Any Students?

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)

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.

Reviving this thread for a moment to report on how it all worked out: he's been commuting with a Cannondale CyPod pannier, 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.

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/pro...=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.

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.

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/sleev...leevecases.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?

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/B00...triciaburro-20

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pooks

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).

Does it rattle when you ride?

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.

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.

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.

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...

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."

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: