Advocacy & Safety - caution if you have panniers

just a word of warning to folks to be careful ...dont do what i did :)

Sunday April 12, yucky rainy windy day. went out for a short ride to get some shopping done.
It was ~ a 5km ride. Load up panniers at last stop. start heading for home.

The style of pannier i have ...a large bag open on top, flip top type lid, straps and clips pull the top down from bottom strap.

i get literally one and a quarter blocks from home...going up a 20degree incline at around 10kph. i hear a BANG and the bike stops...what the flying fanny farmer happened now says i ...

the strap...was not clipped in..was hanging down...it got sucked into the derailler...the bottom part of the derailler was now up above the axel and jammed into the spokes. tore the derailer in 2 parts. 2 spokes broken. derailler hanger bracket snapped in 2 pieces. Chain did not break but was all twisted up..back wheel locked up tight. Had to lift the rear of bike and practically carry it home...ouch with 40Lb worth of stuffs in packs :)

so if you have packs like that.. make sure things are not hanging down...i sure as heck wont be moving until i double check those straps :)

No kidding. I wish they'd come up with a better system.

Haha, I broke a generic bungee cord wrapping it around my axle... I'm afraid to look close at it right now, and I'm riding my 2nd bike.

I haven't had this happen on any of my panniers, I've had the inner stay strap get loose on my winter commuter and get torn up by the spokes, but no major damage like the OP's.
The panniers I have either have zippers, or the straps pull up with the short end being at the bottom.

Similar thing has happened to me. I have the same style of pannier (from the same company) and the strap was done up at the time. However the pannier was empty, and there was excess strap that came untied and got sucked into the cassette. Luckily it just slowed me down. So do up the clips and securely tie up the excess.

Sorry to hear this happened to you. I'm glad you're okay!

There's a simple solution that we point out in all the classes we teach.

Take the cinch strap (the one going around the circumference of the pannier) and run it through the loop in the strap coming up from the bottom.

That way, even if you don't clip the flap down, the strap can't fall down into the spokes.

Allan


______________________________________

Allan Dunlop, Director
The Center for Cycling Education

www.TheCCE.org / director@thecce.org
512.667.6033 (Office) / 512.395.7128 (Cell)

San Marcos, Texas
______________________________________

I had that same thing happen when I ran over a stick, check your derailer hanger, it might be bent broken.

thanks for the tip Allan, i have the bottom strap thru the wrap around strap..but did not think to loop it thru.. will do that asap :)

Leo..read the op again :) the hanger snapped in 2 pieces. had to get new one.
i sure get the good ones.. glad i wasnt going too fast. could have done more damage if i was.. like taking out more spokes probably and me going down :(

had an other weird one a few years ago. going past a construction site one day. i hear a ping..pangdy pang. i stop and look..dont see anything.. start to move and only moved 1foot. look closer.. a 4 inch nail is in the tire...but its not just in it the normal way but shot thru both sides of the sidewalls like it was fired in by a nail gun. ..must have hit the nail just right and it bounced up btwn the panniers and pinged around b4 going thru the tire