Pannier

Here is a bicycle pannier that I made several years ago. Maybe I shouldn't call it a pannier; it's more of a pannier holder, since it's designed to carry another bag.

I was dissatisfied with commercial panniers for a few reasons. First, they are too expensive for me. Second, they often seem over-built, with a lot of heavy hardware necessary to fit any bike frame out there. Third, I would rather not change bags just because I'm biking. There are some things I keep in my backpack so I'll always have them with me, and I'd be bound to forget them if I had to re-pack for biking. Finally, when I bike somewhere and then walk around, it is awkward to carry a typical pannier around; even those with should straps tend to be uncomfortable and goofy-looking.

I got the idea of a pannier that holds another bag from this web page:
http://www.backpacking.net/makegear/panniers/index.html#top
His design wasn't quite right for me, but I really liked the concept.

My pannier is designed to fit my backpack. It has a short, open pouch at the bottom to set the bag in, and straps on the side and top for fastening the load. I added a tri-glide and strap to my backpack to make it possible to attach it with a single click. Other bags require straps from side to side.


I also made sure it would fit a grocery bag.


The body of the pannier is nylon fabric. There is a pouch at the bottom to hold the load up, and there are plastic clips on the top and sides for straps. A layer of sil-nylon fabric across the back of the pannier forms a pocket for a sheet of plastic. The plastic keeps any bumps in the load from pushing into the spokes when it is strapped in tightly. Diagonal straps run from the front of the pouch to the back. They can be tightened for thin loads. Without them, the front of the pouch would sag into the spokes despite the firm back.

A flat aluminum bar runs across the top so that the pannier can extend past the end of the rack without sagging. Steel straps with rubber covers wrap around the rack and bolt to the aluminum bar. (Nylon webbing would probably do just as well and weigh less.) A second aluminum bar, this one with a U profile, runs diagonally from the front of the pannier at middle height to the back bottom corner, where the bag wants to swing into the spokes. That bar is attached to the frame with the same steel and rubber strap used for the rack and bolted in the middle to the rack support that goes down to the dropout on the frame.