Lucillle

Do you remove your panniers in between tours or do they just stay on your bike?

Machka 

Between tours? The panniers are removed. Our touring bicycles have been converted into something similar to cyclocross bicycles with wider tires/more tread so that we can ride gravel roads and trails in the evenings or on weekends. We don't really want the panniers on for that.

I'm curious ... why would you leave them on the bicycle between tours?

Erick L

I remove the panniers but leave both racks on. Many people remove the front rack.

jhawk

I currently use my touring bike for everything - seen as it's my only bike! (I know, I'm breaking the 'N+1' rule) But, I still use my panniers for doing shopping and such. However, I do hope to acquire a new road/commuter bike in the future and therefore I'll use that and put panniers on that and do my commuting/shopping.

tarwheel 

I use my touring bike for commuting and general recreational riding, so I remove the panniers unless I have a lot of gear to carry on my commute. For commuting, I use the front panniers on the rear rack if needed because the full-sized ones are way bigger than required. I do keep the rear rack mounted on my touring bike as well as a small Nitto front rack but remove the Tubus Tara front pannier rack.

imi

I take the panniers off, but they're always packed and ready to go

indyfabz

Why do you ask?

Lucillle

Just curious. I do not yet have panniers but will be getting some soon, and was curious as to what others did with them when they were not in use.

indyfabz

They sit in a special area in my basement with all my other luggage/backpacks. Since I live in the big city and use my touring bike for commuting and general transportation, leaving them on when not in use would likely result in them being stolen. A fewr moths ago, someone stole my saddle bag in broad daylight while my bike was locked up outside my office tower.

Riight now, both my racks are mounted. I usually don't keep the front one on, but I did an overnighter in late November and haven't botheed to remove it. Interestingly, leaving racks mounted to a bike when I was rarely using them is the biggest mistake I have ever made bike-wise. A week before Christmas of '09, someone came into my house while the GF and I were upstairs watching the late news and stole my irreplacable custom racks along with the bike they were attached to.

raybo

I only ride my touring bike. I leave both racks on and always carry one pannier (rear left) on the rear rack. The main reason I do this is to carry things I might need, such as a rain coat, leg warmers, a cable lock, first aid kit, etc.

I don't actually need to have these with me all the time, though, in SF the fog and wind can drop the temperature quickly. Instead, I keep them on my bike to add a bit of weight to it so that I am always doing a wee bit of training when I ride my bike around.

I also have a large cargo bag velcroed to the platform of my front rack (it is a rear rack bag) that holds tools, extra batteries for my running lights, spares, and riding food.

Standalone 

my touring bike gets hung up, so panniers stay on.

bradtx

Lucille, The panniers hang in the closet, the rack top bag is often left on the rear rack.

Brad

fietsbob

I take my empty Ortliebs off and the grocery checker puts my food in them ,
then I put them back on the bike and ride home.

one of the stores gives me $.05 for each of their carry-out bags not used..

but I can see the merits of keeping the touring gear kit together and ready to pack up for the next trip,
Particularly if you do tours, somewhere, every year..

redbike72

Well known fact: You can get almost a week's worth of groceries into your Ortliebs. You may want to bake your own bread rather than compress your store bought loaf.

fietsbob

Local Artisan Bakery does not bake foamy air bread.

Plus NB: Checkers packing sequence, so as to not put compressible stuff on the bottom,
they have skills at their job.

redbike72

I think I want to live where you live.

spinnaker

I remove them but usually leave the rack on. I will hang one or two when going to the grocery store.

SparkyGA

My panniers/frame bags live pretty much full time on my bike (90% I'd say). My Surly is my entertainment/grocery hauler/only transportation so I am usually needing a pannier for one reason or another.

tarwheel 

A lot of commuters use panniers for carrying their gear. However, my Ortlieb panniers -- even the smaller front ones -- hold way more gear than I need to carry to work each day. If I was the type that felt the need to carry everything but the kitchen sink, I would leave the panniers on for commuting, but I get by just fine using a trunk rack or large seatbag.

Machka 

They go into storage with the rest of the panniers, the camping gear, the cycling gear, and the sporting gear ...

But they occasionally emerge if I need to carry something large.

wheelinthai

I only put racks on my Bianchi Volpe CX, when I go touring. The bike (28mm tyres) is used so I keep in shape, and some times when I know my "opponents" will not be strong on their roadies.

3speed

I leave my panniers on. I have another road bike that I use when I don't need racks/bags. I grab the touring bike when I'm going for a trip or to get groceries and will be using the bags.

The key could be in his artisan bakery comment. I tend to shop at locally owned/run places whenever possible, and have found that they're much friendlier and tend to do a much better job with what Should be simple things, like not putting your cantaloupe on top of your bag of tortilla chips. The folks at the Pick N' Save chain don't care as much, which is only fair to an extent since they're likely making minimum wage at a fairly crap place, likely not appreciated, and dealing with the types of customers that tend to shop at those type places.

andrewclaus

Mine come off the bike but are always handy in the closet to grab'n'go on most errands. Very seldom, if I'm planning a few days of 'sporty' rides, the rack comes off too. But it seems like I always want to carry lunch, extra water, and an extra jacket (most of my rides involve several thousand feet of climbing and the descents get cold) and run an errand on the way back, since I'm usually out most of the day. My riding would be different without panniers.

I also violate the N+1 rule and only own one bicycle, and the current one for quite a few years and some looong trips.

PS: I've long since given up caring if my bike, or I, look cool or not.

Lucillle

I think that attitude is awesome. Are panniers not cool?

plustax

Only if they are the tidy cat brand.