Look Mom-----A Modular Pannier
 

Lately I been trying to cut down the weight on my bike.Over the last year or so I've updated my big 4 and cut almost 8 pounds off of my base weight,just by going with more modern materials.

So for fun while I had the scale handy,I threw all 4 of my panniers on the scale and was SHOCKED by how much they weighted...ALMOST 8 POUNDS! ....what the ****!

So I started weighing materials I had around and found that Cordura is HEAVY! So I figured I'd make a Cordura "frame" and put a silnylon stuff sack in it,that should cut the weight down.I'm not backpacking,so I figure I don't need the abrasion protection Cordura offers.I'm not dragging my panniers over rocks or hitting them with trees and branches.

After sewing for a bit,the trash was full,so I went outside to empty it.After it was empty,it dawned on me that my trashcan was about the size of my panniers....I wonder how much this weights? Wow....it's only 7oz.....HMMMMM? I think with some whittling I can do something with this.

So it's off to the dollar store for a trashcan.So I pick up a can for a buck and start in a whittling.After a couple hours of fooling around and making a quick bag for it, here's what you end up with.

A modular,100% waterproof pannier.It mounts solid to the rack so it CAN'T fall off.If you want to remove it,remove the bag and loosen 1 allen screw and it comes off like normal.When you get to camp,loosen the cargo net on top and remove the bag leaving the frame behind.If you want a different color pannier,just change the bag.Silnylon isn't tough enough for ya? Put a canvas bag in it...Don't need all of the strenght? Put a net bag in it,save some more weight.

I saved the best for last...are you sitting down? The whole pannier,frame,bag,cargo net and mounting hardware weight......7 OUNCES! That's correct 7 oz......WOW!

That means that I will save almost 6 POUNDS over my soon to be old panniers.I'm not really a weight weenie but it was time to update my stuff so I figured I would do what I could to save some weight while I was at it,why not.

So here you go, a 7oz. 100% waterproof pannier and it isn't the ugliest thing on the planet.

These cost about $8 to make.....So what do you think? It's pretty crude,prototype and all.My finished versions will have a couple net pockets on the outside attached to the frame adding about a 1/2 oz to the finished weight.Worth my time or should I just drink the koolaid and buy some?

http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/o...ot/pannier.jpg

so how do you attach it to the rack looks excellent very clever.
ah sorry got caught up in the photo, but yeah i can see going on a tour why you would leave it permanently attached to the rack and take the bag with you . its a brilliant idea very very clever 10 out of 10.
what about photos from when you started or is that a trade secret.

Need start to finsh pics...Thanks

Was the trash can Black?
What is the purple material?

brilliant! Still not clear about the method of attachment but the idea makes lots of sense.

+1

I'm gonna have to try and make one of them at some point

I've long been an advocate of making things as light as possible, but no lighter. If you have two options that do the same job equally well, but one is a pound lighter, there's no reason to go with the heavier option.

That's a really clever idea for mounting. Panniers do tend to be rather heavy, and this makes a lot more sense (and a lot cheaper) than your other option.

I've actually pondered a similar concept, welding a rack specifically designed to hold light weight stuff sacks, but it's low on the project list and ease of access would be an issue.

Great idea. I really like the looks of that. I think I would probably skip the straps over the top and just rely on the one that cinches it.

I would very much like to see the back side and the attachment.

My bike is already packed up for my next tour, but you have me thinking of unpacking it so fit something like that.

the only think that get me thinking if that plastic is so light it would not be secure on the rack it would wobble all over the place i would imagine.like to see the full picture.

Interesting. I want to see the "after" picture after a couple of weeks-months of real touring. I'm curious about durability, it wouldn't have to last forever, but it would have to last a whole tour and not have a catastrophic mode of failure.

Assuming the trash-can portion holds up, one could bring a spare bag or two and still come out way ahead on weight.

Nicely done.

It does not have mounting hardware on it yet but I weighed what's on mine now and included it the total.It will mount like normal panniers....hooks on top and I will replace the tension cord/spring with a solid mount on the bottom.

The trash can is much stiffer than fabric,so I don't see why it would flop around.Instead of having a backboard to mount hardware on and give some shape to the panniers,the frame is the backboard.In the worst case and it does wobble around,I'll just wrap the panniers belly strap around the back of the rack,it won't wobble then.

These plastic trashcans are pretty tough stuff,I jumped up and down on it trying to crack it,no go.I put it in the freezer for a couple hours and jumped up and down on it,no cracks.

