dauphin

I have a 5 mile ride to my workplace that has a couple of hills that even I can handle, but I find that transporting my computer in a backpack is like having someone riding piggyback. Fortunately, I have a locker and shower at my business, so I don't need to haul a lot of other items in the pack. Has anyone had good experience with laptop specific pack? I am somewhat partial to the Osprey line of packs and they make a couple of nice looking laptop sleeve packs. I am willing to go with another brand if someone has some good reccomendations.

wahoonc

I use a padded sleeve(Eagle Creek) then just pack it in the pannier on the inside closest to the rack. If you can try and snug it down to keep if from bouncing. I don't commute by bike much anymore (I am now in the field and it is 400 miles between jobsites ) If you have the removable hard drives you may want to remove them and pack them separately, they don't take being jostled too well.

Aaron

enginerd

I commute with my laptop 8 miles with hills. I can't necessarily give you recommendations on different packs, but I haul my laptop in 3 different ways. First, I have a padded sleeve from Jandd.

- I've placed this into a backpack and carried on my back. Advantage - I don't need a rack. Disadvantages - sweaty back and weight up top makes me a bit less stable when out of the saddle on hill climbs.
- I've bungied it (in the sleeve) directly on top of my rack. Advantages - most compact and aero rack mounted setup. No sweaty back. Weight balance is fine. Disadvantages - not as easy to carry other stuff (clothes, etc.). Transmits the most shock to the laptop, but hasn't been a problem.
- Placed the sleeved laptop into my pannier. Advantages - can haul a lot of stuff. No sweaty back. Weight balance is low. Disadvantages - not very aero. weight balance is to side.

More often than not, I just go with my panniers since it gives me the flexibility to haul stuff (esp. used work clothes back from work to home).

Other options: my wife uses a messenger bag which she loves, but says it probably wouldn't work well for a laptop or anything very heavy. Lastly, I'm likely going to buy an Arkel commuter pannier. Those are sweet looking.

chimpunk

I put my laptop in my backpack, then put the backpack in one of my panniers. Then when I get to school, or the library, I just take it out and its "good to go..."

Sometimes, if my panniers are full, I will just bungie my backpack to the top of my rack.

ceridwen

I bought a Chrome messenger bag (citizen) and a Tekstyl Omni sleeve that I use to get my laptop to and from school (2.5-3.5 miles depending on route).

I picked the messenger bag because I did not like the way my backpack was sitting while I was on the bike, but I was not happy with my rack + baskets for school, it was too fiddly. For a guy of average size, I would suggest going one size up to the Metropolis, I only got the citizen because I am female and quite tiny and felt the larger bags would dwarf me. I find that the messenger bag doesn't rob me of power like the backpack did and doesn't make my shoulders and neck sore either.

I picked the omni sleeve because it has some crush protection in it and was reasonably priced. I sometimes have to carry books in the bag with my laptop and I did not want to have to worry about the screen.

The sleeve fits in the bag just fine, but I don't think I could carry a bigger laptop very well in that bag. Mine is a Sony SZ140 which has a 13.3" screen and weighs 4 pounds. It is not uncomfortable by itself or with clothes in the bag, but it does suck to carry it + textbooks.

I like just being able to jump off the bike, lock it up and go when I get to school, rather than having to fiddle with panniers, and I needed something easy to carry around school and that could carry a pretty good bit of stuff. The messenger bag is working well for me, but your needs may be different.

I would not feel comfortable strapping it onto my rack because of the increased chance of injury to the laptop from the vibration and the chance of it falling off the rack (unlikely, but I'm not all that lucky). Plus the messenger bag provides protection from the rain here in Florida.

oboeguy

I used to have a very hilly laptop commute. I used a regular "laptop backpack" but I think if I were to repeat this sort of commute in the future, I'd get a sleeve and put it all into my riding backpack from WingNut.

bmclaughlin807

I use a cheap laptop backpack... I was concerned about shock to the laptop, so I use a piece of shipping foam that Circuit City sent when I shipped my Vaio back to them... it's about an inch and a half thick and absorbs most anything!

The laptop won't fit in any panniers I've found locally (It's a 17.4 inch widescreen desktop replacement... it's HUGE!) So I strap the backpack to my rack... I tried it on top, but it made the bike handle too wierd, so now I strap it on one side... the bike handles great as long as I remember the extra weight on the one side (took about a trip each way to get used to it)

It's been riding like this for three weeks, commuting every day, 8.5 mile round trip. I LOVE not having a sweaty back at the end of the ride!

Lamourish

I use the Arkel Breifcase. Expensive, but I love it. I'm 5 mi as well and take my laptop ~2d a week. It also has pockets for accessories.

sukram

I use the Arkel Briefcase as well. My normal commute is 5 miles (most days of the week), but with jury duty currently I've been hauling it 10 miles.

OK, the briefcase is a bit pricey, but it's very, very nice. Excellent quality. The Briefcase is a bit large for my 15" laptop, but I can fit my mini-pump, patch kit & multitool, my lunch, rain gear and random important files and stuff in it. In fact, it's got plenty of room for stuff. It's a great solution.

Two caveats though. The shoulder strap is a bit odd, it doesn't attach to the outer sides on the wide part of the bag so it's a bit unlike other soft briefcases out there, and the bag feels a bit more bag-like than briefcase-liked (handle issue perhaps? I'm a bit unsure on this.)

Overall though, I really like it and it suits my business attire well.

sathomasga

I've done the laptop in the panniers bit, but my commute includes a few stretches of fairly rough road. The heavy duty jostling didn't seem to be particularly healthy for my hard drive, so I gave up on the panniers. My preferred solution now is the Novara Buzz Messenger Bag from REI. It's a hyrbid between a messenger bag and sling-style backpack that, to me, is much more comfortable than a regular messenger bag (YMMV). MBs in general are more comfortable to me than backpacks because they sit lower on your back. Details at

https://www.rei.com/online/store/Prod...=searchcat%3AC

SpecialKev

+1 on the Novara Buzz bag. I started using mine about 2 weeks ago and love it. I used to use a lumbar pack but that is just no good for the kind of weight that I sometimes carry.

DanO220

I was listening to the local talk radio computer guru explain why laptops just don't last as long as desk top computers. Some of their shorter life span can be attributed to their compact design charactaristics - components and fasteners, cramped configuration leading to less than ideal cooling, and of course the fact that they're carried around and plopped down at the local coffee shop on a daily basis. I'm sure he would be horrified if someone admitted to putting one in a bicycle pannier and bouncing it down the road. If I had to commute with my laptop I'd definitely go with the messenger bag, just so I could stand up and save it over any really rough stuff. For EVERYTHING else, it's panniers. They're the best.

DanO