I found out last Sunday that biking to work is quite doable*. I’m serioulsy thinking about doing that and I think getting panniers to carry my work clothes would be best. It is very casual at work, but no shower so I figure clean clothes, a face wash etc will be
Right now I’m thinking small / medium szied ones. If I get into more serious touring, I’d get bigger ones and put the small ones in front.
Just thought I would solicit doper advice before deciding.
Brian
Distance wise (9.7 miles - about 45 minutes for me) I knew was doable. I was a bit worried about the route. Turns out that the busiest part has wide sholders. The rest is on bike trails or lanes.
I would recommend fairly small, good quality panniers to start. My first set of panniers were a pair of Jandd Economy Panniers. I’ve linked you to the ones offered in their “sale items and closeouts” section. These panniers are in discontinued colors, which drops their price to about $57. They’re very nice panniers - the material and the zippers are very durable, and the fabric does a pretty good job of keeping out light rain and moisture. They have a useful little handle for carry them around off the bike, and they’re really easy to take on and off. The only real downside is that the metal hooks can scrape the rack on your bike, but this is a cosmetic issue only, and a general issue with cheaper attachment systems.
Of the panniers linked to on that site, the only ones I can attest to are the Arkels and the Performance Transit Epics, which I own. Arkels are incredibly expensive, but have a near-unmatched reputation for quality. I wouldn’t get them if you’re just starting out; if you decide that commuting is too difficult, then you’ll want to cut your losses as much as possible. The Performance panniers are a bargain (note that the Transit Epics are way too big to be commuter panniers unless you’re bringing a LOT to work), but do seem a little cheap. They’ve held up well for about 330 miles of touring so far, but that’s not very much. I would definitely recommend the Jandd Economy Panniers without reservation. The only problem you may have is putting them up front if you do decide to do some touring. The mounting system, like the mounting system on most inexpensive panniers, isn’t really intended to mount on a front rack. That isn’t a huge deal - I actually did exactly what you are thinking about doing, and put my economy panniers up front for a tour this summer. It just takes a little bit of ingenuity. All I had to do was put a couple of rubber coated p-clamps on the bottom part of my front rack. It worked great! So don’t let that turn you off.
If you want more information, there’s a great forum devoted to bicycle commuting at http://www.bikeforums.net/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=20. Check out the sticky thread “Advice For New Commuters,” and don’t hesitate to open a thread and ask for advice! There are lots of really helpful veteran commuters on that board who would like nothing more than to gain another convert.
If you don’t mind my asking a few questions about your commute - will it be 9.7 miles each way, or round trip? I myself rode a 11-mile one-way commute last year, and I may go back to riding it once a week within the next month or so. Also, what kind of weather will you be willing to ride in? If you plan to commute in anything less than perfect weather, I cannot recommend a pair of full fenders strongly enough. They make a huge difference. Finally, what are you planning to do when winter comes? There is a fairly sizeable contingent that rides year-round, in any weather (including me! :D). No one will think badly of you if you pack it in during the winter, of course, but I thought that I should let you know that it IS possible. Bicycle commuting is easier than it looks! Good luck, and welcome to the fold!
It is 9.7 miles one way. I only plan on doing it when the weather is “good”. What I consider “good” will probably start out “almost perfect”, but count very well expand to “as long as it is above zero”
But I probably won’t bother once it gets cold.
I figure I’ll start 1 day a week and see how it goes.
Brian
and to finish my OP: … will be a good idea. My place of work is pretty casual, but bike clothes is probably pusing it.
You might not need panniers. I keep a gym bag at work with T shirts, jeans, underwear, socks, a washcloth and towel, and a pair of shoes. I ride 4 days a week - the day I drive, I replenish the gym bag. I ride with a backpack to carry my lunch and anything else relatively small that I need to carry. When I change into my biking clothers for the trip home, the T shirt, socks, and underwear go in the backpack so smelly clothes don’t stay in the office all week.
You might be surprised how few clothes you need to wear in the wintertime. Your body will generate heat in a hurry. Suprisingly, the two most important items in the cold are a good pair of gloves, very long at the wrist so your jacket doesn’t pull out, and a scarf so cold air doesn’t blow down your chest at your neck.
One other thing - get a rearview mirror. I have one that attaches on my glasses and I wouldn’t leave home without it. You will check behind you much more frequently if you just have to flick your eyes as opposed to twisting your head/body. It helps a lot to know what is coming up behind you.
I use these from Inertia Systems. They’re pretty much water proof and they stick to the bike like limpets on the road. A big plus is that they also stick to the the bike like limpets when it’s locked in a rack (you can’t just lift them off if you\re a driveby thief).
Panniers may not be strictly necessary, but some means of carrying items on the bike seems wise to me. I don’t know what I would do without them. Or, rather, I do - I would still be using my backpack. Some people don’t mind it enough to want to buy panniers, but for me, it was a revelation getting that weight off of my back and onto the bike. Besides, why make it necessary to drive in one day a week if you can avoid it?
