Any Students?

[xeney]

I am hoping there are some student commuters here who might have some good suggestions for my husband, because bike commuting as a student presents a few different issues than bike commuting to work, namely, having to carry more stuff and having to carry that stuff with you all day.

For the last few years he's commuted to work/school, and only taken a couple of classes. This year he is going to school full time and working as a consultant, which means he is dragging around more books plus a laptop and going between class and work at odd hours. One week of classes taught him that his old method of hauling stuff around in a messenger bag was not going to work, because it was killing his back. So he bought a seatpost rack (his commuter road bike doesn't have rack mounts) and this Cannondale pannier (http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=48016228&parent_category_rn=4500848&vcat=REI_SSHP_CYCLING_TOC), and he's trying that out. But he is not sure he's going to like it, so I was wondering how other students manage this.

Most panniers won't work because they are designed to be left on the bike, and they'll just get stolen on campus. This one was the only one we found that looked like it might be okay to carry around all day. His other option is a backpack, but it gets really hot where we live and he has a long enough commute to make that a little gross and sweaty. (He doesn't really have either time or a place to shower.)

Last night he was eying my old-school metal baskets (heavy, but okay to just leave on the bike) and wondering if he could just toss his backpack/messenger bag in one of them and be done with it. I am not sure that is a good idea for a laptop, though, because they do rattle a bit when you go over bumps.

How do y'all do it?

[Blueberry]

*sniff*

For those that are, enjoy it while it lasts.

When I was in law school, I had Arkel Panniers (T-42) and a shoulder strap. I carried the heavy stuff in the panniers and used the shoulder strap to carry them around. Then I carried the light stuff in the messenger bag. Somewhat cumbersome, but it worked. I was lucky, though, I could deposit some of the books, etc in my locker (law books are HEAVY).

Wire baskets might work, but I'd put some sort of net across the top to keep things from bouncing out. Plus I'd worry about rain (panniers fare much better in the rain).

Carrie Anne

[xeney]

For those that are, enjoy it while it lasts.


Ahem. He's 34 and has been in school consistently since he was ... well, FIVE, I guess. And he is totally jealous when I tell him that we had lockers in law school. If anything, his text books are heavier than mine were -- every book is the size of one of those ultra-fat Con Law books.

Lockers would make such a difference. It doesn't even seem like it would be all that expensive or troublesome for schools to rent them out, you know? In law school they were free, but we got all kinds of perks nobody else on campus got.

Thanks for the info on the Arkel panniers, though. I haven't found a local dealer for those so we couldn't check them out in person but I know people love them.

[betagirl]

Hey I'm a grad student. Clinical Psychology. And yes, I have to carry a lot of sh*t! I have a medium timbuk2 messenger bag that I've more than occassionally overstuffed with books, clothes, a computer, etc. I've tried my best to limit what I carry to only what I absolutely need that day. I got a hand-me-down PDA that I carry instead of my laptop and went back to using old fashioned notebooks to take notes. I do an inventory every time I go in to make sure I'm only taking what I need, but it's still usually a lot. So some sort of panniers are probably a good idea for him since the bag on the back is painful. Since I don't use them, I can't be of much assistance there. But I can understand the whole conundrum :)

Hope he finds a solution.

[eofelis]

I'm a student, at 38! Undergrad in Geology. Thankfully, I don't have to carry rocks back and forth to school.

I have a 15 min walking commute to school. I use a big backpack, a Kelty Redwing 2400ci. I have occasionally rode my bike to school. It's not easy to ride with the big pack. I have used my old Novara panniers and clipped them together with a shoulder strap to carry around.

On the note of trying to carry the least amount of stuff....
I am in a Calculus 1 class. The huge text book covers Calc 1, 2 and 3 class materials. I saw no need to carry info around that I didn't need for the semester so I did some home surgury on the book. I now have the 1/3 of the book that I need to take to class. Next semester when I take Calc 2 I will slice another 1/3 of the book out. They are coming out with a new edition to this book so I probably wouldn't be able to sell it back.

[trickytiger]

[QUOTE=surlypacer]I'm a student, at 38! Undergrad in Geology. Thankfully, I don't have to carry rocks back and forth to school.


Hey Surly, congrats! Great choice! I just finished a master's in Geology (watch out, you're not gonna want to stop). I ended up putting "panniers" on a mule to do my research.....sort of like a bike, but bites.

