GCN did a test that concluded with a giant saddlebag coming out on top:
I bought the same saddlebag in the video and used it for wet weather commuting. (Loaded with jeans, shirt, button up, wallet, phone, keys, frozen burrito...) It made a good mudguard when I wasn't using an Ass-Saver.

Lately I've found a backpack to be more convenient for accessing stuff mid-ride. I toss the inner dry bag from the saddlebag into the backpack when it rains. Having the backpack at work is nice when I take trips to a grocery store or someplace else. I usually load up a fridge at work with sandwich components, so I don't need to transport food from home. When I do bring in leftovers, I just wrap the resealable containers in plastic wrap and they travel well. I have a filtered water pitcher at my desk and a small electric moka pot for coffee, so no drinks on the bike.

How do people handle pot luck events? That's been my biggest challenge.

* Don't participate
* Trailer

Aero is a whole different consideration.

I am SURE my filled panniers sticking out increase my aerodynamic drag and do not help me.

However...

1) I'm commuting on the bike for exercise. So less aero means more exercise so no love lost there.

2) I bike before I drink my coffee so I'm not exactly trying to set and land speed records in the morning anyway. Going home at the end of the day is a different story.

I can fit my laptop plus charger and mouse, work documents, a change of clothes, and lunch stuff all in one big pannier. But I don't always necessarily like all that weight on the one side of my bike so sometimes will break it up between the backpack and the pannier. You don't have to commit to one specific way of doing things all the time. The more tools you have at your disposal the more you'll dial in what's right for you in each situation. Sometimes I don't carry anything but my tool kit, pump, and water. I've never had a trunk bag or a handlebar bag.

There are many reasonable suggestions within this thread. However, I don't see any remotely multimodal options. Ortlieb's offerings are the best I have sampled and I would continue to rate them as a slight movement in the right direction.

This was my day (and a reason that I won't change away from a backpack.)

I cycled into work with a 20L backpack with a MBP, bike lock, phone, lights, passport/wallet.

Stopped at the barber for a beardtrim/headshave and locked the bike to bike post (couldn't leave anything in panniers outside.)

Then, I rolled over to a coffee shop for a take away.

Then, arrived at work and locked it outside the office in the bike rack.

My partner called and said the weather is nice, so let's go to Winchester with our new daughter. I said great and bring my dSLR as the extended family is going as well.

They met us at the local mall so we could go to the bank and open a child ISA and hit TK Maxx.

They we hoped in the car and drove 30 miles to Winchester where I pushed the daughter/pram around.

It was around 5 miles of walking and sme shopping and some coffees/cakes.

Then they dropped me off at the uni, where I hopped on the bike and rode home.

Over the course of the day, the backpack had:

To barber (lights, passport/wallet, bike, lock, MBP, phone, etc...)
Locked on corner near coffee shop (same but lock)
Bike rack (same but lock, left stuff in office not needed)
Walked over to mall (phone, passport/wallet)
Added (dSLR, ID documents for daughter)
After bank (dSLR, passport/wallet)
While pushing pram (partners jacket, shopping, dSLR, ID)
At office (dSLR/MBP/bike lock/etc)
Cycle home

I don't see panniers with the same utility.

This is not an abnormal day by any means and just had a personal car as the second mode instead of train/bus/hovercraft/plane/taxi.

I don't see how a backpack can be beat for sheer utility.

Perhaps we have different lifestyles / living environments.

The Terra Trike is changing my narrative. It has a top bag but I need some kind of small bag or pack that I can access in front of me. I can't figure out where to put it. Backpack is obviously out. Hip pockets in my pants interfere with seat. Stuff falls out of front pockets if they're stitched to the seam or if not, settles to the side and hits the steerers. The bag in the rear is only accessible when totally off the trike and standing next to it. There's a single bottle cage between the knees but it's awkward to reach and level instead of tilted... and better have a no-spill spout. Terra Trike makes some add-on bars that clamp to the steerers and cantilever out in front of them, doubling as grab bars for getting in. But that's a reach. I think I've seen a photo of a bag that was sticking out from the side of the seat. So far the most convenient thing has been sweater pockets but it's not usually going to be cool enough to wear them.

Wow, this started a great conversation. Using a trunk bag sounds like a good idea, although I do carry a laptop on occasion, so I'd still need a pannier for that. I haven't seen a trunk bag that is sized for a laptop.

Someone mentioned a Thermos for soup and liquids. I think that's exactly what I need to buy. I've been using kitchen storage containers, but find that they can leak slightly when being jostled in a pannier.

