Panniers for commuting to school...

mbellingham

Hi,

In a couple of weeks I'm starting a new job as a primary school teacher, around 5 miles from where I live. I've bought myself a pretty cheap second hand Viking Milano (bike snobs - I know it's not great but the best I can afford right now!!), which should do the job of getting me to school a couple of days a week.

I'm looking for some panniers, but as you can imagine I'm going to have quite a lot of books, marking and planning to carry to and from school each day.

Does anyone have any advice on sizes/good brands to buy? I'm afraid I don't have much of a budget at the moment, so ideally they would need to be under £50.

Thanks in advance!
Matt

Wooliferkins

I think the Basil Mara Double in XXL fits your spec. A couple of bags for life should complete the waterproofing and they are about £33 a pair

lawson_m20

I got some of these 3 years ago for exactly the same reason and they are still going strong:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-marsden-rear-panniers/

But it would appear that they are no longer available, how about some of these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/altura/cycle/bags/

FWIW - try and do as much marking as you can over lunch and after school before you cycle, 30+ books, plus laptop, plus clean clothes can get pretty heavy when loaded over a rear wheel.

mbellingham

Thanks both, I'll check them out.

I've also seen these online, does anybody know much about them?

- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-WATERPROO ... 142wt_1195

- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AVENIR-WATERP ... 978wt_1195

I need to get down to my LBS as well to figure out exactly how big 56L is!

Thanks

gilesjuk

Well, imagine a bag that can hold 56 litres of water.

mbellingham

I've tried, but somehow 56L of water isn't that easy to imagine!

Wooliferkins

mbellingham wrote:

I've tried, but somehow 56L of water isn't that easy to imagine!

28 2ltr pop bottles?

Wooliferkins

Remember most conventional panniers taper to enhance heel clearance. When you are stuffing them full of clothes etc this isn't a problem. Your contents will be mostly oblong which could leave you with dead space or crumpled corners. "Teachers pannier bent my homework!"

mbellingham

Thanks Neil, I'll certainly look out for that.

Last thing I want is an angry parent berating me for soaking and bending their kids homework!