Here you go.

Don't you know, you are much better off putting your beer at your center of mass (like in your stomach) when riding a bicycle, so you will not just suddenly fall over.

Albrecht13 said so!

Hey Albrecht13, you did not answer my question.

If I have two panniers with me, I'll distribute the load more or less if I can. Seems commonsensical.

But I don't notice a difference if I don't.

Maybe I would if rode really aggressively, but I don't do that. So for just riding around the city and on paths, I don't notice a difference if I just use one.

I dont think it makes much difference, but if it did, you'd probably only notice it in fast curves. So if you don't do that, you're probably ok.

You said it, bub. BTW, my daily commute is over the Hindu Kush, both ways, year round. I have to carry an RPG on one pannier and a mobile X-ray machine on the other. But the worst thing is the broken beer bottles left by drunken teenage coyotes and the "uneven kerbs".

Well played.

We forgot our manners! Welcome to BikeForums Albrecht13.

I am not sure what my kayak weighs but I do know that I didn't have any issues with it.

^^^
Not to mention tons of unskilled surfer dudes that ride sidewalks here with a surf board on one side and somehow, manage not to hit every pedestrian.

I have to ride with one pannier on my left side. I find that, due to my right handedness, my right leg, chest, and arm are larger and heavier than those on my left side. I tip over without the pannier on the left.

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned the critical factor of the earth's rotational pull depending on which hemisphere you ride in. I know that when I moved from the Southern half to the Northern half, I had to switch sides I carried my pannier on.

lol....

Unevenly loaded rear panniers have negligible effect on handling. Unevenly loaded front panniers are annoying but not impossible to ride with. You'll not be able to take your hands off the bars at all, lest you immediately fall.

On the other hand, I can't ride handless (for more than 3 seconds) with evenly loaded front panniers either, so it's not as if it matters. This is not due to my lack of skill. I commute on a unicycle full time. With front panniers, once your wheel begins to tilt to one side, the weight in the panniers keeps it from easily being corrected.

By this logic, if you're riding in the UK, you should put it on the right hand side?

Since you ask.

To err is still to make an error. Since the load on one side, properly secured, objectively has an insignificant impact on stability comparative to distributed laterally, and since you are making demands on others based on this error, judgment is for the defendant (OP).

If you indeed did call him a dangerous fool, you are directed to apologize.

I will say it depends on many things.
On heavy load my rear rack will push the rear fender toward the tire sometimes.

Wow, 6 year bump. Entertaining read though.

For the thoroughly hashed out topic, I ride with one ~10-15 pound pannier on the left and have no problems riding no handed or steering the bike quickly.

Oops. I guess that Albrecht13 is unlikely to see his judgment.

In my opinion it's just an example of someone who doesn't know much lecturing someone else (cccorlew) who does. That seems to happen a lot with cycling.

No PhD in Physics, Just thousands of Miles Of Touring... balance the load by weight side By Side ..

But it's the Front panniers that matter more , you can ride with 1 rear pannier , for awhile.

Your office mate is a dork. In order for this to be an issue, the weight of the pannier'd items would have to overcome the forward momentum of you, your bicycle, and the loaded pannier. Unless you're loaded with 50lbs on one side and you take corners like you just learned to roller skate, then you'll be fine.

Ha! Just saw the date of the OP...now I'm the dork.

this sounds about right. ya an uneven load is uneven. if you were riding no hands eyes closed a gust of wind could certainly push you over. but seeing as you ride a bike i assume some amount of arm strength and ability to steer. so.....

I probably commented back when this was new. I still haven't bothered to figure out why a single pannier doesn't matter to riding a bike. A bike rider keeps the center of gravity of the bike in a vertical plane with the contact point of the wheels -- on average. This has to be true, or the bike would just tip over. This must mean that a rider with a single pannier leans to compensate, but I can't tell that I'm doing that.

I suppose you'd get a bit of tire scrub from constantly fighting it, but not enough to notice or worry about. If you can ride no-hands it's probably fine.

OMG zombees!

I would guess that the physical compensation is so minute that you would have to strain even to notice it slightly. The effects of an uneven load on the overall forward energy is so small it is insignificant.

I think it's an asymmetry that borders on inelegance <wink>.
Manageable physics, but poor Feng-Shui, lol.
The guy who takes his one-sider on the train had a good point though.