Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
brooksby
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Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by brooksby »

I commute to work by bike. There are three routes I can take. One is flatter, mostly shared-use and about ten miles one way. One is an off-road riverside cycle path which is muddy and gravelled, about seven miles one way. The third is part shared-use and part on-road, very hilly, and about six and a half miles. All three take about the same time to travel (I usually take the longest route, so I'm doing about twenty miles a day).

When I first started cycle commuting about three and a half years ago, I - as you do - bought a Chrome Citizen courier bag. But after a few months, my LBS discussed fitting a rear rack and buying panniers. I did, and now use one Carradice A4 pannier every day (I have another the same for if it is laundry day - taking shirts for the week into the office - or if I am going shopping). My usual load is a diary, notepad, phone, wallet, heavy D-lock, cable lock, and my toolkit (cycling multitool, non-cycling multitool, spare tube, tyre levers).

I still think the courier bag looks "cooler" (sorry), but every time I think I will use it again I get it loaded up of an evening, then get up in the morning, look at it, and then unpack it and put it all back into my pannier. I find the idea of lugging everything around on my back horrible, now. So the expensive Chrome courier bag, designed for cycling, is never actually used by me when I'm on a bike.

I've clearly been spoilt by using a pannier - is it just me? Does using panniers instead of a backpack go with "maturing" as a cyclist?
alant82
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by alant82 »

brooksby wrote:Does using panniers instead of a backpack go with "maturing" as a cyclist?

I think so. I spent several years commuting with a small rucksack but eventually realised that carrying stuff on the bike instead of on me made the ride more enjoyable.
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Vantage
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by Vantage »

brooksby wrote:Does using panniers instead of a backpack go with "maturing" as a cyclist?


I think it's less of maturing and more of finally realizing what everyone else already knew. A sweaty back is no fun no matter how light and bling your bike is. Panniers are just brilliant for all sorts of stuff, even my girlfriend has some. My sister finally got a decent bike with a rack pack on it and my young daughters want panniers on their bikes...being able to carry more teddies and sweets was mentioned I think :shock:
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thirdcrank
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by thirdcrank »

brooksby wrote: ... I still think the courier bag looks "cooler" ...


The world of fashion is made round to come round again. When I was a lad, there was a fashion for "bonk bags," inspired by the musettes used in road racing to hand up grub to the riders. In their intended use, the contents are transferred to the rider's pockets and the bag is then rolled up and thrown to eager souvenir hunters. In the UK, they grew bigger and bigger and some even had a waist strap added to prevent the users having to hitch them back around every few hundred yards. Some bike shops sold bonk bags with a large advert on them. That was long before we'd heard of laptops etc.

You'll know you have reached true cycling maturity when you recognise the benefits of the Carradice Camper.
Tonyf33
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by Tonyf33 »

Vantage wrote:
brooksby wrote:Does using panniers instead of a backpack go with "maturing" as a cyclist?


I think it's less of maturing and more of finally realizing what everyone else already knew. A sweaty back is no fun no matter how light and bling your bike is. Panniers are just brilliant for all sorts of stuff, even my girlfriend has some. My sister finally got a decent bike with a rack pack on it and my young daughters want panniers on their bikes...being able to carry more teddies and sweets was mentioned I think :shock:

This..panniers make so much sense, it's far easier to get into them for stuff, you can carry oodles more stuff, unless you are eaving your bike on the street in London youcan just leave them on your bike with all the bits you need in them.
I tried and tried to get my son to use pannier bags for school but he insisted on the around the shoulder bag (lucklily I found an amazing one that cost next to nothing), the amount of times he ended up taking two bags when he got closer to doing his GCSE's and had silly amount of books/PE kit to take in :cry:
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ArMoRothair
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by ArMoRothair »

brooksby wrote:
I've clearly been spoilt by using a pannier - is it just me? Does using panniers instead of a backpack go with "maturing" as a cyclist?


I discovered this truth back in the '70s when I graduated from using a school satchel tied to the back carrier to making my own set of panniers. Ever since I wouldn't even cycle to shops without a pannier, always containing at least a puncture kit and pump and waterproof jacket.

