Originally Posted by
Herzlos
Can't you get the cashier to load the stuff into your backpack? That'd save you all the hassle.
By all means try it, but those caribiners are basically just keyrings so I wouldn't have any confidence in them holding a carrier bag full of shopping.
I also don't see how that'll be comfortable or you'll be able to stop it sliding about
I did exactly that today! But I bought too much canned food and it all fit in the backpack (I spend the same dollar amount each week), leaving me nothing to test with.
I filled some test bags at home and found the bags from the two stores here are different lengths by more than a trivial amount. Anyway, I tested with what you see, 1lb yellow bag of pretzels to roughly represent bread, the center bag of cans is 4.8lbs and the right side bag of pasta is 3.9lbs.
and the test was a success! While it certainly lacks the stability and comfort of the backpack, it's easier to load and take on and off.
the nearly 10lbs of test weight was on the high side; the strap cut a little and was tough to get adjusted. I think a weight of 7lbs would work better and at 5lbs zero difficulty.
With the strap pulled up on the left shoulder the bags hung low on the right, bumping my leg slightly but not stopping me from riding. With it more centered I got one bag on one side and two on the other. They swing less but having them swing on each side, out of sync, is disconcerting. So pulling the strap down, getting the bags as high as possible, all three hang on the left. In this position they only swung a little and didn't hit anything.
with the strap in that third position, the bags hang almost exactly as if they were on my shoulder but not sliding down. So, the problem of not being able to carry bags on my arms or shoulders in a road bike position has been resolved, at least for me!
I think the excess chain and extra carabiners that I was going to remove can just stay because they didn't swing around or cause a problem as expected. The carabiner strap definitely may need more modifications but I won't know until after lots more testing.
Originally Posted by
Maelochs
Why are the rear bags full? have you considered .... emptying them?
Unless I am on a tour and everything is on my bike and I am passing through a town ... I don't need two panniers full of gear to just ride around .... a simple seat bag works fine for tubes and tools and such.
I am interested in why your rear panniers are always full.
I meant full of other groceries. I try to keep them empty and available for use just as it sounds like you do.
Originally Posted by
Maelochs
This is All In Your Head.
I shop with panniers, and I do not let anyone pack my panniers. Bread on the bottom, all the weight on one side? No thanks. I wheel my cart out of the store, clip my panniers to the cart, load them, and take the cart back to the storage area. Then I ride home and it is no stress. if people think i look weird packing my bags, they probably think i look weird anyway ... and frankly i don't care.
if for some reason only clipping bags to your body is the only acceptable solution---and That won't look weird, no way----then get some two- or three-inch webbing, make a belt and suspenders and chest and back straps and sew on loops for your carabiners. No stress and you say you have done it before. With the ready availability of quick-release buckles, you could have every strap abler to unclip independently, so you could take the harness off easily in any space and with any load.
Whatever.
Lazy, remember... but you're right and if this thing works well but not perfectly I may try to put together something a little less trashy, more reliable, e.t.c. if it works perfectly I'll just keep using it.
I've stress tested key rings to failure before. They began to elongate sooner than I expected but it took tremendous force to actually pull them open to failure. You can see it happening, and we're taking about forces many times greater than even the tensile strength of the handles on a plastic bag.