Yep, You're wrong, and you just resurrected and old thread.

The only time panniers throw the balance off is when I have only one and overload it. No problems otherwise.

Now trunk bags and baskets on the rear, not so much fun, at least for me. IME if I put a substantial amount of weight (over 5 lbs.) above the rear wheel it causes the back end to wag side-to-side. YMMV, of course; trunk bags and baskets are very popular, just not for me.

A pannier on one side of the rear rack does change the balance but hardly enough to notice. You might notice you need to lean a little against it when hands-off peeling your breakfast banana. I have not tried panniers in the front but imagine they might be a little more challenging. I like rear racks but somehow don't presently have a bike with one. For my commute as it is now, since they gave us all big laptops, I carry the laptop backpack.

I've also gotten tank-slapper with a trunk bag. Both bikes that did it were classic steel road bikes. A MTB from circa Y2K, on which I also used the same bag, had no such behavior.

It's ok. Traffic on this subforum feels welcome.

I understand. I do get a little annoyed at times by random comments by newbies that really do not address the question posed by an OP. They often reek of bots.

Thanks for your warm welcome. I made no intention of making a point. I was simply asking if it does indeed a make a difference in balance. Sorry to have annoyed you.

Not a problem, and seriously, welcome to the forum. There is however, an accepted etiquette to forums in general, and often new users don't understand them. Sorry to have jumped on you. One forum I frequent has been getting newbie posts a lot lately, with comments such as yours, always on older threads. The majority of them have come from AI bots. We generally ask them to reply with some sort of information that would prove they are real, and if not, they are deleted and blocked.

Generally speaking, if you have a question about something, start a new thread. You will get more advice.

Oh, and in response to an old thread being resurrected...



https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...869fbb064d.jpg

For years, I'd bring dress shoes to work at the beginning of the week, leave them there for a few days, and take them home at the end of the week. Call it close to 15 years of commuting, with two panniers (one for clothes, coffee, and lunch, the other for shoes) somewhere between a quarter and a half of all commute rides. The only times I noticed the second pannier were the times I had a stiff (20 mph or better) headwind. The rest of the time, I never noticed how many bags I was carrying after I started rolling.

Of course, you are totally wrong, people have been riding bikes for over 100 years with panniers all over the world and no one worried about balance.

This guy rode around the world like this:

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.QKZX3n...9&pid=1.7&rm=3

This is an oddity, check out the size of the bike, it's one of those suitcase bikes, and he also traveled around the world on this thing:
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.iSgj8e...9&pid=1.7&rm=3

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.Vehw_B...pr=1.9&pid=1.7

Speaking of balance issues, try riding these:
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.9vQ2Vx...pr=1.9&pid=1.7

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.XX2zwH...pr=1.9&pid=1.7

https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.RW69lx...pr=1.9&pid=1.7

I commuted with front panniers for a while. With front panniers, they should be balanced. It's not necessary for them to be precisely balanced, but if they are substantially unbalanced, it takes a notable amount of work to ride. With rear panniers, it's not a concern for me at all.

Same for me rear panniers balanced seems better but I have totally rode with just on pannier of a few recreational rides. I wanted to carry thing but did not need both panniers. & Ortlieb is the only way to go in my opinion.

The older touring bikes from the 60s to the 80s preferred all the touring weight on the rear of the bike, in fact they had no fork connections for panniers just for fenders. The interesting thing is that those bikes ran great that way, the better the bike the less chance of bike shimmy. For example, the regular Schwinn Le Tour shimmied like crazy according to a friend who use to tour many years ago, but my first touring bike was an 85 Schwinn Le Tour Luxe that used the Voyageur frame, never shimmied. But my 2019 Masi Giramondo shimmied like crazy no matter where the load weight was, so Hario/Masi exchanged the frame for a 2024 frame, it too shimmied a bit, but not as bad. I took the bike to a bike shop, and they put a plastic shim into the headset area and now it doesn't shimmy at all no matter where I put the weight.

What is it about the later bikes that eliminated the shimmy?

I have no idea why the better older bikes did not shimmy, or at least the 85 Schwinn Le Tour luxe, Voyageur, and Voyageur SP didn't shimmy, not sure about other manufactures. I did have a friend who years ago toured on the regular Schwinn Le Tour and he had shimmy issues, but I don't know what year his Le Tour was; but my 85 Luxe did not. The 85 Le Tour Luxe and the Voyageur both used Columbus Tenax Chrome Moly double butted main tubes but the Voyageur used a custom blend, not sure what that blend was, there was a difference in the fork between those two as well; and of course, the SP was the top of the line and had a better tube set and fork. 1985 was the best year for Schwinn bikes of any mid-level and up model.

