acidfast7

I keep one locked in Copenhagen at Nørreport / Hovedbanegård. One in Cambridge-ish, one on the Isle of Wight. They're mostly decent beaters that stand outside.

work4bike

I've always wondered this, I see a lot of people that carry heavy/bulky packs. I always ride around with panniers or a rear trunk if I don't have much stuff to carry, but I usually have a lot of stuff to carry. I've been using panniers since the early 90's and never had a problem with theft.

Panniers are also good when you get in an accident, they have saved my rear wheel more than once and it's always fun to pass lance-wannabe roadies with panniers

crazyravr

For me and the stuff I carry everyday that I commute or do a quick shopping ride, my 15L Osprey backpack is all that is needed.

FenderTL5

Ditto.

I have a small fanny pack that I keep work essentials (flash-drives, keys, ID, etc) in. I toss it in the trunk-bag.
My trunk-bag expands, so lunch and an extra shirt (or this time of year the extra clothing layers from the morning ride) can all fit in the trunk.

I've used panniers, and I would again if I had to carry more but the trunk is efficient for day to day.

RidingMatthew

I use panniers when I am commuting year round. during the summer I could probably have gotten by with a trunk bag or something else but I already invested in Ortleib panniers. They keep stuff dry and that is very important to me. I will take a little extra drag on my commuting bike because it just makes me faster on the mountain or road bike. I have used a backpack a couple of times when I rode my road bike for my commute but back was hot. I don't really stop and hang out a lot of places. it is usually from home to work and from work to home. Not a lot of extra trips.
If I had to remove them more often I might look at something else.

RidingMatthew

what brand of trunk bags is recommended? or do you use? can you show some pictures?


thanks and if this highjacks the thread I will repost as a separate one.

Ironfish653

Panniers encourage me to carry more stuff, and I've found I don't like the way the bike handles with a lot of weight on the rear wheel.
Rack trunk for extra layers, tubes, tools, all the stuff that stays with the bike, and a MountianSmith lumbar pack with lunch and whatever needs to come inside. I can keep my bike inside under the stairs in the back stairwell, so it's no big deal if I need to get to it.

I typically ride 3 days a week, so I use the car days to pre-stage clean clothes or other supplies.

wphamilton

I've been using this one for a couple of months.
https://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Produc...0052_141517_-1

locolobo13 

Does this count?

[IMG]Grand Canal by res1due, on Flickr[/IMG]

For commuting I use a backpack for most of my stuff. As Acidfast said panniers are for biking. They don't work as well wandering all over. The backpack does.

Ruberad's comment about the tipping point is also on target for me. The bag in the photo was $2 on sale at a thrift store. I've been looking at genuine panniers for a few years. Recently I purchased a single Axiom bag at the LBS for $70. It was worth it for a short tour, but.. Ouch!

srestrepo

yeah, the panniers were expensive but they were also on clearance at REI when i bought them. what shoudl have been 180 -220 only ran me 108.93 or something ridiculously low like that.

i was pretty pleased but this reaffirms the tipping point suggestion that it is an investment.

agree also about the wandering about the city - on a recent trip to new york city, i opted for a backpack instead of panniers because i just didn't know if i'd be away from my bike at all and i didnt want to lug around the panniers awkwardly as they're not built to be carried for extended periods of time.

but for commuting - hands down the panniers do it for me. what i lack in simply checking the weather, i make up for by carrying a rain jacket, an lightweight insulating layer, a beanie, neoprene shoe covers, some pretty decent fall type weather gloves and a small external battery and cable to re-charge my lights with. all of that goes in one pannier. the other pannier i stuff my clothes, and lunch in and off i go.

i used to do this with a backpack and i didn't mind it terribly, but the panniers were like a revelation to me. if i couldn't use them, i would be more upset about not having them anymore versus having to use a backpack. its not like the backpack is a non-starter, just less comfortable albeit not terribly so.

Robert C

I use panniers all the time; but then I am able to keep my bicycle in my classroom during the day.

I have an Ortlieb back roll er on one side, on the other side I have an Ortlieb briefcase. I have also used Wald folding baskets and I liked that approach too.

FenderTL5

I bought the brand that was in my local bike shop. They're a Trek dealer so it's Bontrager. I do not have any particular brand loyalty. I treat the bag with waterproofing spray a couple times a year. It's fixed to a seatpost rack (photo below).
Here's the bag on the Bontrager website

pdlamb

I use panniers for commuting; it's part of the routine. Clothes in one side, shoes in the other, lunch where it fits best. Grabbing the Ortlieb handles and carrying them inside is a matter of routine.


