A couple of weeks ago I saw exactly what we needed in B&Q; a Stanley toolbox made out of plastic with aluminium reinforcement. We took our tent poles to the shop and they fit perfectly! The box is robust and light and has holes for a padlock. The best part is that it costs only £29!

We fixed it straight to the frame with 4 bolts. Hopefully it will be strong enough but I’m confident it is; after all it bears no weight; it’s only duty is to encapsulate gear that rests on the back frame. Time will tell!