How people cycle with rucksacks or courier bags is beyond me.
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Si
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by Si »

Personally, all things being equal, I'd go for a big saddle bag with a QR rather than a (single :oops: :twisted: :roll: ) pannier or courier bag, esp if using cycle paths where it's less likely to catch on stuff (foilage, tight gates, etc). And, of course, a cotton duck saddle bag, being retro) is kewler than either pannier or courier bag (so 1990s).....fraudax is where it is at, not fakenger.
brooksby
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by brooksby »

Si wrote:... rather than a (single :oops: :twisted: :roll: ) pannier or courier bag...


I rarely have enough stuff to spread it across two so, rather than carry both and have one empty as a sail, I just use the one. Don't judge me! :D
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mjr
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by mjr »

Carabineers on the top of the courier bag, then hang it off the saddle or side of the pannier rack.

I still don't understand saddle bags. Seat post bags, yes (including faux saddle bags that are actually attached there) but why do you want more weight on the back of the saddle?
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boliston
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by boliston »

I used a rucksack till i moved from road bike to a brompton where a large bag can simply be clipped to a block at the front of the bike frame - there is no way id ever go back to a sweaty rucksack - also I've managed to get 2x 5 litre beer barrels in the bag which would not be a lot of fun to carry in a rucksack!
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SaintMatt
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by SaintMatt »

brooksby wrote:I've clearly been spoilt by using a pannier - is it just me? Does using panniers instead of a backpack go with "maturing" as a cyclist?


It is nice to let the bike take the strain instead of your back.. I guess I feel like a more serious cyclist loaded up with panniers!!
Urticaria
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by Urticaria »

You're sampling from the monoculture of touring cyclists. In defence of courier bags: they don't make your back anywhere near as sweaty as a rucksack and they hang lower on your back; taking panniers off when you park up is a right pfaff, and if you leave them on, then you risk them being stolen, or the contents taken; if you wire them on, then you can't take them off; if you walk around with a pannier in each hand, you can't do a lot else; if you cycle through woods panniers can snag, or if you cycle over bumpy grounds then they rattle around. Similarly, you won't find many people on here advocating a front basket, even though they are very practical, and you can reach in as you cycle, and you can just throw stuff in. No, a bar bag and panniers are the correct symbols of belonging.
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Si
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by Si »

taking panniers off when you park up is a right pfaff,


Sounds like you've suffered from a poor choice of pannier.
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gaz
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by gaz »

Si wrote:Sounds like you've suffered from a poor choice of pannier.

Probably using one too many as well :wink: .
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Vantage
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Re: Panniers vs Courier Bag (Commuting)

Post by Vantage »

I have to wonder how many of us actually are 'touring cyclists'.
I consider myself just a cyclist. Whilst I bought my bike for the purpose of touring, I had no plans to start touring straight away but bought the panniers anyway for their practical virtues.
Even the big Carradice saddlebag (I forget it's name despite owning one) struggles to hold a change of clothes for the day, yer dinner and a lock. Infact it was through carrying a lock that the straps on my first one snapped. I was able to bungee it to the rear rack to see me home. Unless you pay good money for a bar bag, it can (as happened to mine) jump off the mount on bumpy terrain and bounce down the road/trail with all your stuff inside. The rigid sides of a bar bag will also have your belonging rattling about if they're loose, bit like a pannier really. A bar bag however can foul both the STI cables and the levers travel if you use that gearing system.
The cheapest decent bar bag I've seen is about £40 and a decent sized saddle bag will set you back another £10-15 at least. For the same money, a set of Altura Arran 36 panniers and a rack can be had. I've carried all sorts in mine (including the weekly shopping) over all sorts of terrain and nothing's ever broke or bounced off. Taking them off the rack only needs a tug and the carry straps allow both to be carried in one hand. They're not particularly water proof but a plastic bag or dry sack solves that. Having the weight lower down on the bike helps handling too.
I can't think of any practical reason not to use panniers other than looking uncool to some people. Then again, to some people, looking cool is wearing your jeans halfway down your backside and undone laces. Nuff said.
Bill


“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
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