When I lock a bike outside the grocery store, the panniers are like my reusable bags. (I hope I remembered them!)

Choctaw

I think they look bad. For my commute a back pack works better.

cyccommute 

Corollary: Panniers encourage you to carry lots of stuff. I see people riding to work all the time with panniers stuffed fuller than I would stuff them for 5 weeks of touring. There seems to be an "ideal pannier law" similar to the Ideal Gas Law...i.e. gases expand to fill the available space.

For what it's worth, this is my typical bag for commuting

DSCN0387 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

It has drop down sides for carrying home my overflow of clothing in the evening which is fairly common here in Colorado even in the dead of winter.

The bag is a Racktime Rack-it with an Ortlieb rack adapter grafted to it. It snaps into place so that I don't have to deal with velcro wearing out which has happened on numerous trunk bags. I wish the stupid thing would wear out so that I could get one of these Ortlieb rack bags, which has a much simpler attachment system but the bag is a tough as nails and will probably last me 5 to 10 years more...it's already about 10 years old.

mcours2006

These are cheap Canadian Tire panniers, but I like them for groceries. There's an extra bag that clips onto the top of the rack that can hold a bunch more stuff. I'll only ride this when I go shop after work.
IMG_0076.jpg

This 'tail' bag has been my go-to lately. Slightly less capacity than a backpack, but so much better for the sweat back.
IMG_0148.jpg

Ironfish653

This. Riding around with empty, floppy panniers is just as annoying. There's no middle ground

The bags with the drop-down sides are an interesting option, since i'm usually wearing my extra layers for the ride home at night, one of my bags is usually close to empty, it'd be nice to be able to tuck it out of the way.

I wish you hadn't linked that Ortlieb, tho. I had Ortlieb roll-tops on my moto and they were bomb-proof.

The Velcro is starting to get nubby on my old trunk bag, so it's time to look in to replacements. You just made the decision harder.

RubeRad

That's my problem too; I'm bad at keeping track of forecasts. If you want to avoid this one full pannier's worth of unnecessary weight, you might consider signing up for rain alert emails at ifttt.com.

noglider 

Some of the unpopularity of panniers might be explained by lack of critical mass in the local bike culture. Think about how long it took US cyclists to start using headlights on our bikes. It was only recent for most of us, which, when you think about it, is insane. Here in NYC, bike commuting is common, and I see equipment changes on the bikes in the general population. Usage of helmets and lights is rising noticeably. Panniers are now common.

The criticisms above are fair. You need a rack, and panniers are expensive, and carrying them isn't very comfortable, so they're best if you're only using them on the bike.

And some of the new backpack designs are pretty good, making the advantages of panniers slightly less valuable.

noglider 

I got a pair of Ortlieb panniers on sale, and they're smaller than I wanted, but I couldn't pass the deal up. Now a couple of years later, I realize their size is ideal, because I manage, and they don't encourage me to carry too much.

I've noticed that having the rack and panniers on front works out much better than I had expected. I like them better in front than on the rear.

SylvainG

I have an Ibera Commuter bag with expandable pannier. Best of both worlds... In clement weather, I only use the bag which is big enough to hold my change of clothes (except for shoes which stays at work) and lunch. When weather gets cold in the morning and warmer in the afternoon (like now), I use the pannier to hold my morning clothes while commuting back from work.



Oops, I guess resizing an image doesn't really work. Sorry for the large image.

I-Like-To-Bike

I too prefer a steel basket for carrying stuff about town or while commuting for its versatility and ease of use for carrying backpack, groceries or whatever.

wphamilton

Very convenient. I'll bet a person could rig up a nylon bag to do that, folded up in a trunk's side pocket, couple of elastic straps on the back side to hold a tight shape ... good idea.

Harhir

I have been using the same set of Ortlieb panniers since over 20 years. The additional weight is negligible on my heavy old fashioned steel bike. Yes they are expensive but after 20+ years usage and basically no wear I think this has been a very good investment. They are waterproof and roomy. And in regards to theft: I never leave mine on the bike when I leave the bike locked somewhere. Since they just click into the carrier there is no effort involved in removing them. Just pull up them up and remove them. And with the shoulder strap they are easy to carry.
I personally don't like to use a backpack on my upright bike and can't use one on my recumbents anyhow.
In addition I have a front rack and a front basket. ;-)

no motor?

Nope, just seat of the pants testing augmented by the increase in drag I experienced after putting panniers on my motorcycle.

I've got enough things I deal with in life that make it less enjoyable, using a backpack instead of a pannier is an easy choice to eliminate one of those things.