The trouble with Panniers is - its all about WEIGHT!

If you think you are on the bike then the added weight of whatever your carrying in the panniers - how flat is the back tyre going to look/be?

Get a trailer and let it carry all the weight and not the bike.

Regards
TC

Nice. But do they pass the 12 pack test?:D

This is good to know. I've been wanting to upgrade my MTX rack to the model with the lower sidebars for exactly that reason: I don't like that I can't use my trunk bag and my grocery bag panniers at the same time.

There's something to be said for trailers, but I only use one when the rack becomes impractical. It's worth considering the weight you put on your back tire, but if you've got a sturdy, well-built wheel, it can handle quite a bit. Consider how loaded up some touring bikes get. Some do use trailers, but not most. Also consider the trip to the grocery store. I had to haul my empty trailer somewhere last weekend and it was almost as bad as hauling it loaded, whereas the weight of two empty, folded, grocery bag panniers is barely noticeable (if at all). If you were getting more than two bags of groceries, a trailer might make sense, but I prefer to limit myself to what I can carry on my racks rather than pull a trailer with me, especially if a stop at the grocery store is part of a longer ride, as it often is.

It worked really well for both carrying stuff and making the bike bigger/more visible to cars. I've since moved to a tiny apartment so i gave that contraption to a friend who is trying to make her way towards being car-free.

If I were making them again, instead of batter boxes I'd check out IKEA as they have about a billion different sizes and shapes of plastic totes. [srsly, the selection is awesome!] The closest IKEA to me was a 3+ hour drive to Atlanta but now there is one not even 10 miles (and quite bikable) from my house. I ♥ Swedish flat-pack furniture stores!

As long as you put one in each to balance the weight out. :p

Vik~ Did you buy those Jannd pack directly from the company and if so did they ship via UPS or through USPS. I really like your GF's set up and I think it would be perfect for me, even more than my axioms.

I had the big old Wald chrome baskets on my 64 Huffy Sportsman. I just used it for a beater, but it could haul a case and a 40 in each side with plenty of room on top. The are heavy, but they are strong. I used to stack fire wood taller than my head on them; every week! I say go cheap (5$ flea martkert/25$ internet), because after 3 weeks of using them, you won't even notice they're there.

I was wondering has anybody seen any folding baskets that are made to be mounted on top of a rear rack? SO far all that I have found are side mounted racks that wouldn't really work well for me since I just have one bag (backpack) that's pretty heavy about 40-50lbs. I already have the rack that is rated to hold the weight, and I don't feel comfortable just strapping a cargo net over it since I'll be transporting my laptop in the backpack as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Not folding, but they make some quick release baskets for the tops of racks. Note, I've seen some home-made folding jobs for the top.

If you need baskets for grocery runs, the Wald folding baskets can't be beat.

That is pretty big....so I will repeat my recommendation for the wald folding......you can then lay that big backpack across the rack and support the ends with the baskets. I have done this with bags of potting soil. Also that much weight you want to keep as low as you can to keep the center of gravity low.

Sounds like if you don't want to use a rack with panniers or baskets, your only choice is a cargo trailer (holds tons of groceries!) or a bigger backpack. You could probably get an xtracycle kit to pimp your cannondale too :) What don't you like about rear racks?

If you're not into the wire-type folding walds, I ran across these the other day...

elven81 Folding Mesh Baskets

Those mesh baskets don't have as many places to hook bungee cords to compared to the Wald--something to consider.

Yeah, I wasn't claiming they were superior to the Walds. Just that they have a different look (if your into that kind of thing).

I use the Topeak system and every single day I load it up with at least 20 pounds of groceries, clothes, computer, all necessary tubes, tools, etc.

It rocks.

It's good to see more choices in folding baskets. I bought my Walds about 6 years ago and they were the only ones I could find. Now there's a few companies getting into the game.

Has anyone seen the faux wicker folding basket from Axiom? I was wondering if it could really looks like wicker.

If I had to carry 2 bags of groceries, I'd rather have low rider folding fabric panniers for simplicity, ease, and handling

Seems that few people offer this, unfortunately. Old Man Mountain (?) has the low rider front rack, perhaps the REI bags will fit.

The front quick release one or the rear QR? I think I saw the front one at Dick's Sporting goods the other day... if I recall correctly (wasn't looking for a front one) the faux wicker looked about as wickery as faux wicker gets. Maybe bit darker brown than I'm used to wicker looking.

Wait, there's a faux wicker FOLDING basket? Are you sure?

There's one on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Axiom-Folding-...0099812&sr=1-1

But I don't see it on the Axiom website so it could be a discontinued model.

Wow... that's cool looking. You never know, it may be discontinued or it may be that Axiom has yet to put it on their site.

I remember the following rack showed up on some shopping sights before it showed up on Axiom's.

http://www.axiomgear.com/img/prod/ph...ont-1-full.jpg

Thanks both of you I've got some good ideas now and a direction to go in.

Once I get my bike completed I'll probably be posting picks of it.

Pics are always a good idea ;)