grocery bikes

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My panniers arrived
grocery panniers
I had thought, since most of the other panniers I saw for sale were priced PER PANNIER, that these were $55 EACH, so I ordered two. Turns out the $55 was for a PAIR (they didn't really make this clear on the site), so I wound up with two sets! No problem....my husband can try my set out in a couple of weeks when he puts his rack on, and if he likes them he can keep the second set. If not, we'll just return one set. The great thing is that REI lets you take all the time you want to return stuff, especially if it's still new. I called them to be sure.
My rack should arrive any day.
But I really can't wait to have the new brifters installed, as that will make my Rambouillet more comfortable for me to handle. I'm bringing it to a good LBS for 48 hours for that procedure, and I'll pick up a heavy new lock then too. If I'm lucky it might all be ready within a week to 10 days.

Incidentally, today I took my car to the supermarket and loaded up on the really heavy or bulky non-perishable stuff like cat sand, detergent, TP and paper towels, sugar, etc.

[tulip]

My experience with grocery panniers is that they work a whole lot better if they have a strap that goes over the top of the pannier to stabilize the side away from the bike. Mine did not have such a strap, and my groceries spilled out all over the street because the weight shifted to the outside when I went around a corner (centrifugal force). A bungie cord would work well. I got rid of mine after that because I was so disappointed with them, and my food coop was only three blocks away, so I walked.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

My experience with grocery panniers is that they work a whole lot better if they have a strap that goes over the top of the pannier to stabilize the side away from the bike. Mine did not have such a strap, and my groceries spilled out all over the street because the weight shifted to the outside when I went around a corner (centrifugal force). A bungie cord would work well. I got rid of mine after that because I was so disappointed with them, and my food coop was only three blocks away, so I walked.

Wow! Can you say what brand and type your panniers were?
Did you put the bungee cords across the middle of the top of your pannier parallel to the bike, or cross-wise?

[tulip]

Wow! Can you say what brand and type your panniers were?
Did you put the bungee cords across the middle of the top of your pannier parallel to the bike, or cross-wise?

Mine were Nashbar, but they look alot like yours. In my case, the pannier needed additional support over the top of the pannier, to keep the top closed and the groceries tucked in. I did not use a bungee because I decided to walk for groceries, but I thought it would help the situation. Some sort of elastic net might also do the trick.

[Blueberry]

I hope Lisa's are like mine - stiff metal frame. I've seen some that didn't have that, and I could certainly see needing to stabalize the load. I've not gone that far with mine (the store is close...), but I've not had a problem (except with a case of wine divided between 2).

CA

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Tulip- thanks for the tip, I can see where that might be something to watch out for.
If the bags you got were these:
nashbar panniers then mine with be 1" taller (not much I realize, but something) ...but I dont use paper bags, I use those heavy duty reusable grocery shopping bags they sell cheap these days, sort of like this one:

so it will be easy enough to tie the handles closed on top.
I'll keep an eye out for trouble though on the cornering!

And CA in NC- yes mine are the same as yours, the Novara ones, and they do have pretty good aluminum frames around them. They seem pretty sturdy.

[xeney]

I had the same Nashbar grocery panniers and we had the same problem. Reusable grocery bags did not solve the problem unless you only filled them about half full and then tied them at the top.

I switched to the wire baskets and never tried a pair with a wire frame. The Nashbar panniers feel fairly stiff but they don't hold up under a load. My husband occasionally uses them for the farmer's market but we've had a lot of veggies fall by the wayside.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I had the same Nashbar grocery panniers and we had the same problem. Reusable grocery bags did not solve the problem unless you only filled them about half full and then tied them at the top.

I switched to the wire baskets and never tried a pair with a wire frame. The Nashbar panniers feel fairly stiff but they don't hold up under a load. My husband occasionally uses them for the farmer's market but we've had a lot of veggies fall by the wayside.

Whoa, glad I didn't get the Nashbar ones! I can't imagine they'd be much good without some kind of metal frame reinforcement in there somewhere.

The Novara ones I got do have sturdy aluminum frame rods both going all around the top plus a pair of roads running diagonally down to the bottom as well, so I suspect that would be a good thing.

I can hardly stand waiting any longer for the rack and the brifters!