How much does your bag slow you down?

[SimonC]

Sometimes bring laptop and files home from work in a rucksack, and I've got a few steep hills to get up on the way home, definitely slows me down up those. Which it should do. Not so different on the flat, again as you would expect.

Main problem for me is I hate riding with the load on my back, and dont do it often enough to want to fit panniers.

 

[Wheeledweenie]

Also, if I don't have my bag I tend to stand up and power up slight inclines more. With the bad jiggling about, I often can't be arsed as its more tempting to stay seated.

Which reminds me, I should tighten the straps to stop help prevent the jigglage !

Perhaps you should just get a new sports bra.

 

[ShinSplint]

Perhaps you should just get a new sports bra.

made me laugh that.

Come to think of it, I wonder how much they weigh you down...

 

[Windward]

Not as much as my meaty biceps, I bet

 

[Rhythm Thief]

I take:

Work clothes
Shower kit
A fleece for wearing at work
A pair of size 12 safety boots (heavy, those!)
Decent lock
A couple of books
A waterproof jacket and a long sleeved top
Sandwiches

and it all goes in two panniers. Which slows even me* down quite a lot.

* Like I wasn't going slowly enough already.

 

[fossyant]

My rucksack is pretty heavy with the locks in, but no real slow down - just see it as ultra gravity training - you'll be flying at the weekends....

 

[buddha]

I've just returned home from food shopping. So panniers, rack bag and rucksack on a single-speed bike.
Up hill is obviously a struggle, but downhill I scalped 2 carbon roadies

 

[Windward]

I sometimes take this into work in one pannier, and my camera with a couple of lenses in the other - I haven't dared to put it on the scales yet!

 

[gaz]

for me the difference is water. i usualy take between 0.5 - 1 litre of water. i can take up to 3. and if i take that much i notice.

 

[HJ]

It depends on how much I have in them, 15-20Kg of shopping (or allotment produce) does slow me down a wee bit...

 

[Trevrev]

Probably loads.......I am a commuter not a racer. Horses for courses !!!
The extra weight helps with my fitness.

 

[Wheeledweenie]

made me laugh that.

Come to think of it, I wonder how much they weigh you down...

Oh not much, sports bras are quite light. I assume that's what you meant.....

 

[Bay Runner]

Probably loads.......I am a commuter not a racer. Horses for courses !!!
The extra weight helps with my fitness.

I agree

Wind is also another factor

South easterlies on the way home around the bay are the worst

 

[Arch]

It's an academic question really - I carry stuff because I need/want it, so my speed isn't important, as long as it doesn't slow me so much that I'm late.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Bag http://tinypic.com/usermedia.php?uo=K2wDoLHl8xw8WQ8BAvbzxg==
Doesn't seem to make much difference to speed, but I can feel the extra weight.