Budget homemade pannier bags & racks



K

Kak61

Guest
As real touring bags are very expensive, I'd like to rig up
my own. I could tie down a small travelling bag with bungee
cords on the top of a rear rack but I'd also like to safely
strap a couple of fairly large (20 lb) knapsacks over the
sides of the rack.

The main issues would be the straps and bits of the bag
getting stuck in the spokes of the rear wheel.

Any pics, links or advice on how to go about it would
appreciated.
 
Originally posted by Kak61
As real touring bags are very expensive, I'd like to rig up
my own. I could tie down a small travelling bag with bungee
cords on the top of a rear rack but I'd also like to safely
strap a couple of fairly large (20 lb) knapsacks over the
sides of the rack.

The main issues would be the straps and bits of the bag
getting stuck in the spokes of the rear wheel.

Any pics, links or advice on how to go about it would
appreciated.

Racks and Bags
http://www.bikechina.com/tb1.html

Bags
http://kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/bags.htm

Eric
 
Bungee cords are a great hazard. If the load shifts and
loosens one, the cord goes into instant-spoke-fishing mode
and locks up the rear wheel.

The greatest general utility and simplicity comes from a
milk crate (aka plastic file crate in most stores) atop a
luggage carrier.

It's behind you so out of the wind, offers a large rear
flat surface for a huge orange slow moving traffic triangle
right from a farm vehicle store, and carries a ton of stuff
if you want.

Just lace it to the carrier.

The carrier itself takes some work; best seems to be a
regular cheap aluminum one with the support legs to the rear
dropouts; and under it, the bones of a seat-mounted carrier
(just the inner beam), fastened to the carrier as well. The
seat one stabilizes a heavy load side-to-side, and the legs
one carries a heavy load otherwise.

A milk crate holds two regular paper grocery bags, and you
can also hang stuff on the sides for overflow. I've never,
ever, bought more than I could carry with some
inventiveness.

Most likely thing to give is your rear hub under the load.

The most important thing for handling is that a heavy load
is rigid against the frame, which the double luggage carrier
mostly achieves.

I've regularly carried sixty pounds home in mine.
--
Ron Hardin [email protected]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.
 
Hi, Here's a link to something I saw a year or two ago that
looks pretty neat. He made panniers out of 4 gallon square
plastic buckets (the kind some pet litter, etc. comes in).
They're watertight and solid and give extra space on top to
pile gear. Use the links that go to the bike bucket pages.
http://members.rogers.com/bphuntley/ Lyle

"kak61" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> As real touring bags are very expensive, I'd like to rig
> up my own. I
could
> tie down a small travelling bag with bungee cords on the
> top of a rear
rack
> but I'd also like to safely strap a couple of fairly
> large (20 lb)
knapsacks
> over the sides of the rack.
>
> The main issues would be the straps and bits of the bag
> getting stuck in
the
> spokes of the rear wheel.
>
> Any pics, links or advice on how to go about it would
> appreciated.
>
>
>
 
Ron Hardin wrote:
>
> Bungee cords are a great hazard. If the load shifts and
> loosens one, the cord goes into instant-spoke-fishing mode
> and locks up the rear wheel.
>
> The greatest general utility and simplicity comes from a
> milk crate (aka plastic file crate in most stores) atop a
> luggage carrier.
>
> It's behind you so out of the wind, offers a large rear
> flat surface for a huge orange slow moving traffic
> triangle right from a farm vehicle store, and carries a
> ton of stuff if you want.
>
> Just lace it to the carrier.
>
> The carrier itself takes some work; best seems to be a
> regular cheap aluminum one with the support legs to the
> rear dropouts; and under it, the bones of a seat-mounted
> carrier (just the inner beam), fastened to the carrier as
> well. The seat one stabilizes a heavy load side-to-side,
> and the legs one carries a heavy load otherwise.
>
> A milk crate holds two regular paper grocery bags, and you
> can also hang stuff on the sides for overflow. I've never,
> ever, bought more than I could carry with some
> inventiveness.
>
> Most likely thing to give is your rear hub under the load.
>
> The most important thing for handling is that a heavy load
> is rigid against the frame, which the double luggage
> carrier mostly achieves.
>
> I've regularly carried sixty pounds home in mine.