[Veronica]

My husband tried the basket routine and hated it. He now uses a Gille Berthold handlebar bag that comes off pretty easily and he can carry onto BART. It's pricey, but was the best solution we could find.

I wonder if your husband could get a rack and then attach a back pack to it with compression straps.


I forgot, we also have an Arkel handlbar bag. It also comes off pretty easily. But is kind of heavy for lugging around. If you could fit, you'd want to be inside that bag during an earthquake!

V.

[light_sabe_r]

Okay. BF is a PhD student doing molecular biology. He carries, lunch, lap top, clothes, and usually papers and other useless crap. He hauls it on his back

The biggest thing for him was his lap top... Heavy bulky piece of junk.

He got sick of it and UPGRADED to a very tiny weeny light as a feather but still powerful as type of machine. HUGE weight off his back. (using the STUDENT union computer purchasing program)

[xeney]

Veronica, I think he might wind up doing exactly that, with the backpack and compression straps.

As for a smaller laptop: we both use Dell Inspirons (his is a 700, mine is a 710) and they are teeny weeny. They don't get much teeny-weenier. He doesn't carry his every day but he's a computer science major, not to mention a database programmer/consultant, so he needs it several days a week.

The pannier didn't work out so well today; he couldn't carry the laptop and he said the pannier was awkward off the bike. He has a separate bag for the laptop -- one of the TimBuk2 sleeves that has its own shoulder strap -- so he can carry that separately, but then he's hauling two bags around all day.

This is why people drive cars, isn't it? (Not an option for him, there is no parking on campus.) I can carry my laptop, whatever work I brought home with me, and extra clothes for days when the a/c is crazy at work, all in a medium sized TimBuk2 bag ... but I can leave it all in my office all day.

Anyway. Thanks for the suggestions! I will pass your thoughts along. And thank my lucky stars that I am not in school anymore.

[Bad JuJu]

I'm not a student, but a teacher. And when I did live close enough to work to commute by bike, I liked the Arkel Bug--basically a pannier that turns into a backpack. I still have that thing and have found it very useful for day-trips on the bike. Check it out: Arkel Bug (http://www.arkel-od.com/panniers/backpack/overview.asp?fl=1&site=)
Mine's older, so it doesn't have the cool helmet carrier on the front, but that looks like a handy feature.

[Geonz]

I'm not a student, but I work at a college and end up carrying lots of student-type stuff. (Welp, about half the time I'm a student, too - courses are free for staff.)
This is not the cheapest option, but it has only grown on me since I did it... and I don't have to think at all, my back doesn't have to sweat, I can carry everybody else's books too... oh, and of course that wheel you need to get fixed (honestly, there are accessories so you could carry just about anytyhing).
http://www.resourceroom.net/pcc/3wheelbike.jpg

www.xtracycle.com - it's an extension put onto my original bike. The whole stuff cost a couple hundred... but by the tiem you get all the extra doodads for other carrying options... and I gotta tell ya, the karma is just so good... and it will do ANYTHING.
It also attracts the press and it's very visible... visible is GOOD...

[Clare]

I'm a student and I used to carry my books in panniers that I had cable locked to the bike rack. I found a 1/8-1/4 in. cable approx. 2 feet long and worked the cable aroung the rack and panniers and locked it up with a padlock. It worked really well and I had no problems with anything being ripped off. Just had to make sure that the cable was clear of the back tire.

Clare

[uk elephant]

I've always cycled to work/school/classes and I've always just carried a backpack. I never bothered taking text books with me, but usually carried laptop (not the teenyweeny type), notebooks, food, snacks, sweater/jacket and sometimes even some work-out gear. Just a normal school bag type backpack seemed to work well for me. If it got a bit heavy the hip-straps helped take the weight off my shoulders. I've had anywhere from 2-40 minute commutes depending on where I was studying and where I was living. Seemed to work ok for me.

If you insist on going with panniers I know there are several that come with back-pack type straps to be carried as a regular back-pack off the bike.

An option for lockers is to check out the gym on campus. Most places I've been a student, they have lockers for rent at the gym.

[xeney]

It must be a lot cooler in the UK than it is in inland California! For about nine months of the year here, even a two-mile ride with a messenger bag leaves you with a strip of visible sweat across your chest; wearing a backpack on a bike means your entire back will be soaked in sweat.

