Touring - Backpacks as Panniers

I went on a 2.5 day bike trip so I needed something to carry my stuff. Not willing to shell out too much $$$ for proper panniers, I decided to "make" my own. So I spent about USD 15 on two backpacks. Using some leftover steel rods, I hammered them to shape so that they can hold the bags on their shoulder straps. They turn out pretty useful, I was able to use it on my bike trip. I even took one of them down and carry it as a backpack. Best of all, the sidepockets were extremely convenient. Those don't come with cheap panniers.

Anyway, here's a pic of it:

http://irqnine.com/images/pg/medium/00/06/bb.jpg

And there are more pics here (http://irqnine.com/photogallery/search.aspx?search=g20+%3E+20-Aug-2004).

Pics of my little trip can be found here (http://irqnine.com/photogallery/gallerydisplay.aspx?galleryid=29).

Hopefully this will help out some other people who might want to do the same thing :D

I've been toying with the idea of using "cheap" backpacks as panniers and this looks to be a good solution. Good job!

How about some more, clearer photos so we can all share the joy! :)

There's a link above for more pics ;) (http://irqnine.com/photogallery/search.aspx?search=g20+%3E+20-Aug-2004)

Here's one though:

http://irqnine.com/images/pg/medium/00/06/b8.jpg

As you can see, the bags are locked into the rack by means of the weight pulling down on the... hmm. Anyway, the straps of the bags are locked to the rack with the weight of the bags pulling the vertical steel rods against the racks. And then there are velcro strips that keeps the bottom of the bag in place. Finally there's a styrofoam/cardboard posterboard in each bag to keep the bags' backs straight.

I also needed to get some velcro on some of those strips to prevent them from interfering with the wheel.

That rack looks remarkably like a Raliegh from Canadian Tire for 18.99. If so, was it a royal pain to install or is it just me?

(Apologies to the community for mentioning a retailer who is not a LBS...) :eek:

Well it's not a Raleigh... but cheap enough to be in the same class :)

Yup, looks like the one I put on the beater bike and my knuckles are still bruised.

Or you could see if you can do something like this.

http://yakko.bme.virginia.edu/lab/pannier.htm

That metal sheet backing is cool. I'll need access to power tools though.

That rack looks remarkably like a Raliegh from Canadian Tire for 18.99. If so, was it a royal pain to install or is it just me?

I'd say it looks more like the Mountain Rack from Mountain Equipment Co-Op.

That being said, it's a great idea. Kudos to way124 for illustrating it.


MEC Mountain Rack: http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=669379&PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=12727&bmUID=1095205797632