Pointless question that occurred to me this morning watching other comutters, I always put a single pannier on the same side, so what about you guys, left side, right side or varied, or do you never use a single... and if you do have a strong preference, why?
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Debate!
Single Panniers... left or right side?
(60 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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If I have a single pannier I always put it on the right. I'm not sure it makes a blind bit of difference but the reasoning is it makes the bike stick out a bit more on the right hand side therefore
giving drivers more of a target to aim fordrivers will give me a bit more space.Also it doesn't get tangled in undergrowth on the bike paths.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I am a leftie - I always go this side so that I can
clatter it off parked carsknow how much space I am giving to parked cars and that there is less chance a passing impatient motorist who (doesn't care or hasn't looked at how wide my bike is) won't clip it on the right...Posted 13 years ago # -
Right for the reason Min gives (surely anyone passing closely enough to hit your pannier, will rip your arm off anyway?)
Posted 13 years ago # -
@Dave - nope, my arms are normally higher than a wing mirror
Oh yeah and my other reason is I tend to dismount on the left and lean it against walls on the right so the left is the side I am facing to take stuff off when I have stoppedPosted 13 years ago # -
Right, for the same reasons as Min gives.
On another forum recently, someone posted a link to a letter on a newspaper site, from a woman complaining that uni-panniered cyclists should have the pannier on the left because having them on the right just made it harder for her to overtake. *despairs*
Posted 13 years ago # -
Anyone recommend a good (ie big, sturdy) pannier that has either a shoulder strap or (preferably) converts to backpack?
Cycled to the Infirmary today (know that will make Kim happy!), for a 5 month scan, and figured I would have looked less dodgy in the waiting room, if I'd been able to disguise pannier as backpack (only slightly joking; our generic EBC panniers are also a pain to carry when off the bike).
Posted 13 years ago # -
The Altura heavy duty ultra waterproof pannier bag I had also has a strap in it I never use
In fact I have a couple of spare laptop style backpack/pannier converters that have a flap that flips over the hooks... dunno how much it will hold mind you, not as much as the mahoosive ones I pinched off me missus...
You can have a loan and/or keep it if you like (I'll probably never use it)Posted 13 years ago # -
My ortleibs have a shoulder strap for carrying which is really useful as I can still take one of them to work if I am not on the bike-this is important as all my important things are in it and I am apparently incapable of making a successfull transfer of all of the important things to another bag. They are also waterproof.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Left when I have a pannier - same access idea as spytfyre. Most of time I use various rack top bags on rear rack of both recumbent and tandem. That keeps everything central and tidy (in theory!).
Posted 13 years ago # -
I voted left, I always vote left
Ortlieb have strap as suggested and they do a pannier that transforms into a rucksack. Thinking about it, such a pannier should come as a singleton rather than a twin.
Double panniers would be more balanced and would tick both the reasons for hanging left and also for Prince Alberting. But no one voted double panniers - interesting...
Posted 13 years ago # -
Luckily my work/lunch doesn't usually require doubles. But my husband's been commuting with one pannier full of food for a week, one with clean clothes, and a rucksack with mac and work stuff. Doubles definitely needed sometimes! Luckily all that foolishness has come to an end.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I commute with two - one has waterproofs in, the other has everything else. But I frequently just use one at other times.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Posted 13 years ago #
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My ortliebs wore out after 2.5 years (of over stuffing) they gave me new ones under the generous 5 year warranty but suggested I was abusive towards my panniers. Fortunately the new model has an internal pocket which stops jaggy items being pressed against the bottom. THe newest ones (after my replacements) have two runners at teh bottom instead of one which means the material is never on the ground. Progress.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Ortlieb Vario is a pannier which comes with a backpack system and a handy little pocket on the pannier for keeping it in while on the bike.
Ortlieb also do a back system for any of the "Roller" type sacks.
Oh - and I'm a "righty" for the same reason as Min.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Left: because of how the bike is stored in the house the left hand pannier is accessible for loading.
That is a fairly rubbish reason as I could easily store the bike the other way around (but I like to have it 'facing the door' for a quick launch).I swapped to a messenger bag recently to get around the carrying problem. It's also a little quicker and slicker when leaving the bike at Haymarket to jump on the train - every little helps.
Posted 13 years ago # -
does a messenger bag not swing in the way a bit? I don't like rucksacks but messenger bag without swinign would be good, I like the one made out of a tyre in The Bike Chain collection
Posted 13 years ago # -
Doesn't swing in the way if you keep the strap reasonably short and wear the bag right round on your back. The North Face bag I have has a strap that you can wear around your front to keep it in place but I've never felt a need for it.