[HipGnosis6]

I have the strange fortune to be a fashion design student. So far I've managed to take my bike with me to school exactly twice. There are no bike racks there, so if I want to take the bike I have to chain it up to a light post in the designated smoking courtyard.

Getting the appropriate amount of stuff to and from was crucial - I could only do it on days where I didn't need to pack my patterndrafting rulers, which are large and unwieldy. And then I'd have to pack my clothes (had to change into street clothes at work, back into bike gear for the middle part of the commute, and then back into street clothes for class) and two meals' worth of food. That pretty much stuffed my 80's vintage Traveler panniers, which are fortunately quite easy to take on and off the bike and carry around. I had to take a backpack as well to get my books and supplies to class.

I hate riding with a pack or bag on my back, and would rather have a pannier by a long shot. It keeps the center of gravity low, you know? So instead of wearing the backpack as I rode, I used a cargo net to secure it to my rack. It seriously looked like I was headed out for a weekend junket, but compare that to the crap most people drag around with them every day in their car....

[uk elephant]

It is supposed to be cooler here in the UK, but I think someone forgot to tell the local weather gods. All summer it's been hot and humid. Maybe not by central CA standards, but certainly for me. But I still cycle to work with my backpack. I guess I don't worry so much about being a bit sweaty for a bit. If it's a big deal I'll bring a dry t-shirt to wear once I get there. But if it's that hot I'll be sweating like a pig just sitting at my desk anyway so what difference will a little bike ride make? I hate hot weather!!! When is winter coming!!!! (sorry, it just came out...I've calmed down now)

[xeney]

Ha, okay, so that is the real difference. Here in California, if you arrive to work all sweaty, you will get hypothermia from the air conditioning once you get to the office. (Although classrooms are a lot less likely to be air conditioned.)

My standard commute outfit is some kind of thin linen sleeveless shirt, which I cover with a thick cardigan as soon as I get inside.

[xeney]

Reviving this thread for a moment to report on how it all worked out: he's been commuting with a Cannondale CyPod pannier (http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=48016228&parent_category_rn=4500848&vcat=REI_SSHP_CYCLING_TOC), which he really liked, and in fact he was thinking of getting a second one. He can fit most of his stuff in there, but it's easy to carry as a messenger bag around campus, and it looks good enough for client meetings. Once in a while he has to carry his laptop separately in its own messenger bag, but usually he can fit everything he needs in the Cypod pannier.

Except ... this morning I got a call about fifteen minutes after he left for class, asking me to come pick him up, because the plastic hook that holds the pannier on to the rack just broke in half. So the $120 pannier is useless after only about a month and a half, and this afternoon he is going shopping for an old-school Wald wire basket.

Fortunately he bought it from REI so he can get his money back. Not a good design, there.

[pll]

I commute to work at a university and have to carry a laptop, papers and some books on occasion. I have a rack and two wire baskets (the kind that can be folded, under $15 a piece). Most days, one is enough. I also use a vertical bag, an older version of the Ultimate Barista bag, which has a padded laptop pocket: http://www.ultimatedirection.com/product.php?id=86&page=urban
Instead of carrying the bottle in the bag, I usually use that space for my glasses and a detachable bike light... The bag does not bounce out of the basket - the weight keeps it down. If I need an extra bag, it will be typically a plastic bag or a cloth grocery bag if the extra weight is planned.

[xeney]

Yeah, those are the baskets he's getting. I have them on my commute bike, and he mocked me at first because they are so heavy and kind of dorky, but they really do seem to be the perfect mix: they hold a lot, they are fairly theft-proof (and you don't have to carry them with you), and they are CHEAP. Mine were $12, I think.

[pooks]

I've been eyeing panniers ever since I got my bike and have had trouble making up my mind. I'd love waxed canvas but it's expensive. I wouldn't mind the wire ones -- are they easily removable or do you leave them on all the time?

The computer question particularly interests me. I have a really nice sleeve (http://www.sfbags.com/products/sleevecases/sleevecases.htm) but have wondered if it would still rattle/shake too much in a pannier, and if a wire one would be harder on a laptop than some other one. I did wear it on my back recently but I wouldn't like to go far that way.

