So, I had a pretty legit crash this morning. I was getting ready to head out on my 20 mile commute but wanted to bring a water bottle. I make use of the bracket for the Ulock which lives on my downtube. So, you cant have the lock there AND a water bottle in the cage. I use a DX trunk bag daily, usually without the pannier deployed. The trunk is usually pretty full, so this morning I dropped a pannier and threw the lock in. The DX has a rigid panel that folds down which allows the nylon pannier to deploy. There is velcro at the bottom of the panel that attaches to the pannier to keep it close, but there are still several inches of pannier below that. I did have the elastic tie down at the bottom of the pannier attached to the rack.
Anyway, I start out on my trip. I head down this monster of a hill and am pretty content. I just got a new jacket and I am loving that I am flying down this hill and not freezing to death. There is a decent little climb at the end of the hill, and I start hammering my way up. i get up out of the saddle and start pumping away. I am almost to the top when all of a sudden the cranks and back tire lock up. Inertia wins as I keep moving forward. I hit the ground pretty hard. I manage to sit up and I am waiting for the sensation of pain to start setting in as the adrenaline levels lower, but it does not. Thankfully, I am unscathed. This road is pretty quiet and dark, but there just happened to be a car going by. The lady stopped to make sure I was OK. It's good to see good Samaritans still exist.
So, what happened? The Ulock was in the pannier by itself. It had the whole pannier to itself, and being such a heavy item, it really moved around in there. As I was pumping up the hill, the side to side motion of the bike caused the ulock to swing into the spokes (possible catching the rear reflector). The Ulock must have been in the very corner of the pannier, as it swung around the support bar for the rack. This is the rack I have...
Luckily, the pannier started to tear away from the bag, as there were no broken or bent spokes. I was able to complete the ride, which after that, was pretty good.
Man oh man, talk about being scared though! To just have the bike come out from underneath you is quite the experience. I don't fault Topeak at all. They make some great stuff, but dont put small, heavy items into an empty pannier on one of these bags, unless you have one of the
full racks! A few weeks ago I was actually thinking about ripping out one of the panniers to make more room for storage in those side compartments. Not sure if I will rip this one all the way out or just sew it back on. I might try and remove the pannier and sew a zipper into the bag and pannier, making it removable
