Smaller (and cheaper) really is better...
 

Does anyone else here use a smaller bag for commuting to work? If you use a smaller bag what are you sacrificing (if anything)? What do you take with you on your commute?

I see a lot of pictures with large messenger bags, panniers, etc. but don't see too many pictures of people with small bags. I see people on my commute that look like they are going on a extended tour but after striking up conversation I learn they are just riding to work.

I just bought a trunk bag on saturday, it is too small though. It is 410 ci.

Luckily i have a nashbar trunk bag on order, if it ever gets here, i ordered it 11/12.

Nashbar Elite handlebar bag
Topeak XL Aerowedge seat bag
Homemade cape roll (same size as Carradice)

I use an Axiom Magellan trunk bag. It can handle pants, shirt, belt, cell phones, maybe a bit of food, but that's about it. If I have to take an extra pair of shoes with me it gets real top-heavy and wobbly.

I'd like one large pannier just so the weight is lower, and I can fit more stuff if I need to (more room for food would be nice).

My CamelBak Hog is on the smallish side as bags go. If I had to haul food/lunch to work it would probably be too small, although I manage food at times. So that would be my sacrifice.

I even keep my underseat bag and a folding road bike tire in it. If I affixed the bag to my seat and nixed the tire, no prob fitting lunch of some sort.

I carry a lot of stuff to work in my opinion. I am not sure about the cubic inches of my pack. It's about 3 years old and smaller than the newer ones. I never use the bladder. I keep my raingear and a pack-towel in the bladder compartment instead of the bladder.

I use a bycycle garment bag that looks like a set of panniers and a small trunk on my rear rack. It's usually mostly empty, but it's great for those days when I need to wear a suit at work

I use a Topeak trunk bag, about 800 cu. in. If I needed more room I would get one side pannier.

I use an Arkel Tailrider that I bought specifically because it's smaller than most trunk bags. (Although it's far from cheap.)

My reasoning was that, left to my own devices, I tend to carry everything with me. The Tailrider holds everything I absolutely need, with no room leftover for crap I'd carry but never use.

It holds tube, patch kit, tire levers, multi-tool, spare cash, wallet, sunglasses, keys, comb, flash drive, camera, lunch (two sandwiches), snacks (two apples, two oranges, two granola bars, two trail-mix bars), and a work shirt. Once a week (in each direction) I roll up a pair of jeans and slip them under the outer straps on top. I can just barely squeeze in a hardcover library book if it's not too thick. Coming home (sans lunch and snacks) I can fit in two or three hardcovers.

Once a week I add my grocery panniers to shop on the way home. When I have more books to return than will fit in the Tailrider, I return them on grocery day.

http://www.brucew.com/images/bikefor...y-mounting.jpg
The Tailrider on a jeans day.

Trunk bag only needed for when the temps swing a large amount from 6 am to 4 pm. Otherwise I use a wedge bag for flat repair stuff and tools, frame mounted pump, and a handlebar bag for rain gear. There is enough room in the wedge and handlebar bag to accomodate anything that I don't want in my pockets (or lack of pockets, as it may be). So pagers, cell phones, ipods, glasses can be accomodated and kept dry. But I only have to transport myself to work, nothing else.

Why not use a basket tsl, and just throw in a backpack? I am looking at a saddle roll or something. Maybe bigger. I carry my 12" macbook at times.

I use a messenger bag. I need to transport a laptop and it does the job fine. It wouldn't be the best setup for transporting groceries, though. I got a seatpost rack that I use sometimes when picking up takeout -- just strap it onto the rack and away we go.

It's because I used to use a backpack that I got the Tailrider. Do you know how much useless crap you can carry all the time in a 2100 CI backpack, and still have room for books, lunch and clothes?

Talk about shaving grams, I lopped-off several pounds by ditching the backpack and all the crap I used to carry in it, just because there was room.

Nope. I'm happy with the Tailrider and adding grocery panniers once a week.

I just use a backpack. I'm carrying a full change of business casual clothes including shoes and towel. Panniers or a trunk bag strike me as adding weight because of the rack needed.

For me, it's because I carry a laptop. I need to have it everywhere I go so I need the space for it... and the other essentials. Right now, though, I carry everything in a backpack. I'm going to try using a pannier soon. Just picked up an Ortlieb for cheap. We'll see how it goes.

--sam

No offense to anyone who has one, but I find baskets a little geeky. It's enough that I have a rack and wear a reflective vest (which is kinda cool).

I use a trunk bag. It takes the spare tube, flat fixing kit, LED flashlight, lunch, shirt and underwear, pens, palm and wallet, phone, hypodermic syringe. I wish it had straps/elastic on top for holding rain jacket and pants. The pump I carry attached to the seat tube

Backpack. The only bike-specific things inside it are my lock and lights.

over my various commutes I have used different sized bags. I used to use an oversize under the seatbag with a lot of success.

The key for me, espeicially if was a longer commute and I put on bike clothes, was leaving a pair of shoes at the office shoes take a huge about of volume.

Now I can commute in my work clothes (short commute) and use wald folding baskets....but I also usually have my son's back pack as well as my stuff (sometimes laptop)...and I always carry bungee cords......kind of a bicycle baleing wire thing

Well, I guess I am the one that uses larger panniers everyday. A couple of guys I work with don't use anything, a woman uses a small trunk bag and sometimes her small panniers. I always use the large panniers because I never know if I want to carry something home that night.

Usually my bags are pretty empty, but it gives me the option to stop at the grocery store or any other place where I will need the extra room.

I use a Topeak MTX trunk bag with fold out panniers. Plenty of room for alll my stuff, food, cloths and pair of shoes if I need it. I have used it for 5 years now and it is still going strong.

The main advantage to a trunk bag is the fact that it stops you overloading with things you wont need.

I use a fanny pack. It contains my lunch, paper back book, cell phone, mp3 player, spare tube, co2, spare AA batteries, and a comb.

Girly is another common basket criticism. Girly and geeky don't make me slower, and they make the bike a lot more useful to me. And (thankfully) a basket holds up well to hard use.

As far as small vs large... I can and do manage a lot of grocery shopping with just my basket. The tight weight limit and small size help keep me from over buying. And for just running around town, odds are the basket is enough space. But I've got panniers, and they're very helpful if I plan to carry more for some reason. I don't need them *every* day tho.

I have to fit a decent-sized laptop in my panniers.
Hence I bough a set of large panniers. If I've got few things to carry, I only take one.
It's nice to be able to fit 5 days worth of clothes in the other Pannier though so I can make the bi-weekly clothing run without needing the car (I usually wear each outfit twice, btw - it doesn't get too dirty sitting at a desk).

+1 to whoever said shoes take up a ridiculous amount of space.

I can't see what I'm losing out on by having more storage capacity than I use. ;)

I use a medium messenger bag for the most part. Getting a large one from my sister for christmas. I run a pretty small rack bag that holds my rain gear and a few tools. and I strap a small softsided cooler on the rear to tote lunch time to time. I personally always liked having a pretty big messenger bag when I didn't run a rack, now I don't even really need one but old habbits die hard, and not all my bikes have racks either.