Hey all,
I'm currently a full time student, commuting 7 miles each way to school. I carry two panniers, one for school stuff (laptop, folder, calculator, pens, etc.), and the other for workout/school clothes after commuting.
All I'm looking for now is a trunk bag that'll fit lunch. I show up to school and hit the gym locker where I stow my clothes (pannier) and lunch (trunk bag), go to class, come back for either food or workout or both, and that's my day. Pretty simple.
Here's the current rig:
I'm looking at the Arkel Tailrider:
Arkel TailRider Trunk Bag from Bike Bling
or the Axiom
Axiom Randonnee Trunk 12-liter Rack Bag: Black/Gray from Bike Bling
Being new to trunk bags, I'm not sure what to look for in the way of value. Here's some things I'm looking for:
- Ideally some place to stow my U-Lock with a key holder to make locking up fluid and easy
- Maybe some extra pockets to hold my bottle (although I can always just place it inside the trunk bag when unloading)
- INSULATED. This is to hold lunch mainly, so I'd really like this feature.
- Aesthetics. Because that's always nice. As you can see, there's a lot of black there, so I'd like to keep to that theme.
- Other cool features... not that this is necessary, but as a consumer, I'm always intrigued with features that stand out from others.
- Easy to carry. When I'm fully loaded, I'll have two Thule panniers (both have shoulder straps/handles), and I'd like to have a system that's easy to carry, considering.
I live in Arizona so rain-proof isn't much of an issue.
Next semester, I'm commuting 12.5 miles each way, and will do so for two more years. So this is an investment; I want something that will be durable enough to last me a while, for at least that long.
Thanks for any and all help! Please let me know what your thoughts are, but I'm definitely looking for personal experience and even if you have different suggestions. I tried a backpack last semester (44L) and hated it; even with a big bag, I still couldn't fit all I needed. And I hated lugging that thing when trying to go fast in the drops. The panniers so far have been really enjoyable.