I've carried all that, as well as lunch, changes of clothes, a laptop (not just a table) and more, with a convertible backpack-pannier. Shoot, I delivered a couple DESKTOP computers with my big-ol' Timbuk2 convertible (if it were white instead of black, you'd think I was an Apollo astronaut). I sure wouldn't have wanted it on my back at the time....

These days I'm using a Bikase convertible. Smaller, more like a business backpack with compartments. This morning it rained, but I knew it would be dry in the afternoon, so I put my bike on the bus bike rack. Pulled the back straps out of the pannier at home, tucked in the rack hooks, put it on my back and walked the bike to the bus stop. On a lark I rode the bike from the bus stop to my locker, but kept the bag on my back. Wasn't worth switching modes on the fly, but it definitely reminded me how much easier and more stable it is having it on a rack. So for the ride home, it goes back into pannier mode.

It would depend on the trunk bag and the size of the laptop. The side bags on the Trunk-it (no longer made but similar to other trunk bags) would probably be big enough for some of the smaller laptops.

However, I’m an old guy who has used the fact that I can’t carry a computer on a bicycle as an excuse to not donate my time to my work. I’ll volunteer hours and hours to my local co-op but my work pays me for my time and my experience. I ain’t going to give away what I sell. Working double time just means half pay.

^^^^^^ I get either comp or overtime for any time I work from home. Plus, it gives me the option to telecommute during regular work hours, if weather or other situations call for it.

It's not about carrying capacity. Backpacks trump all other modes for carry capacity. I'm staring at a 10L, 15L and a 25L right now that our party used yesterday, while walking.

Someone even had one of these ... sigh ... Fjällraven what have you become.

https://www.google.com/search?q=fjallraven&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjqofLqlffhAhWEuHEKHV_ABsIQ_AUID ygC&biw=1268&bih=562

I must admit that I haven't tried every product save for the Ortliebs (as they are seen as 90% of all panniers here in southern England).

When, I see someone with a pannier on their back I actually ask them how it is. In the barber shop, someone came it with the Orteib and I asked. There, the response was uncomfortable and expensive.

I'm OK with the expense, as I spend 1 Ortlieb/month to keep my hair in order. (Barbership Black membership is £100/mo) ... The Barbership ? Portsmouth Barbershop ? Barbers in Southsea & Gosport

However, I'm not cool with the discomfort. Would I like walked 5 miles yesterday while pushing a pram/buggy/Kinderwagen, probably not and that makes the decision for me?

Also, they get dirty, compared to a backpack and I don't want dirt on my nice clothes.

Was wearing one of these yesterday and don't want it soiled.

https://www.tigerofsweden.com/gb/blazers/1903-blazer-T66533003.html?cgid=99eab02a0a4d5bc95fe6eea4cb2ecdd51561b4c5&dwvar_T66533003_color=090#!start=9

It is good that you have stated that a Bikase is somewhat comfortable. If I see one discounted at a bike shop or at an outlet (TK Maxx, went into three of those ****ers yesterday), I'll give it a shot and pass my own judgement.

Measuring drag as even being a factor during commuting in England is ridiculous. The traffic density will be so high that those analyses are about as far away from real world as possible. Unless you're living somewhere non-urbanised, to which 84% of people of the UK live in an urban area, suggesting that study makes no sense.

Very much depends on conditions. For mine, this is working.

Toiletries in shower room. (Lucky to have shower.)

Right pannier has tools, tube and such and is locked to the bike.

Left pannier and lights come in with me.

Breakfast and lunch in bag.

Folded clothes in file drawer. I bring batches in by car or use a large box tied onto rack with bungee cords.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...536e6900e8.jpg

Elastic net secures lunch box.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...23cce4ef4c.jpg

Two panniers.

I guess what I don't understand is how does one lock a pannier when going inside? Rather than losing a hand to carrp somewhere or emptying something out and carrying a bunch of lose stuff.

For me, having a laptop is the flexibility that allows me to choose whether or not to ride or when to ride. I log my hours and get paid for any time I work off the clock.
My pannier is a cheap thing I bought from Target on clearance a few years ago. It has a strap on top and lifts off the rack so I can take it with me.
IMO the backpack is the most useful. My commute is about an hour each way, that’s kind of a long time to have that much weight on the back.
My work commute is 90% on open roads out in the countryside, long stretches without stops and usually quite windy. The pannier definitely has some serious wind drag. But in town, with a bunch of stops,
etc, drag is not a factor. I appreciate being able to sometimes take the pannier and my backpack to the store, I can get 2 full bags of groceries in each the pannier and my backpack and strap a full paper sack to the top of the rack. But that’s a only a 2 mile ride.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2901de3afb.jpg

Ugly pannier is primary deterrent.
I'm fortunate to work in low-crime area. One of my office destinations has a locked cage for bike parking and at the other office the rack is in a high-traffic area. I don't keep anything in it other than tube, multi tool, and bungee cords/nets.

