A little background - I ride 10 miles each way, but I ride to the gym to shower, and then off to work. I normally pack two panniers. Change of clothes in one and towel and shoes in the other. It gets pretty bulky, and the weight isn't fantastic. Granted, it's never gonna be a svelte bike with this setup.



The wald basket is a mainstay, and sometimes I actually use it if I have a grocery stop on the way home, or something bigger than will fit in the bags, however those times are far and few between. I was debating switching over to a basket bag, so I can just pack a change of clothes and leave shoes at the office (I ride in SPD shoes). Has anyone had any experience with something like the Swift industries sugarloaf bag? Or any other suggestions?



https://builtbyswift.com/shop/sugarloaf/

I know that it's not cheap, and I'm sure this will generate some ire among the zip ties and kitty litter box crowd, but sometimes the bike specific stuff does work well.

Count me a member of the kitty litter box crowd, but I say it's a nice-looking bag, and even though it's spendy, if you'll get lots of use out of it, and it perfectly meets your needs -- if it will regularly simplify your life so you can devote more energy to other things, then go ahead and invest in it!

Personally though, I think if you shop around a little I bet you could find a duffel or overnight bag that's way cheaper and still fits the basket almost as well. The sugarloaf says it has a 14"x7" footprint, this bag's footprint is 14x7 1/2, and also looks pretty nice (even though it's listed as a woman's bag it doesn't look specifically feminine to me)

there are open top liners for those baskets too, Simple, so cheap..

the one above is quite fancy but it wont bounce out. like when the bike falls over.

you could put a day pack in the front basket too...



...

You already have a bungee net that will hold in any bag or even a lot of loose cargo items if they're big enough.

I think the sugarloaf bag would be a good investment- if you're going to get something get it nice and buy it once. Seems like something that will last quite a while and serve it's purpose well, especially since it's designed specifically for the wald baskets.

My experience with the same Wald basket: any significant weight would negatively impact handling of the bicycle.

I would personally just use a bungee net to secure light/bulky items up front, and load anything heavy in panniers.

https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...rando-bag.html

I use a messenger bag in a 137 basket. That Swift Sugarloaf bag looks neat. The problem with my messenger bag-in-basket setup is that it's somewhat a PITA to access - unhook the elastic hold-down cord, then pull the flap up (the flap is wedged down the back side of the basket), and even then some of the outside pockets are still inaccessible without pulling the bag out of the basket. The Sugarloaf bag seems to have solved those problems.

The nice thing about my setup is that the bag serves as my general purpose bag - camera bag and airline carry on, one bag to rule them all. Plus if I need more cargo I can strap the bag tightly to my back to free up the basket.