sweetlewb

I'm trying to make my bike more commuting friendly and am actively seeking new panniers. The Topeak trunk bag seems like the best fit for my needs - easy on/off, insulated for transporting lunch, but there is very little room to mount other panniers when the trunk bag is on. I know the pockets fold out into "panniers", but they are too small to carry the books/paperwork/extra clothes & gear I need.

Does anyone know of any good bags to pair with the topeak trunk bag? I like Arkel's bug and briefcase models - has anybody tried those - either by themselves or paired with topeak? I also want a grocery pannier to take shopping. Again it would be nice to pair with the insulated trunk bag to haul refrigerated items.

Thanks for your time and help!

Jarery

I use the Trek Interchange rack system. It is similar to Topeak. I use a trunk bag that clips on and off in about 1 second. It also has a trunk model like topeak with fold out panniers, but if you don't need the pannier space, no sense filling up your trunk bag with folded up ones.

I dont know if it works with a trek interchange trunk, and trek interchange pannniers at the same time, as my panniers are just cheap regular ones that clip on to the top rail of the rack.

Unlike the topeak system, the trek one doesnt slide along the rails and negate the use of regular panniers. I use the trunk bag only now almost the whole year. Only one days i need to haul in extra stuff, or some bad winter days do i bother to add a pannier to one side.

Odyssey

Topeak seems to've thought this one through - some of their racks have an extra side bar to accommodate panniers:
https://www.topeak.com/2007/products/...rtouristdx.php

Failing buying a new rack (but wouldn't you need to do that anyway for a topeak trunk bag?), any panniers that might fit won't have anything sticking up from the pannier hooks. So, you'll want a fixing system that works below the hooks. Traditional hook and bungee systems would probably work best in that situation as the hooks are very low profile. However they're not the most convenient nor, as some recent threads have pointed out, are they the safest option.

kjmillig

I've been looking at the Topeak trunk bag as well. Can it work well with a standard rack, or only the Topeak slide-on rack system?

Dan Burkhart 

The Topeak bags all have the velcro staps at the four corners so they will work with other racks. I think it would be a shame to have one of those great bags without the slide and lock feature that the Topeak rack provides though.
Dan Burkhart
www.boomerbicycle.ca