Also -- how do you pronounced pannier? Pan-ear? Or pan-yay?

[pooks]

Also, I wish some of the wire baskets were coated. I can't use my back basket any more because my Brooks saddle is pushed so far back, the basket won't fit on the rack.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BTEODY/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=3375251&tag2=patriciaburro-20

[Grog]

I wouldn't mind the wire ones -- are they easily removable or do you leave them on all the time?


I have the collapsable (collapsible?)-style wire basket on my rear rack (just one but I could have two). I leave it on all the time, just fold it when not in use (most of the time).

[pooks]

Does it rattle when you ride?

[xeney]

I found that it rattled if I used the hardware they sent me, so I use zip ties instead. Zip ties are cheap, too, so if you want to take the baskets off once in a while (like if you know you are going to do a long ride and you want to save the weight) you can do so pretty easily.

I leave them on all the time, but I would not if this were my only bike. They are much more useful than grocery panniers, though, because they hold more. (I hate grocery panniers; everything falls out.)

But Jeremy wound up getting another Cannondale pannier after all. He figured out that the piece that broke is a part that is used on a lot of different brands of panniers, and he talked to the manager at REI and asked if they got a lot of returns for that part breaking, and the manager told him he'd never seen a pannier break that way, so it might be a fluke. He went ahead and got a replacement, and if it breaks, too, then he'll return it and start over looking for something else. The Cannondale really is the best option for his purpose (books plus a computer plus looking somewhat professional) as long as it will hold up.

He thinks he might have hit a pot hole and damaged it that way, so he is going to try not to do that anymore.

[pooks]

Do you think that a laptop in a padded sleeve is protected enough against vibration in the wire panniers?

The zipties are a good tip. Thanks for that idea. I'd probably take them on and off a lot.

[farrellcollie]

I teach at a law school and I carry my laptop in a laptop backpack but I bungee it onto my bike rack (I also have grocery type open panniers - but I don't like to put laptop in them). I have an office - so it isn't quite the same - but I see several students who park bikes outside and they all have racks on their bikes and I have seen them put their backpacks on the rack rather than their backs. A cat litter container can be used as a pannier or basket to put on rack and if it gets stolen - no big deal.

[Grog]

No rattling for me (well of course except when I go over a big bump or something).

I have metal thingies to hold the pannier to the rack and it came with a tie wrap to attach it to the side of the rack. The problem is that when the rack is folded it can chop the tie wrap. (The thing is pretty tight.) So depending on your system I'd be careful as to where I use the plastic ties...

[pooks]

I think I'm going to get the wire panniers to use, and get waxed cotton when I need to upgrade for some reason, or have the extra money to burn.

For those of you who might be interested, there's some info here in rigging up your own waxed cotton panniers from ... well, some other kind of bag:

Never mind. When I find the post, I'll put it in "accessories."

[pll]

Just a suggestion for pooks: When you install the wire panniers, don't put them flush with the rack. Mine stick out more than 1 inch from the back of the rack. The first time I put them on, my heel would hit the basket while riding. I could avoid it but it was inconvenient.

I may not be explaining this clearly, so below is a picture of my bike:

[xeney]

That is good advice -- I have mine mounted even further back, thanks to bad experiences with grocery panniers. See here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/xeney/227800040) ... the light is where the rear of the rack is, and the baskets stick way out behind that.

[pll]

And one more silly tip: I have loaded those baskets so much (grocery shopping), I broke the bottom part of the rack, where the rack "stays" are welded and then attach to the frame. One of the people who works at the LBS suggested a hose clamp as a fix. You can see it, albeit not clearly, in the picture I posted, on the right side, in front of the seat stay. It has held together very well. Anyway, you'd think racks should be able to take the weight by design...

The baskets get warped with the weight, but the LBS straightened them the last time I took the bike in for some annual TLC.

[xeney]

What kind of rack do you use? I use the cheap, heavy, $12 Wald rack. I carry a ton of groceries and so far the rack and the baskets are find, but I am totally messing up my rear wheel. I'm going to have to replace it with something that can handle more weight (but I am secretly hoping that my husband gets me a custom wheelset for Christmas).

