Originally Posted by
Skipjacks
Is your change of clothes jeans and a t shirt? or khakis and a button down?
Yes. It can be either. They are only going to be in the bag for about an hour and so it won't really matter.
Originally Posted by
Skipjacks
Khakis and a button down down look nicer for me if they are folded like they would be in a drawer in a pannier rather than rolled like needed in a trunk bag. If you need a change of shoes then the trunk bag gets filled with the size 12's alone with barely any room for anything else.
In my experience, anything "folded" in a pannier...especially an undivided pannier like the Ortliebs...is going to end up rolled in the bottom anyway. Might as well start with it rolled to begin with. Of course, you could fold the shirt in the trunk bag as well.
As for shoes, I leave those at work, along with towel, soap, shampoo, razor, etc. There is no need to huck that stuff back and forth every day.
Originally Posted by
Skipjacks
And do you ever need to stop at the store on the way home? Having a 2nd pannier to put a gallon of milk in is really handy.
Nope. There aren't any grocery stores along the way and I don't carry a lock except on Saturdays. On the other hand, you have to have one pannier that is almost empty to carry a gallon of milk. I'm not in the habit of carrying around an empty bag just in case I need to drop by the grocery store. Most people that I see carrying two panniers on a bike have them stuffed so full that they couldn't put a postage stamp in them, much less a gallon of milk.
Originally Posted by
Skipjacks
I also often use the post office in my office building to send stuff I sell on eBay. Can't put those boxes in a trunk bag with a change of clothes. That's where the 2nd pannier shines as well.
It's all about what's right for you, not what's right period. Needing more than a trunk bag does not mean someone is hauling too much stuff. It just means you need less than they do.
You are correct about it being "what's right for you" but most people don't think of what they really
need to carry. I see the same people riding to and from work on a daily basis carrying almost as much stuff than I would carry on a weeks long tour. That says to me that they really haven't thought through what they
really need to carry day in and day out.
Originally Posted by
Skipjacks
Also...that's an awesome photo of the bike with the train going by. Sometimes I get stuck behind out light rail commuter train...it's not nearly as cool as a full freight train.
Thank you. I try
not to be around when that train comes through, however. It's a two mile coal train going right through the heart of Denver (that means it is is sloooow) and I can spend a lot of time waiting for it. It gives you lots of time to set up the shot, however. Those are the pusher engines and it took 10 to 15 minutes of waiting for them to come by.