Takes me back to my days as a paper boy - now that was a /really/ heavy bag. On Saturday's I needed two.
Posted 13 years ago # -
@Dave - nope, my arms are normally higher than a wing mirror
Um... but your panniers are not lower? (Trying to picture a very odd sort of bike rack here!)
If you have to store your bike that particular way around I can understand developing a left-side bias, although for parking use you'd have thought it would be more common to rest the bike against the wall leaving the right side out (i.e. in direction of travel) than turning it around?
Posted 13 years ago # -
@ Dave "(surely anyone passing closely enough to hit your pannier, will rip your arm off anyway?)"
you were the one to say arm not pannier...
no, if they hit my right pannier I think I would get spun to the right and more than just my elbow would land on their bonnet (then slide off and hit the deck when they slam on the anchors)
if I spun off to the left I would hit parked cars, pavements, bins, pedestrians, lamp posts etc.
This is why I put the pannier on the left, I stated earlier I don't think having it on the right sinks into a driver's conscious (I don't think they have time in between spotting me and passing me anyway) to enable them to think "oooh better give them more room" and most drivers even if it did sink in wouldn't care anyway...Posted 13 years ago # -
This left right thing is getting a bit circular. Plus the polls figs do not add up.
I was stopped yesterday whilst cycling like billy-O to get to the school gates for 2.45 with six bottles of wine in two panniers after I had a haircut off Jim THe Sweary Barber in Dalry by a guy with a puncture, as in hurry just dished out my spare glue and a patch.
Guy had a pump but no repair kit, would I be wrong to assume that all posters on our wee forum always always carry repair kit?
Posted 13 years ago # -
"This left right thing is getting a bit circular. Plus the polls figs do not add up."
I'm most amused that i am still the only vote for 'it varies'
"would I be wrong to assume that all posters on our wee forum always always carry repair kit?"
Yes.
Posted 13 years ago # -
would I be wrong to assume that all posters on our wee forum always always carry repair kit?
Gembo - You certainly would be wrong!!! I don't carry a puncture repair kit on my commute, just a multi tool chappie. My reasoning is that it's only 3.5 miles so if I have a puncture, I'd just push it home or to work and fix it there indoors. This strategy also means fewer people would see me struggle like a buffoon trying to push a tyre over a rim (why is it so annoyingly difficult?). 30-40 mins per puncture fix.
Posted 13 years ago # -
EDIT
seems I was writing this at same time as m-m.
I'm clearly a more efficient puncture fixer - but we make the same calculations!!
"would I be wrong to assume that all posters on our wee forum always always carry repair kit?"Yes.
I carry a variety of tools 'most' of the time.
Even took a folding tyre on recent 3 day jaunt - which is almost a first.
Had a 'patch lifted off in heat' episode.
Used spare tube.
Recently asked 3 times if I was sure I had a pump before a joint day out.
Said "yes" twice...
Around town it depends on bike (some puncture more often than others) and how light I want to travel.
Once a year or so I take a taxi. Similarly often I push the last mile or so as it's (marginally) less hassle than fixing a puncture in public.
I really don't understand this voluntary walking stuff though...
Posted 13 years ago # -
Interesting stuff, thanks for the replies everyone, interesting that we are such creatures of habit (less SRD!) and also curious that single pannier use is clearly the norm.
Dunno if it proves anything but it's satisfied my curiosity thanks :)
(right hand pannier myself, or a pair..)Posted 13 years ago # -
"curious that single pannier use is clearly the norm"
Well the question was only about what you would do IF you had only a single pannier. I normally have two.
Posted 13 years ago # -
@spytfire, we seem to be getting a bit confused here. To recap the point I was trying to make, if you add a pannier to your bike it does not project further to the side than your arm and handlebars, and not significantly further to the side than your leg and torso (a couple of inches, in my case).
So while there are lots of reasons to have a pannier on one side or the other, it being hit by a car is not something that I've ever really worried about. The pannier rack itself makes the back of your bike wider than it would otherwise be, could you not equally argue a risk that a passing car will hit the pannier rack, so you should have a rucksack on?
As for whether motorists notice a wider bike, see here for the topic referred to earlier (motorists moan about cyclists with panniers on the right needing more space)
Posted 13 years ago # -
Sorry Min, i guess i didn't word the question as well as I might!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Since I have two pairs of good panniers, I tend to use the left for a while, then the right for a while. It'd be terribly embarrassing turning up to the York cycle show with one grey Carradice and one black one.
But since they also have work with seven different racks, my left pannier will fit on the left on one rack but on the right on another. So it always varies. Of course, with the underseat rack I prefer to have both panniers in place because otherwise it just looks odd.
Posted 13 years ago #
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