One day I want to make a study of bike geometry and how it affects a bike's ride. I still don't know much. And it seems that subtle changes in dimensions can make big changes in characteristics.

Ortlieb Bikepacker Sport for commuting. Anything else is a waste of money.

https://us.ortlieb.com/collections/p...ke-bags?page=2

Since we're resurrecting an old thread...

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...8949754ab8.jpg
This Ortlieb convertible pannier/backpack works reasonably well, converting from one to the other in about 15 seconds, 10 seconds with practice, 5 seconds with practice + luck.
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...56cb471a4f.jpg
The Bike Friday wasn't great though with just one bag on front. With two, it's great

I would not go as far as to say others are a waste. But having read how much people say Ortliebs are worth it, I bought a pair of their least expensive panniers, and yes, they are excellent. They are waterproof, they hold on well, they detach by simply pulling up on them, and I expect them to last a long time.

Ortlieb for sure
 

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...6ac531d43.jpeg

Took this photo about a year ago, when the bag was new. Laptop sleeve, zippered pocket. Kept everything dry during my Pacific Northwest winter slog ... err, commute. Got the 20 liter, but probably should have opted for 24 liter with just one bag. Will probably get a second 20L for xtra clothes etc during the winter.

I bought a set of Axiom Monsoon Oceanweave 45 panniers about 5 or 6 years ago, been through quite a few horrible storms, and never once had any remote dampness get inside. Having said that, you should never trust any pannier not even Ortlieb, which I don't think they're the best, there have been a few complaints about the PVC lamination peeling but usually that's after about 5 to 10 years of use. Anyway, I bought a pair of Axiom rain covers for the bags, not so much to keep water out as to prevent abrasion wear. I also line the bags with white trash compactor bags because those are the toughest plastic bags you can buy, and white so you can see easier inside, then I roll those plastic bags closed before closing the panniers. I also use Ziplock bags to make sure things I don't want to get wet don't and things I don't want to leak out and get all over stuff ruined doesn't.

What panniers do I think are the best? Not mine though they are doing great so far, but I got mine on a huge, discounted sale price so that was my enticement. I do believe that the Ortlieb is better than the Axioms. However, I believe the best pannier on the market for long lasting durability is the Carradice Super C, these have a track record of lasting 20 to 30 years with rewaxing. They are made from 1000D cotton duck which is extremely abrasion‑resistant, which means there is zero chance of the lamination peeling, the bags are field‑repairable with needle and thread. The hardware is simple, metal, and rebuildable. However, they are not as waterproof, but if you line the bag with a plastic compactor bag everything will be fine. Although if you treat the bag as soon as you get them with a couple of extra coats of wax and reapply it each season you would be surprised as to how much water it will repel; plus, you can buy generic rain covers for them, Carradice the last time I checked does not make rain covers...odd. The Carradice weighs a tad more than the Ortlieb's, a potential downfall if you are trying to reduce weight as much as possible. I have a friend who has a pair of those Carradice panniers, and he claims he's never had anything get wet inside, but again, never take a chance, he doesn't take chances either, in fact he's the one that told me to use compactor bags as a pannier liner, and he uses a generic rain cover.

Another really nice set of panniers is the Vaude Aqua Back Plus, probably last about as long as the Ortlieb but it's a tad lighter than the Ortlieb if you are counting grams, and less expensive if you're counting money. They also use recycled materials which a lot of people like because it feels more responsible. Vaude does make rain covers for their bags.

Those are the only 2 bag companies that make something better or close to the same as the Ortlieb.

If the prices for those 3 bags are too expensive, there is a bag that is shockingly good for the money, those are the RockBros Waterproof Bike Panniers, these cost less than $55! The claim is that these are about 90% as good as the Ortlieb's!! RockBros does not sell a rain cover so you would have to buy the generic ones. So, you get 90% of the bag that Ortlieb is at a cost that is 70% less unless you get it on sale then it could be as much as 80% less! That is a solid deal if you are not wanting to use it a lot, but even with daily use the reported longevity is 4 to 7 years, only about a third less life than an Ortlieb would have, so in the long haul even if you replace the RockBros, you will come out ahead. These RockBros are noticeably lighter than even the Vaude bags, so if you are counting grams these are the panniers to buy.

Whatever pannier you buy it is wise to buy a set of rain covers regardless of if their Ortlieb's or whatever brand for the reasons I already mentioned, as well as using compactor trash bags inside, and Ziplock bags for whatever stuff.

I've used an Arkel Bug to commute to work for quite a long while. The fact it converts to a backpack is great, since I usually hike up into the local mountains for lunch every day. I have a rain cover for it. They seem exceedingly durable. I had Ortliebs at one point, but for some reason I never got used to all that rolling and unrolling of the top.