Panniers!

Its already the beginning of April and I have only cycled to work twice - compared to previous years I would have ridden in 5-6 times by now but the weather has been so cold and icy or wet that I have chosen not too. The 2 days I have cycled were absolutely freezing and I almost regretted it to be honest. It didn't help that the first day I rode I came out to a puncture - fortunately I found something in the tyre and after having removed it was able to replace the tube and get home, although it was a cold start.

However this year I have decided to ditch the rucksack and a sweaty back and fit a rack and pannier. I had some birthday money (Wiggle Vouchers) so used that towards the following:

Altura Night Vision 20

Tortec Tour Ultralight Rack (in Black)

Firstly the rack - this fitted very well to my Giant Defy - fortunately this has bosses for rack (and mudguards) and only took about 5 minutes to fit. The bolts are stainless steel and have some thread lock on so hopefully won't come loose. 

Secondly the pannier - I chose to fit this on the non-drive side (in a hope to try to keep the oily muck off the bottom of the bag). I also was not sure (looking at it fitted empty on the rack) whether my heel  would foul the bag to I adjusted the clips a little to move it back on the rack as well.

Here is a not very good photo from my phone of it on the bike (but actually on the drive side):

Fitted to the bike

The pannier is empty and as such does not look well fitted. However when filled it sits better on the carrier.

There is a small loop on either side of the lid/cover for fitting lights through. However my Smart Lights, whilst they fit through would easily fall off, so I have added belt and braces by zip tying the light through the strap:

It does not look great but is fully functional.

What's it like to use? I have never used panniers before, and the first day I used them was a "interesting" experience. I had in it: a laptop (no power supply), and A4 hardback notebook,  a lunch box, spare shirt etc, a cable padlock and a few spares and tools (inner tube, tyre levers, puncture kit etc). It all fitted very well with plenty of room to spare. There is a a drawstring at the top of the bag that does up well and then the flap fully covers the drawstring. It looks reasonably waterproof but I think in a strong downpour it might not hold up. The material itself is the normal high density weave nylon so is probably up to it until it ages and rubs and the waterproofing wears away. Internally the screws that hold the bag to the hooks are domed plastic so you'd think that this would be OK, however it does actually rub and press into the contents of the pannier. It was a good job I had put my A4 notebook at the back and not my (work) laptop. I think I'll need to use a bit of an old camping mat (Karrimat) to protect this better. In the photo below you can just make out that the inside pocket mesh has a little abrasion damage already (circled in red):

Update 11-Apr-13.
This is actually worse that it looks in the picture. The hole worn here is from the top covers holding the main support on. However towards the bottom of the pannier are 3 bolts holding on the lower bracket. These are very small nuts and covers and they have worn almost a hole in my hardback A4 notebook. I have now fitted a piece of old Karrimat to the inside of the pannier. I'll post some better pictures and report on the results of the liner in a few weeks.

 What's it like to actually ride with a single fairly heavy pannier? Firstly it made the bike quite awkward to manoeuvre through the house. You can really feel the weight and as its lopsided it accentuates it - when the same weight is in a rucksack its central and balanced. However once I got riding I didn't notice it at all, except when I stood up on the pedals to give some more power. The first times I got a massive wobble as the weight moved around and I needed to really think about standing smoothly and evenly, something not required even with a rucksack. 

Its still early days yet but I feel happy with the move from a rucksack to a rack and panniers, although I'll need more miles to be absolutely certain. I think it will be better in the summer when the sweaty back syndrome should be no longer.