What's The Big Deal With Pannier Bags? Why Not Pannier Boxes?

[Edwardoka]

surprised at this comment from you.
Ortliebs aren't fashion items.
Eminently practical.
I've left mine outside the tent on a pouring with rain night.
And in the grass while I kipped in a bivvy on a heath, confident that if it did rain, come morning they would be dryer than me inside.
And I use them for shopping as I said - I know some folks who think shopping my bike profoundly sad.

The only issue I had with my Ortliebs in the month that I owned them (before some Ligurian scrote stole my bike) was the night where I arrived very late (2am) to a campsite so instead of taking everything off the bike and moving it into the tent, I just leaned the bike against a tree. In the morning I discovered that every ant in a mile radius had found their way inside the pannier where I kept my cake

 

[mjr]

surprised at this comment from you.

Whereas I am not surprised by the failure to spot a joke despite the icon.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I think the idea has merit, for £5 what's not to like (though I'd mount it further forward, closer to the saddle).
IIRC there was something similar marketed some years ago (maybe topeak??), but it clearly didin't take-off. Rigid/semi-rigid panniers for bikes have also come and gone.
I'm all for a bit of cheap and cheerful repurposing....

 

[BoldonLad]

You can buy inexpensive clip on, clip off panniers (Decathalon have them for < £20). I have a pair, for occasional use. Worth paying extra for daily commute, I would have thought.

 

[CanucksTraveller]

Having said that, loads of Dutch bikes have a plastic basket on the front which negates panniers.

Yes, one of my friends in Amsterdam has the above "plastic crate on the front" approach, it does seem common there. He says it's very good for carrying beer back from the shops... an ironed shirt, probably not so much.

 

[BalkanExpress]

You can see the load up front more easily and it makes the already-sedate handling very steady, but it makes a bad aerodynamic profile even worse.

The elephant bike has one of these, aerodynamics are not really a priority.

One good thing about the plastic tray is that the big D lock bounces around and makes enough noise to wake the dead as a result I've not had a pedestrian step off the curb in front of me yet

 

[Electric_Andy]

I used a hard top box as well. Much better than bags IMHO. It was watertight and I lined it with foam so things didn't rattle about in it. It was lockable, but probably could be broken by anyone stronger than my gran. Bit of a deterrant though. Aero penalty? Didn't bother me as I was often overtaken by snails

 

[Oldhippy]

We have an Elephant bike great machine, heavy but great for hauling stuff. Surplus to requirements at present if anyone wants one.

 

[matticus]

I've often wondered by motorbikers tend to go for hard rear-top boxes.

 

[PaulSB]

1. Most bags like that lollop about annoyingly on their velcro band fastenings.

2. Putting a shirt in a bag generally wrinkles it, which is why people buy special boxes like Shirt Shuttles. Why not just attach the box to the rack and do without the middlebagman?

Oh yes agree about No.1 and wouldn't use that particular one but there are models which fix securely

Re No.2 I've always found rolling and placing inside a vacuum sealed bag works very well.

 

[straas]

Or just fold it around something rigid (half of an old A4 folder cut to size works well)

 

[Lovacott]

Purely out of interest why do you need a large plastic box to carry virtually nothing?

I started out with Pannier bags but it was lockdown and I could only buy online. The set I bought were not great.

The box was originally just to get me over a problem until I could find something better.

It keeps my work clothes dry and uncrumpled and I keep a few tools in there as well. It's also a very good mount for my rear lights. The underneath of the box also acts as a handy extra wide mudguard to complement the mudguard I have on the wheel.

I'm probably going to go for a purpose made pannier box once the shops are open again but what I have now will do me for the coming winter.

 

[Lovacott]

Destroying the planet, one package at a time.
I don’t see anything great about yet more delivery vans littering the roads to help in your armchair quest for the perfect cycling accessory.

There is a counter argument that increased online shopping actually reduces traffic. It's the same principle as roadside waste and recycling collections instead of each household making a weekly trip to the tip.

One van making ten deliveries in the same road uses less fuel than those ten households each driving to the shops.

Like it or not, online retail is here to stay and it can't be stopped just like self checkout in supermarkets couldn't be stopped either.

The implications for the economy are something governments are going to have to get to grips with in the next decade or we will be facing mass unemployment.

 

[cyberknight]

I wonder how much of an aero penalty a box is compared to panniers as it is mounted behind the rider?
i use panniers that have a simple clip as i take them off the bike at work but i can see the attraction of a box for keeping stuff dry.

 

[straas]

There is a counter argument that increased online shopping actually reduces traffic. It's the same principle as roadside waste and recycling collections instead of each household making a weekly trip to the tip.

One van making ten deliveries in the same road uses less fuel than those ten households each driving to the shops.

Like it or not, online retail is here to stay and it can't be stopped just like self checkout in supermarkets couldn't be stopped either.

The implications for the economy are something governments are going to have to get to grips with in the next decade or we will be facing mass unemployment.

Not in the example you used - people generally don't travel multiple times to the same location to purchase and return iterations of a single product.