The trashcans come in just about any color you would want,I like black,it goes with everything.......The purple material is just some stuff I had laying around,it's not purple silnylon.But I have some here and weighed it up so the weights would be close.

I'm going to mount mine with the hooks I have been using for 35 years off of my old Cannondale panniers.I use them on everything because they fit my racks well.The hooks and bottom mount will be mounted using 1/8 x 3/8 aluminum flat stock.It's the same mounts I have used for many many years and has never failed,no reason to start experimenting now.

If anything fails,I'm sure it will be the frame.It may get stress cracks in it over time around the mounts.I actually think it will be fine,these plastic trashcans can take a good beating and come back for more.

I like it. I just happen to be at the outdoor gear store today looking at Granite Gear's air compression stuff sacks. Silnylon, hold over 11 liters, and weight is only 3 oz. Now you got be thinking that using them and a trash can skeleton would make a pannier.

Bang up job. Novel idea that looks to have worked out great!

Thats a nice solution to the drybag pannier mount.

I imagine that if it did start to fatigue it could be replaced at a Dollar General(they seem to be everywhere). A sharp knife and some simple tools to replace hardwear.
Some zipties and string for emergency repairs while you are testing it.

UL gear requires a little more fuss and care than heavy stuff, but its not hard to do.
\

And thats a great sewing machine!

More important is, what kind of sewing machine do you have there ?

:)

I run a C&V 1960 Singer 403A.

It's a 1952 Royal Deluxe.....copy of a Singer,made in post war Japan,for an English company,for sale back in the U.S.....HUH?

Oh and here the back of the frame also....

http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/o...t/IMG_0651.jpg

http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/o...t/IMG_0650.jpg

http://i368.photobucket.com/albums/o...t/IMG_0649.jpg

Nice machine... not quite as good as a Singer from that era (Japan was still re-tooling) but far better than many machines you can buy today which can be said about many things.

Is it yours ?

Yeah,I thinks it's black......it works good,no complaints.It does one thing and does it well.I've been sewing silnylon as of late and I'm real surprized that it feeds through the dogs perfect,just a quick fiddling with the tension.

I also have a 1960's White "jean machine".All metal constuction,be it some cast crap,but better than plastic.That's been a good machine also and I've beat the snot out of it thru the years with backpacking and climbing gear.I still use it for zig zaging once in a blue moon.

That is a really cool idea.

The more I look into lightweight stuff these days,it's just like camping when I was a kid.I'm starting my second childhood and camping with crap I can find at the surplus stores.At this very moment I'm in the middle of making a "high tech" 2 pound A-frame type tent with parachute material(silnylon) and 2 aluminum sticks.

Same kinda sticks my Boy Scout tent had when I was 10,same kinda pointy tent sort of,except the sticks are in the wrong place,and they're $30 a pop. $60.00 tree branches.....

The only difference between now and then is the fancy materials.......and it hurts to crawl around on my hands and knees and stand back up........but other than that.

booger 1 i certainly think you hit on something special here the old saying Keep it Simple .
did you say you made a bag to fit the cage or would a ready made drybag do the job,

OH OH :eek:

We rock C&V sewing machines here too :D

Early 50's Singer Slant needle 404 and a Singer 503 Rocketeer from around 1961. Some of the best machines ever built! There is one more modern Husquavarna and I believe their may be a modern Viking too, but the Singers are the ones that get used the most.

Aaron :)

:thumb: Wowser! I'm so impressed, I'm speechless! lol

An original, useful, idea is as scarce as hens teeth, but you may have one here. Cheap, simple, efficient. Very impressive.

Not much of a fiddle factor guy myself, and can't sew. No problem. Select the can, attach hooks, drop in a dry sack. Go. Heck. Even I could do that and it would still weigh less than a standard pannier. Thanks.

Anyone need a set of used Axioms?

The plastic might tear/stretch out at the hooks or near the corners of those slots for the webbing after time with heavy loads. But if you use straps/bungies that pull up and compress the weight of the panniers to the top rail at the hooks I could see it working. How about two 3/4" webbing straps that go from the back of the panniers under the hooks all the way down the vertical plastic sections of the trash can, under the bottom, through the holes in the trash can at the front, up over the dry bag to fastek buckles at the top.
So one would hook the bag on the rail, route the 3/4" fastek buckle and webbing under and over the rail then clip onto the fastek buckles over the front. The webbing can take the place of all that hard plastic used to transmit loads to hooks on commercial panniers.