Any recomendations for a bag?

VerwoodAsh

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

essex-commuter

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 :?

surreyxc

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 versions

Kieran_Burns

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.

Matt.K

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.

Jay dubbleU

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.htm

essex-commuter

Kieran_Burns wrote:

(how do others keep the folds out?)

One rolls as opposed to folding.

swampdonkey

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.

VerwoodAsh

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!)

woodford2barbican

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.

the article don

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.

VerwoodAsh

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.

vorsprung

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 quid

woodford2barbican

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.

the_village_idiot

just buy a small hiking bag from sports world or some cheap shop

take your laptop etc with you to make sure it fits!

shouldbeinbed

+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.

bradford

I recommend a Pig Bag :shock:

DA DA DA DA,DA DARUYA!! 8)

essex-commuter

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!