Can i fit a 15" iBook in a trunk pack? Any pack suggestions?
Or should i just look at Arkel or other panniers?

I'd look at the arkel briefcase pannier, or bug.

I would be concerned that a rack trunk might be a bit to bouncy and jarring. It would probably do better in a pannier, particularly one designed for laptop carry. From a comfort standpoint I don't particularly care for wearing a backpack, but if I had to carry a laptop all the time I think it would do better by itself in an inexpensive backpack if I didn't have a specialized pannier that I had confidence in.

Electronics devices don't react too well to bouncing and jarring on the rear rack, that's how I screwed up my digital camera carrying it inside a pannier and in its own case, still the rough road pounding took its toll. Now, when I have to take a camera I place it inside a fanny pack around my waist with better results.
Corsaire

I carry a 15" powerbook in an Arkel briefcase pannier. My commute is only 3.15 miles, but I've been doing it for a solid six months now and have had no problems. I did contact Arkel beforehand to make sure that it would fit in the neoprene sleave that comes with the briefcase and they made me one to fit at no charge. I'm VERY happy with the quality.

Thanks for the comments so far... didn't think about the vibration...

bandregg - did they make you one because the stock ones were too big or too small?

Check it out. https://www.panniers.com/panniers/bri...p?color=&site=

It's not just a matter of vibration. We often don't realize how many hard bumps our bikes take. To me it's those hard bumps that could take their toll on hard drives and flat screens. A few years ago I was doing some looking around the web and found a couple of brands of computer bags that use an internal suspension to do a pretty good job of isolating the laptop from hard knocks. The laptop is basically suspended in stretchy webbing inside the case with a bit of room for it to do a little bungee jump when the bike hits a hard bump. I can't remember the brands. If I were going to carry a laptop on a regular basis I would look at something like that. Maybe put a small bag of that type inside a pannier. Neoprene will certainly protect from a lot of vibration and little bumps, but it can't protect against that occasional and almost inevitable hard drive or screen killer. If you got something like an Arkel Utility Basket Pannier you could fit a regular size laptop case (the 3-4 inch thick type, not the big brief case type) in there and still have room for your other stuff. There are a number of options, just don't underestimate the shocks a bike ride can give to cargo.

I've been carrying my work Dell Latitude in both an Ortleib pannier and a messenger bag for > 2 years, 20 miles round trip. I pack clothes around and under the laptop to minimize jarring. Been a-ok the whole way. I know students who carry their IBooks in messenger bags too w/no problem.

Also, Tom Bihn makes excellent laptop backpacks and sleeves for every type of laptop. I have his Brain Bag and Brain Cell and they're totally bomber. Made right here in Washington, USA!

The default sleave for the briefcase pannier from Arkel is too small by just a bit. When I ordered I specified that I had the 15" powerbook and they took care of it. I should also say that it shipped pretty much the same day even with that change. Most of the other panniers that I looked at, and I looked at quite a bit just couldn't carry the overall dimentions of a 15" laptop.

I recently bought the Caradice "bike bureau". I live in France and couldn't find it in Paris. I suggest you to call directly in England : https://www.carradice.co.uk/city-rider.htm#bikebureau.
It is a very good gear, I'm really happy with it. I feel my powerbook quiet safe in it and I don't need to carry a backpack, wich I hate because of sweat. You also can find some similar pannier in Germany (Ortlieb) or in the US (Arkel).

I second the Arkel Briefcase suggestion.
https://www.arkel-od.com/panniers/briefcase/index.asp

Not sure how the trunk pack would work. I'd be concerned about the hard knocks that the laptop was getting during the commute. In the Arkel, the laptop is suspended by velcro inside the briefcase in a separate neoprene laptop case.

If you do some googling, you'll see Sheldon Brown's iBook carrier which is basically an extremely large seat bag!

There are a few bike commuters at my office as well as clients that we visit. The overwhelming laptop carrier of choice is the Arkel.

I've carried my 15" TiBook as well as my new 12" AlBook in it for a couple of years now and there have been no problems.

The only issues that I've had with the briefcase is ankle clearance and weight. I had to adjust the suspension system to have the bag ride a bit further back on my rear rack so that my heel didn't hit it while riding. As for weight, the bag had a built in suspension system to attach to your rack like any normal pannier. The quality of the hardware is excellent, but it still adds quite a bit to the weight of the briefcase if you use it during the day going from meeting to meeting.

Anyway, all in all a good bag. Try it out at your LBS and see what you think.

Good luck!

Renart, can you do me a favor? What is the measurement of the thickness of the Arkel Briefcase when your TiBook is in there? I'm wondering how well it compresses. And is it waterproof enough for 10 mile commutes?

I like how thin the samurai panniers are but they seem to be just a bag with no organization other than the flap pocket. The bug looks nice but looks a bit thick?

I have the bug, I'm a student so I cary a lot of books in it. Compared to a normal backback it is a bit smaller (such as a jansport). It dosn't have a lot of organization, mainly just a pocket at the top that sorrt of hangs inside the bag. I can fit a palm m105, my Ipod, and a foldable keyboard in the hanging pocket. The rest goes in the bag. I highley recomend the bug do to it's backpack feature which is quite convinent if your ride your bike everywhere. I don't carry a laptop though, and there would really be no protection for it besides the compression straps which would just keep it from bouning around in the bag.

Hope this helps.

Ray

Sounds like time for a touring frame.

I had a laptop go kaputt recently. It's aging a little, and I've had problems with it in the past (Gateway), but I've been taking it back and forth on my bike between home and work a lot recently. 50/50 it's been in a messenger bag around my shoulders or in the bag strapped down to my rack. I wouldn't doubt it if sitting on the rack might have jarred something loose even though I'm only going 1.5 miles each way, no more than 15mph at any point, and the roads I'm riding over are okay.

I asked my boss if we could purchase an external hard drive for me to take stuff between home and work. They're lighter, hold more data (I work with massive MPEG files and streaming media), and built with portability in mind. And if it goes pffsht, I still have a function laptop at work and my *****in' desktops at home. I lose nothing. It's worked out great. We picked up a couple Maxtor OneTouch drives. USB 2.0 and Firewire capable. I highly recommend this for folks who just want to move data (e.g. big files, documents, e-mail) between home & work environments.

With the Ti book in the Arkel briefcase it compresses to about 6" wide, but that's really cranking on the compression straps. The briefcase comes with a waterproof cover that should keep it dry for ten miles even in a serious downpour.

d2create,

The official dimensions are 11 x 16 x 7 in. I looked at the bag with only a few files in it and the TiBook inside and it is about 4.5" thick. The cinch straps mainly keeps the flap down and doesn't do very much to cinch the bag in.

I don't find it too thick. Much thinner than most laptop cases in anycase...

As for waterproofness. I ride about the same distance and it has never been a problem. The flap and fabric seems to keep everything out.

To answer your question, no, I don't think a 15" iBook would fit in a trunk rack, too big, plus, it might be bad to have a computer up that high in case of a crash.

I carried an iBook around in my Bug for several years with no problems. I attribute it to the solid construction of the computer. I never had a padded case or anything just strategically placed the computer between the back-plate and my hard cased binder thing and/or whatever other books or clothes I happened to have in there at the time. Yes there is a lot of vibration in a pannier on a rack, but the iBook <i>seems</i> to be able to handle it.

I think you have the older version like I do. The newer ones have all sorts of pockets, I'm quite jealous of them, they look awesome.

really I just got it in August... Guess I'll have to check out there website.

Ray