Any recomendations for a bag?
VerwoodAsh
Posts: 196
Due to start comutting by bike again soon at a new job - which I use my Ribble Winter racer to do as it is 15 miles each way (From the country into Bournemouth), When I use to ride to my old job I could take clothes in on a Friday for the following week and so wasn't a problem with carrying anything - but the new job has given me a laptop (13") which I have to take home every night as well as some paperwork (A4 Size) and I therefore might as well take a shirt and pants/socks with me too. Oh and a packed lunch!!
So any recomendations on how to carry that stuff? I thought of a courier bag but is that really pratical for an hour each way whilst bent over the bars? I could put a rack & panniers on, but wouldn't need that much space and I would worry about it getting damaged.
I'm willing to spend £30-50 for a good bag or pannier/rack bag etc.
Help
So any recomendations on how to carry that stuff? I thought of a courier bag but is that really pratical for an hour each way whilst bent over the bars? I could put a rack & panniers on, but wouldn't need that much space and I would worry about it getting damaged.
I'm willing to spend £30-50 for a good bag or pannier/rack bag etc.
Help
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Comments
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Nothing gets damaged with a rack / pannier. I'm in love with my Ortlieb office pannier, carries my laptop / clothes / lunch / gimp mask with ease. Best thing I've ever bought.
Rack will cost £20 to £30 though and the bag is around £90 :?0 -
I would look at a mix, get a rack with pack wich sits on the rack and couple it with a backpack. A rack is great, works as a mudguard, with a couple of bungies can carry a whole host of stuff. I personally am not a fan of panniers, I had a set of Ortlieb. Found panniers to make the bike very unresponsive, not good in cross winds and upset the weight distribution, I reckon having a very response bike is important when commuting. I currently use a Camelbak Mayhem which just about suffices, but I know they do bigger versions0
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Rack and Pannier all the way. You may have to stretch your budget for a good waterproof bag, but really it's worth it
I use the Altura Dryline laptop bag as it is great to keep a shirt in with minimal creasing (how do others keep the folds out?)
My rack also has a mount point for the Cateye LD1100 so I can bolt the thing to the bike and also have another LD610 for huge amounts of light out the back of the bike.Chunky Cyclists need your love too! :-)
2009 Specialized Tricross Sport
2011 Trek Madone 4.5
2012 Felt F65X
Proud CX Pervert and quiet roadie. 12 mile commuter0 -
I got a Carradice SQR Tour for Christmas, only had a few commutes since, but so far I love it.
It holds everything I need it to (with space for more), clips on and off the bike really easy and it very stable & sturdy.
The Tour is fairly square in shape but Carradice do one called the 'Slim' which is wider but not a tall (same internal volume as the Tour I think), and is designed for carrying A4 things nice and flat.
I think it costs about £65, so it's slightly over your budget, but definitely worth that little bit extra.
Oh, and they're hand made in north-west England and are very well built and sturdy.0 -
I use one of these for the commute - waterproof, padded sleeve for laptop etc and loops on the back for extra lighting
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/bookings/tr ... se_box.htm0 -
Kieran_Burns wrote:(how do others keep the folds out?)
One rolls as opposed to folding.0 -
Rack and panniers are the way forward. You might not need the extra space, but it's always worth having - stop at the shops on the way home etc. You can get some quite nice bags that sit on top of a rack too.0
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Many Thanks - I have a rack and some old waterproof panniers which I loaned a friend a fwe years ago - have to get those back then. The panniers I have would not be good enough but those ones recomended above look good (if only the Ortilab were in stock!)0
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DHB panniers are adequate and waterproof. Not sure of price now but a bit cheaper when I bought them.
Can you get them to give you a small laptop? then rucksack might be ok.0 -
I never got on with a Rack and Pannier setup so now use a rucksack.
Plenty of Rucksacks, such as a North Face Borealis, are basically laptop bags in disguise.
http://www.ldmountaincentre.com/product ... 2009&aid=2
For shirt and trousers I use this, which fits nicely into the rucksack
http://www.penrithsurvival.com/penrith_ ... afid=88888
I found the discomfort of the occasional sweaty back outweighed the fact that a Rack and Pannier setup made my bike feel like a bus, but that's just personal preference.Giant Trance X 2010
Specialized Tricross Sport
My Dad's old racer
Trek Marlin 29er 20120 -
Thankyou,
Changign the laptop is not going to happen - Mine is new anyway and will have to last a fair few years.
Luckily I will be keeping shoes & Suit at a locker in the office, so it is just the essentials taht I need to carry - thus not wanting massive bags.
I too have tried panniers before and also didn't like the handeling, but it may be the best of a bad situation.
The rucksack idea is good, but as I will be on a racer for an hour each way the thought of 5kg+ on there doesn't appeal. The idea of a courier bag was it would offer more protection that a basic rucksack and actually be less bulky, but didn't know againif it would work in the more forward riding position that the racer gives me.0 -
I use a Super C Carradice Saddle bag with a SQR mount
The bag clips and unclips from the bike in a second and is secure
To use the SQR mount you need 6" of seatpost.
The bag is 23 litre capacity and will easily take a laptop and the other things you describe. Probably you would want to bubble wrap the laptop during transit. The bag is water proof to "leave outside a welsh YHA all night and the contents are still dry in the morning" standard.
www.spacycles.co.uk would sell you a Super C for 54 quid and a SQR block for 11 quid0 -
To chip in again - panniers whilst great to get the load off your back made me cycle like a tourist....slowly. Probably because of the change in bike handling.
I do 11 miles each way with a rucksack - just got a deuter bike 1 and after all of one commute think it is perfect.
15 mile should be doable - but if you get aches might be worth switching to panniers. Also might turn out that you will not need to take laptop in and out everyday.0 -
just buy a small hiking bag from sports world or some cheap shop
take your laptop etc with you to make sure it fits!0 -
+1 for the ortlieb office bag
totally waterproof, absolutely excellent on the bike & for its carryng capacity, pretty light when not full and it looks smart enough to stoll into a meeting with when suited and booted.0 -
I recommend a Pig Bag :shock:
DA DA DA DA,DA DARUYA!! 8)0 -
bradford wrote:I recommend a Pig Bag :shock:
DA DA DA DA,DA DARUYA!! 8)
My Papa has one of those, a brand new one!0