[pll]

Xeney,

I will double check, but I believe I have a Blackburn rack. Looks like the XR-1 in http://www.blackburndesign.com/racks.html. I paid $36 for it in March 2003 (the receipt does not have the brand or model printed). I have not had a problem with my wheels (not even a flat tire), but the bike is *heavy*.

[xeney]

My bike is a converted single speed with 27" wheels, and the wheels are 22 years old so who knows how they're holding up. But the rear wheel won't stay true anymore and my husband thinks that eventually I am going to pop a spoke.

Basically I need a 27" touring wheel with a flip-flop hub, which I can't buy stock (the one supplier no longer carries them), so I am going to have to have someone build it for me. I keep procrastinating on ordering it because, you know, Christmas. (Which means I'll probably order it the first week in January, heh.)

[pooks]

Thanks for the pics -- I always do better with pictures.

[pll]

Yikes. Sounds pricey. Be careful. Do you tend to load one basket over the other? Since I tend to load the right basket first, I wonder if such a choice has a significant impact on the rear wheel. (but I confess to my bike mechanics ignorance).

[xeney]

No, I always make sure they are pretty even. That wheel just wasn't meant to carry me plus fifty pounds of groceries.

And it's a lot to spend on a $35 garage sale bike, except when I am using the bike for groceries I easily save us $30 a month in gas, so the new wheelset pays for itself pretty quickly.

[pooks]

That's an interesting thought, xeney. Because you're enough shorter than I am and smaller than I am (from seeing your pics) that I may outweigh you by fifty pounds. Is there something about those wheels that makes them less appropriate for larger people? Because even though I'm heavy for my frame, there are many average-sized guys at my weight or more. (Well, let me rephrase that. Maybe I should say tall guys of average weight for their height. My dad was 6'3" and my husband is 6'1" and I think of him as average and my dad as tall. LOL)

[xeney]

I dunno. It's an older, low-end women's road bike with fairly generic alloy rims. I do know that larger guys have to worry about having enough spokes in their wheels ... my "little" brother is 6'2, about 230 pounds, which is big enough that his mountain bike choices were a little limited. (Although he borrowed my mountain bike for a day this summer, and it came back filthy but intact!) When he gets around to buying a road bike he thinks he'll probably buy a touring bike for a number of reasons, one of which is that it will stand up to his size better than a racing-type bike would. Touring bikes tend to have wheels with more spokes, and the spokes are beefier, too.

[pooks]

Well, it sounds like bikes aren't built much for larger-than-average guys, which is kind of interesting, and I'd think somebody would look into that market. Because it's not like a 6'2" foot, 230# guy is all that unusual. Is it? (Again, maybe my pov is skewed because I'm surrounded by tall guys, but I see a LOT of tall guys who aren't my relatives!)

[pll]

The problem with Xeney's 20 year old wheels may also have to do with fatigue failure (I am sure there must a material science engineer around).

Xeney: I had imagined that a custom wheelset would cost more than $100. $35 is a lot more reasonable...

[xeney]

No, no, the bike was $35. The custom wheelset that I want is a lot more than that! But so is a regular old off the shelf wheelset.

[pooks]

I wish I knew enough about bikes to spot a used bargain when I saw one.

Oh wait, then I'd have to know enough about them to actually fix them up.

Damn. Complications abound.

[HipGnosis6]

My heels hit my panniers. It's really annoying, but since they're just soft nylon panniers it's not going to tear up my ankles or cause me to not have an OK pedal stroke. I wish I could adjust the placement of the panniers a little, but alas, they're single piece sling'em-over-the-rack 80's vintage panniers. They were free, so I don't crab about it too much, but I'm still looking for just the right pannier to actually pay for. They're all either a little too small or designed for unsupported touring and therefore gigantic.

When I was in middle school I had one of the earlier hybrids. It had a rack, and I had a bungee with two flat cords. The rack itself had a "trap", a hinged thing that worked great to secure the previously mentioned nylon panniers. But when I needed that extra carrying capacity, I just bungeed a milk crate to the rack. In hindsight I was really glad that bike had a step through frame the way most of the European and Asian everyday bikes do. It worked remarkably well.

Today I frequently use the same panniers and then use a small cargo net to strap my backpack to the rack instead of wearing it. I hate wearing a pack as I ride - it makes my center of gravity seem too high. And I've yet to find a messenger bag that sits comfortably, doesn't twist around and doesn't squash my boobs to all hell....