Commuting - i feel stupid. =P

ok, so i bought me a nice rack and some panniers (the adjective "nice", you'll notice, is restricted to the rack...) the other day at a pretty cool bike shop in philly. (riding over the bridge was murder on me, which speaks volumes about my physical condition.) anyways, i am reasonably pleased with the set-up, and everything seems sturdy, but!

but i can't reattach the panniers within a reasonable amount of time. i can take em off plenty quick, but mounting them takes forever. this sorta trashes my dreams of commuting to school with my books in the bags, b/c i dont wanna spend a million years reattaching them at the end of class. i'd look...sillier than usual. not a good thing.

am i missing something? is there a quick n easy trick that i dont know about? am i foolish for thinking i could quickly remove and replace these bags? i got jandd mini mtn bags. does anyone have enought experience with these critters to advise me to:
a) forget about using them in the way i had imagined?($100 mistake)
b) learn to do it the quick and easy way, if such a way exists?
or c) something else entirely?

tia,
-rob

I'm unfamiliar with your set up, but I've had trouble with panniers before and I eliminated it by practicing attaching them until it became easy. This may work for you. $100. is too much to waste.

I'm not familiar with those bags either. Some panniers are just harder to attach than others. A quick glance at the Jandd website told me that the attachment system on your panniers is somehow adjustable, but I don't know how. Maybe you could email the people at Jandd?

I'd contact the company myself. I can't imagine you losing anything by doing that. I've never used those panniers before.

Did you buy them at Trophy? Why not stop back in and ask them for help?

I have no experience with Jandd panniers, sorry. I use Arkels (www.bicyclingbags.com) which I chose, among other reasons< specifically for their very handy mounting system. On and off in seconds.

RichC

well, i've been practicing on the things today between work and school, and ive certainly improved my time...i'm still not as quick-n-smooth as i'd envisioned, but i'm gettin' there. it's pretty cool.

yeah, i bought the stuff at trophy. i was gonna bring it back there, but philadelphia annoys me...and the guys at trophy didnt seem as friendly as my buddies at my local shop. (unfortunately, the local shop doesnt have panniers and stuff as normal in-stock items...and i wanted to buy something after getting a look at it first...know what i mean?)

in keeping with the nature of my original post's title: Did y'all know that there is actually a left and a right pannier in some cases? =P i feel stupid...

=)
-rob

Rob,
Often the pannniers are specifically left and right. If they are fairly symmetrical, they may be ambidextrous. If they curve a bit on one side but more or less straight on the other, the curved or angled side usually goes to the front to provide extra heel clearance. Smaller panniers may not be side specific if heel clearance is not an issue. Something to keep in mind if you are never really satisfied with the mounting system, Arkel offers their mount kit as replacement or retrofit for about $15. As Rich Clark said, their mount is extremely secure and goes on and off in a flash.
FWIW,
Raymond

Yet another extraordinarily good bit of advice from our resident equipment consultand Raymond!

I use Arkels (www.bicyclingbags.com) which I chose, among other reasons< specifically for their very handy mounting system. On and off in seconds.

I have the small Arkels, and they are really neat and easy.

thanks, everyone. i may very well check into arkel's mounting system; even after figgering out which bag goes on which sides(they definitely arent ambidextrous, in this case), it still takes me longer than i'd like to put the things back on. (i can get 'em off right quick, tho...)

thanks for the tips; this forum rules!
-rob