Ditto on the wintertime dress. I never had a problem with my torso staying warm (in fact, gross and steady was the usual problem), but I got cold hands and toes on several occasions.
I am going to contradict you again (sorry) and not recommend a rear-view mirror, though. I’m not recommending that cyclists NOT buy them, I just don’t think that they’re really necessary. I find that looking over my shoulder is sufficient, even for multiple lane changes in fairly thick traffic. I would be looking anyway; a mirror doesn’t give much more information than the fact that something is behind me. Besides, turning my head is a very effective signal to drivers of my intent to move. In fact, I have found it to be considerably MORE effective. As you become more practiced and comfortable riding in traffic, effective communication of intent becomes one of the most important tools at your disposal. Hey, all that aside - if you want a mirror, get one! To be honest, I would have one if I wasn’t put off by the minimum $15 price tag. Yes, I am a poor student, thanks for asking!
Tapioca Dextrin, I’ve never heard of that brand, but they sound interesting. Maybe I’ll check them out at some point.
One thing to make sure of, is the rigidity of your pannier rack.
Make sure it’s a one-piece construction, and not one of those hinged affairs where the legs are held on to the main platform on a movable joint.
Get one that has triangulated cross bracing, all this means is that it has two sets of support struts, one set going vertical, the other set at a small angle, this arrangement makes them very rigid.
If at all possible, make sure that the front mounting point of you rack, does not use the same mounting points as your brake calipers.
Hopefully your bike frame has threaded eyelets on the drop outs for the lower mounting point of you rack.
What does happen over time is that the bolts holding the rack to the frame can work their way loose, and occasionally fall out, so its a good idea to carry a couple of bolts as spares, you’ll not use them for months and months, but one day you will need one.
I’ve always found that a good sized saddlebag, resting upon the pannier rack and clipped to the saddle itself can carry as much as a pair of pannier bags, and if you get one of the quick release mounting brackets, you can remove it from the bike and take the bag with you.
My Trek 520 (specificaly designed for loaded touring) came with a at least mediocre qualtity rear rack.
Actually one of the bolts that hold the rack to the frame came loose every time I rode. I finally coated it with rubber cement and it hasn’t moved since.
I know panniers aren’t strictly needed, but it allows me contemplate short bike camping trips.
Not that I’m all that concerned about scratching my rack, but is there some sort of paint on coating to protect it? or maybe a rubber hose slit lengthwise?
I love my Ortlieb panniers. I bought them about 4 years ago and it’s still good as new. I’ve had to carry some sharp objects in it from time to time (e.g. screwdriver, broken chainring) and nothing has managed to poke a hole through it. It has a roll-top closure, so there are no zippers to break. And it’s completely waterproof, without needing a rain cover. I know you said you’d only bike on nice days, but what if you leave the bike outside and it starts to rain?
The downside of the Ortliebe is that it has no pockets or dividers at all. But I haven’t found that to be a major problem.
Well, a lot of racks are painted black… it seems to be a cosmetic thing, rather than protective. Most racks are made of aluminum (there are some notable exceptions) and therefore effectively immune to corrosion. For this reason, I actually prefer unpainted racks - they still get scratched, but chipped paint looks much worse, IMO. You can try to protect your rack. I tried (unsuccessfully) to wrap my Jandd pannier hooks with duct tape to protect my rack. No real luck, but it did make it stick more securely! Anyway, if it’s a real concern, you can always get panniers with rubber-coated hooks. Most of the panniers I’ve seen that use hooks as part of their attachment system come like that, anyway. Sadly, the Jandds do not, as they are otherwise of superb quality.
You might also be able to devise some kind of protection by cutting up an old inner tube. Old inner tubes make GREAT protection for multiple parts of you bike (I personally used rubber from an old tube between my kickstand and bike frame).
Fenders, fenders, fenders! Days that start out perfect don’t always end that way. You do NOT want that stripe of muddy water up your backside when you end up having to ride in the rain. Trust me on this matter.
Thanks to Grelby I ordered the Janndt Economy Panniers. I got “Smoke Grey” I wanted yellow - the “check stock” link said they had some in yellow, but yellow wasn’t a choice in the popup menu. I called them, he said the only colors he know for sure they had was black, grey, and green.
If they weren’t on sael it would have been a harder choice - but I figure I’m getting pretty good panniers for a really good price.
The top hooks on the panniers are coated which surprised me.
The panniers go on and come off fairly easily.
They are adequate in size to carry my commuting stuff (change of clothes, lunch, tools, innertube, lock).
The commute went fairly well, though the sun was in my eyes for a while in the morning. I wore wind pants and a polyester fleece jacket to start. I took off the jacket after about 2 miles.
Part of the bike tral goes by a marshy area - mist coming off of it was a striking sight.
Going back it was almost perfect temperature (no need for wind pants).