Lock is obviously not much of a deterrent:

I commuted for years with the small front Ortleib panniers on LowRiders. (Climbing hills on fix gear with weight over the rear wheels sucks.)

Once a week, I brought in clothes for the week and brought home last week's. I would shop on the way home. (Really easy. Bring in the panniers and put them in the shopping cart. Have the cashier put my food back in the cart. Then I'd load the bags as I wanted, ride home, carry the bags into the kitchen and unload.).

I love that those panniers are really waterproof. Everything stays dry. Or, on farmer's market runs, I can roll them closed at 11 am and when I get home at 2:30 on a summer's day, my greens are still fresh. (And any produce residue wipes off and dries really easily. Major mess? They clean up like a dish.

Ben

I guess what I'm saying is that I stop at different places for different food.

I buy fresh fruit/veg here because they have the best in town:

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.7921...7i16384!8i8192

Hop over to LIDL for German week food:

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.7950...7i16384!8i8192

To TESCO for a few main items:

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.7958...7i16384!8i8192

and grab a cheeky 1/3 pint here from a place that opened last week:

https://www.google.com/maps/@50.7911...7i16384!8i8192

along with some meat from a proper butcher that can do German cuts:

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en...px8wCnoECA8QCw

That's a pretty standard evening commute home with 3-5 stops.

Do I take the panniers/goods inside every time? That makes no sense and why a backpack is best! Maybe you guys only stop zero/once or don't live in an urban area with many options?

I think I'd rather hook/unhook a pannier that many times, rather than pull a backpack on/off my back that many times. Maybe it's a muscle memory thing, what your body gets used to. I've been using a pannier to commute for decades, now it's just second nature.
Dude I work with bike-commutes, but like me, takes the bus on certain weather days. On those days, he uses a messenger bag. He can't stand backpacks. I'm just the opposite. It's definitely based on what we grew up with.

Pannier loses a hand usage to carry. Bad on the subway, bus, plane, hovercraft. Bad to carry around while shopping.

Messenger is OK as hands stay free.

Backpack rules as nothing needs to be done. Off the bike and pushing a pram through a door with no effort. Sure I have to load it just like panniers bad after loading it's hands-free unlike panniers.

Most of my panniers have D-rings for a shoulder strap. The exception is the Bikase, but with that I can clip one backpack strap to the opposite-side bottom clip, and it becomes a sling (akin to a camera sling bag).

But once again, it's muscle memory. If you've grown up riding with weight on your back, it's second nature. If you've ridden your whole adult life with the weight behind you and down low, that's what's second nature and having weight on your back is not.

I still don't "get" using a messenger, however, as that's weight that can shift too easily.

Right?

Turns them into an easily carried bag in seconds.

This might be too complex for some people.

I wear office clothes for a 4.5 mile urban commute on a vintage 3-speed. The bags are Linus rollup canvas. They snap on and off the rack easily and go in the office with me, has a shoulder strap and a nice leather handle. One side carries my U lock and cable and stretch cords/straps, and when the bike is locked my helmet goes in that side. I have a small shoulder bag that slides into the other side that has my work electronics, an insulated Kleen Kanteen of coffee in a side sleeve and my breakfast container plus various bag junk. Great to have the panniers so I can easily stop and do an errand if necessary on the way home. Reposting this pic I took coming home last week.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bfde6c2635.jpg

Yes, the seatpost is unusual - it's a BMX layback post, gives a tall guy more reach.

I like both the backpack and the panniers.
Both are put on the rear rack, so my back doesn't sweat and carry the weight. Well, except for shorter rides/errands - I keep the backpack on my back for those, as there's not a second "lost" in taking it off the bike.

Backpack is my first option - using panniers when I need more luggage space, or when there's a heavy rain forecast. I find the backpack more convenient for every day use.

With panniers: Ortlieb, hands down. Waterproof - like, really waterproof. :) The clothes and stuff stay dry, whatever the weather. Not having to put clothes in waterproof bags, check if they are nicely enclosed, dry the bags afterwards...
Another thing I like are the straps for easy, hands-free carrying the panniers. Plus they are easily put on/off a rack within seconds and you can carry just one. This can be a downside if you plan on leaving the panniers on the bike when parking it.

Almost ten years now with the Ortliebs, still haven't been worn/cut (knock on wood).

I like these SEYMOUR OCEANWEAVE TRUNK EXP15+