I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I couldn't really find anything when I did a search on the forum.

Anyways, I've been a daily commuter for about 4 years now. In that time I've always eschewed panniers. I always felt that the panniers would make the bike harder to balance, especially if you only have one - am I wacko in thinking this?

Does it require a period of adjustment and getting used to having weight on my bike as opposed to a backpack?

I've seen some really cute ones on Team Estrogen (namely the Toocan tote), are there others you can recommend that isn't strictly pannier but converts to a regular bag (tote/messenger)?