Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I've been using this basket for eight months or so and have been fairly pleased with it, but it is far from perfect. Pros: 1) The mesh bottom is GREAT! I don't worry about anything falling through the bottom of the basket. I know that my phone or wallet or whatever small item gets tossed in will stay put. 2) The fact that the basket is removable is VERY handy. When my bike is too heavy with groceries, I can remove the basket instead of hauling full basket and bike up the stairs to my house. I've also loaded it up with groceries and strapped it to my bike's rear carrier a number of times. 3) The size is good and not unwieldy. I can fit my purse and, if need be, work laptop in the basket. Or purse and lunch bag. I try not to put anything too heavy, but a bag or two full of lightweight groceries fits without much trouble. Cons: 1) After six months of use, I realized that the bottom support not only wore the paint off my Specialized Ariel's head tube, but wore a GROOVE into the metal as well. This is a MAJOR con and the sole reason I will not purchase another basket with this style of support assembly. Granted, my bike is made of aluminum but it wasn't a cheap bike box store bike. I don't know if the bracket would hurt a steel frame bike and I'm unwilling to test. 2) The "locking" mechanism is less than adequate. As many reviewers have stated, if you hit a bump, the basket handles tend to bounce up which then unhooks the basket from the bracket/support. I don't know about you, but the idea of loosing a basket in transit is pretty harrowing. My fix for this problem is to attach a carabiner on the top sides of the basket to hook onto the handles and keep them from unhooking. 3) I am grateful to the reviewer who explained how the basket worked since no assembly instructions were included and the way the handles work for locking down the basket isn't intuitive. You may be asking, if this basket has caused damage to my bike, why am I still using it? I haven't found a basket that I like better to be honest. I'm tempted by another manufacturer's basket with struts, but the basket doesn't have the mesh bottom that I appreciate so much.