I should have added, put some light scrap wood support under
the milk crate: it will extend halfway past the rear of the
carrier, and you need to distribute the load at that edge
across the bottom of the crate, rather than leaving it all
under the center at that point. Otherwise the crate will
crack quickly.
--
Ron Hardin [email protected]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.
 
I guess the term "very expensive" is relative to the person.
But you might save yourself considerable hassle and stick
with a proven bag. The Nashbar mountain bike pannier set is
about $60 a pair. I have toured many thousands of miles with
these on the front and rear of my Trek 520. No problems.
When I bought mine back in early 1992 they were about $50 a
pair. Not much inflation for these made in the USA bags. You
can get them on sale frequently for $50 now. And Nashbar has
20% off sales once a year or so.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=66&subcategory=-
1004&brand=&sku=6796&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

Now I realize there are some people who may not consider
these "real" touring bags. But they always managed to haul
my 50 pounds of stuff up and down the Alps, Dolomites, and
Rockies without difficulties for 6,000 miles. So I consider
them close enough to "real" touring bags.

"kak61" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> As real touring bags are very expensive, I'd like to rig
> up my own. I could tie down a small travelling bag with
> bungee cords on the top of a rear rack but I'd also like
> to safely strap a couple of fairly large (20 lb) knapsacks
> over the sides of the rack.
>
> The main issues would be the straps and bits of the bag
> getting stuck in the spokes of the rear wheel.
>
> Any pics, links or advice on how to go about it would
> appreciated.
 
Hi Ron,

Thanks, I'll give that a go. There're some pics and a write
up about this plastic container setp that might interest you
too. http://members.rogers.com/bphuntley/

"Ron Hardin" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ron Hardin wrote:
> >
> > Bungee cords are a great hazard. If the load shifts and
> > loosens one, the cord goes into instant-spoke-fishing
> > mode and locks up the rear wheel.
> >
> > The greatest general utility and simplicity comes from a
> > milk crate (aka plastic file crate in most stores) atop
> > a luggage carrier.
> >
> > It's behind you so out of the wind, offers a large rear
> > flat surface for a huge orange slow moving traffic
> > triangle right from a farm vehicle store, and carries a
> > ton of stuff if you want.
> >
> > Just lace it to the carrier.
> >
> > The carrier itself takes some work; best seems to be a
> > regular cheap aluminum one with the support legs to the
> > rear dropouts; and under it, the bones of a seat-mounted
> > carrier (just the inner beam), fastened to the carrier
> > as well. The seat one stabilizes a heavy load side-to-
> > side, and the legs one carries a heavy load otherwise.
> >
> > A milk crate holds two regular paper grocery bags, and
> > you can also hang stuff on the sides for overflow. I've
> > never, ever, bought more than I could carry with some
> > inventiveness.
> >
> > Most likely thing to give is your rear hub under
> > the load.
> >
> > The most important thing for handling is that a heavy
> > load is rigid against the frame, which the double
> > luggage carrier mostly achieves.
> >
> > I've regularly carried sixty pounds home in mine.
>
> I should have added, put some light scrap wood support
> under the milk
crate:
> it will extend halfway past the rear of the carrier, and
> you need to
distribute
> the load at that edge across the bottom of the crate,
> rather than leaving
it
> all under the center at that point. Otherwise the crate
> will crack
quickly.
> --
> Ron Hardin [email protected]
>
> On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.
 
kak61 wrote:
> As real touring bags are very expensive, I'd like to rig
> up my own. I could tie down a small travelling bag with
> bungee cords on the top of a rear rack but I'd also like
> to safely strap a couple of fairly large (20 lb) knapsacks
> over the sides of the rack.
>
> The main issues would be the straps and bits of the bag
> getting stuck in the spokes of the rear wheel.
>
> Any pics, links or advice on how to go about it would
> appreciated.
>

http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/touring/bags.htm

--
Frank Krygowski [To reply, omit what's between "at" and
"cc"]
 

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