rack and panniers or rucksack ??

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c2c

redredrobin
Location
east bristol
i have recently bought, or rather my insurance replaced, a bianchi camealonte hybrid. ( i was knocked off of my bianchi via nirone and it was written off). the camealonte has the facility to attach a rack and panniers so i was hoping to canvass the opinions of others here as to their thoughts. personally i quite like to keep the bike light, but i hate the sweaty back syndrome brought on by wearing a rucksack. has anyone switched to panniers from a rucksack with good results.?
 

skudupnorth

Cycling Skoda lover
No brainer on the sweaty back front,rack and panniers ! On the down side they do make the bike look a tad bulky.
 

martint235

Dog on a bike
Location
Welling
I did use panniers for a while but found they weighed the back of the bike down in a way I don't notice with a rucksack, particularly going up steep hills. I have a Deuter Bike 1 rucksack at present that has raised padded rails down the sides so it allows air to flow down the middle of your back. The main reason behind buying this was that I didn't want sweat getting into the rucksack and onto my laptop.

It's a personal choice though. I seem to remember a thread a few weeks ago on this too.

M
 

Jaguar

New Member
Location
Norfolk/Suffolk
I hate sweaty back, so I use panniers. And I don't care if they look stoopid. They've usually got 2 or 3 bags of groceries in them too (I like to think the extra width makes my butt look smaller)
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
Panniers for me ,sweaty back in the summer is a killer.
A rucksack is ok for lighter loads but with panniers you can carry more emergency bits easily .
Saw a theory that panniers make the bike look bigger and you get better overtakes from cars, i dispute this though .....
 
recently got some small panniers because 10kg+ in a rucksack was not doing my shoulders good. Also the sweaty back through most of last summer autumn was not something I was looking forward to.
Very pleased with the difference in my ride so far. Shifting the bike while standing takes some getting used to (the back end feels (is) a lot heavier) but riding it loaded is a revelation...and I no longer take a change of tops!
 

Jaguar

New Member
Location
Norfolk/Suffolk
cyberknight said:
panniers make the bike look bigger and you get better overtakes from cars .
God, I hate to think how close they'd pass if I took them off then. On my longer rides, I have taken to carrying a branch crosswise on the rack: it sticks out no further than my outstretched arm, but gives them something to focus on/aim at
 
The thing with panniers is that if I suddenly decide to go somewhere on the way home from work, like tonight, had an idea for tea and fancied a beer, though not drinking alcohol due to excesses of the b/hol weekend, so it wasn't an issue to go to tesco for some packs (on a BOGO½P) of alcohol-free lager, instead of pratting about going home and back out again

Plus, despite being the only one cycling at work, with plenty of people with cars, guess who is the only one who can be bothered to be responsible for the tea and biscuit provisions whilst the normal tea-club person is on holiday, so both panniers had to be pressed into service for Monday's milk run.

Would have needed my backpacking rucksack for today's little lot (no lockers so have to carry change of clothes, lock and everything back and forth) and wouldn't have fancied that.

There is always the option of a racktop bag - less bulky but still sweat-free - for which I have a seatpost mounted rack for the road bike and the MTB, since I must admit, the rack wasn't "right" on the Virtuoso. Can't carry as much as panniers but a good alternative if you can't face fitting your bike with a full rack and panniers
 
OP
OP
C

c2c

redredrobin
Location
east bristol
martint235 said:
I did use panniers for a while but found they weighed the back of the bike down in a way I don't notice with a rucksack, particularly going up steep hills. I have a Deuter Bike 1 rucksack at present that has raised padded rails down the sides so it allows air to flow down the middle of your back. The main reason behind buying this was that I didn't want sweat getting into the rucksack and onto my laptop.

It's a personal choice though. I seem to remember a thread a few weeks ago on this too.

M

hi, the rucksack as you describe it sounds a good alternative ill investigate that a bit more. rack and panniers not looking good does not bother me, but my bike is quite a light and sporty ride, im loathed to compromise that.
 

Davidc

Guru
Location
Somerset UK
Personal choice. Use whichever you like best.

I prefer panniers and a rack but have used a rucksack.

For short local journeys without much load a rucksack's easier because it hops on and off the bike with you, but 50kg of shopping needs panniers!
 

gouldina

New Member
Location
London
martint235 said:
I did use panniers for a while but found they weighed the back of the bike down in a way I don't notice with a rucksack, particularly going up steep hills. I have a Deuter Bike 1 rucksack at present that has raised padded rails down the sides so it allows air to flow down the middle of your back. The main reason behind buying this was that I didn't want sweat getting into the rucksack and onto my laptop.

It's a personal choice though. I seem to remember a thread a few weeks ago on this too.

M

+1 on the Deuter air-cool rucksacks. Mine has webbing as well so there's plenty of airflow. I used to use panniers but I hated taking them on and off all the time. I know it doesn't take that long but it just becomes annoying after a while. I also don't like the way they distribute the weight on the bike either.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
What about a saddle bag on a quick release mount?

The weights off your back, fairly central on the bike ,no rack and you can take it off to leave your pretty bike lines.
Along with mudguards i use my rack as a theft deterrent :blush:

http://www.carradice.co.uk
20091006200537-large-1-434.jpg

index.php
 

boydj

Legendary Member
Location
Paisley
On my commuter bike I have a rack and normally use a rack pack, which can be supplemented with panniers if I have extra stuff to carry. It does make the back-end a bit heavier, but the bike handles fine in the traffic, so it is not a problem - and much better than using a backpack, even one designed for such use.

When I use my 'good' bike for commuting, I have an old-fashioned Carrradice saddlebag, attached with a SQR system (http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Carradice_of_Nelson-Carradice-SQR-Saddlebag-Uplift-System-645.htm) making it easy to detach from the bike. It's a 15l bag, which is small enough to be barely noticed, but large enough for some clothes, fruit and tools and spares - plenty for the daily commute without the weight penalty of the rack.

Oops - CK beat me to it.
 
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