Panniers for school

Yakuza

Hi folks,
Looking for recommendations for panniers for my daughter. She just started Secondary and the weight of her school bag is savage. I put a rack on her bike at the weekend but balancing and tying down the bag with bungee cords is still a bit difficult for her (and sometimes it's not properly balanced).

Any recommendations for some quick-release panniers that would hold a day's worth of schoolbooks etc.?

Thanks,

Yakuza.

Seaswimmer

My daughter uses an Altura type. I dont have the exact model but it has the quick klik fittings. Its a red button you press down to release. Be warned though that you need a rack with fairly thin bars/rails for it to click on successfully. It probably needs a dedicated pannier rack rather than the standard wider one.

its similiar to the one in the link below.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/altura-dryline-32-pannier/

Yakuza

Thanks. I would have thought racks were a standard width / size, good to know. I was planning to buy online but I'd rather not risk getting one that didn't fit, given that I've shelled out for one and installed it. We'll probably rock up to a bricks 'n' mortar store and see what they have, but any brand name recommendations are still welcome

mugsymugsy

Would definitely recommend a LBS as had issues with size of bags on previous bike (it would never sit right on the rack) and its a good idea to give it a little road test to make sure she is comfortable with them. Might be a bit over the top but bring along the type of stuff that she will be putting in the bags so that you make sure it can take the weight and fit etc.

aFlabbyPanda

Any 20L should be enough. I recently bought an Ortlieb 12.5L and 20L from ebay and found them better quality than the Altura roll top.

Doctor Bob

Yakuza wrote: »

but any brand name recommendations are still welcome

Ortlieb are very well regarded, but might be a bit utilitarian looking. Same would go for many of the Altura ones.

Some of the Dutch ones are a bit prettier, but this can come at the expense of robustness. As mentioned above, a shop visit and a test would be a good idea.

Some promising examples from New Looxs here: http://www.newlooxs.nl/en/producten/overzicht/

And Basil seems to have a few options, including this one which is available in red/pink from dutchbike.ie here: http://dutchbikeshop.ie/basil-rosa-double-panniers/, or in blue from Evans here: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/basil/dutch-double-pannier-bike-bag-ec028315

If the weight of the cargo is significant, I suspect two smaller panniers would be better than one large one in order to distribute the weight more evenly.

aFlabbyPanda

My thought be to just store her normal backpack or school bag in the pannier and leave the pannier attached to the rack.

Yakuza

Doctor Bob wrote: »

If the weight of the cargo is significant, I suspect two smaller panniers would be better than one large one in order to distribute the weight more evenly.

Yep, I was planning on the saddlebag-style ones, with half the weight on either side of the rear wheel. I weighed the bag on Monday, it was just shy of 8kg, or about 20% of her bodyweight.

Thanks for the recommendations so far.

Update - 8kg is just the books, I have been informed. Throw in the copybooks, lunch etc it tops out over 12 kg. Yikes.

Fian

We bought a second hand copy of schoolbooks for our kids - they leave one copy in school (in locker) and keep another set at home for homework etc.

Sounds a bit extravagant I know, but buying both sets of books second hand it is not too bad, probably cheaper than buying one set new + a pannier & rack. Anyway just a suggestion.

Yakuza

Thanks for that. The school does supply a second copy of the English, Irish and Maths books, so that does help somewhat, and at this stage, given that I've already bought the rack, the pannier bags would be the most economical. Next year, she'll have fewer subjects as they drop some (the fact they make you buy a book for the whole junior cycle that could potentially be dropped after a year vexes me somewhat!) when they make their Junior Cert choices.

25sean

Yakuza wrote: »

Thanks for that. The school does supply a second copy of the English, Irish and Maths books, so that does help somewhat, and at this stage, given that I've already bought the rack, the pannier bags would be the most economical. Next year, she'll have fewer subjects as they drop some (the fact they make you buy a book for the whole junior cycle that could potentially be dropped after a year vexes me somewhat!) when they make their Junior Cert choices.

Ortlieb all the way. I have mine for 8 years now, still waterproof... Gold standard!!/

QueensGael

Doctor Bob wrote: »

And Basil seems to have a few options, including this one which is available in red/pink from dutchbike.ie here: http://dutchbikeshop.ie/basil-rosa-double-panniers/, or in blue from Evans here: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/basil/dutch-double-pannier-bike-bag-ec028315

I use the single pannier version of the Basil one above as my work bag. They're really well made, and have with stood plenty of hacking and battering! They don't have a water proof cover as some of the other brands do - they're more splash proof than rain proof, so something to consider if you're bringing spare dry clothes in. I really like this pannier as you can carry it as a regular shoulder bag. It fits on both a standard or narrow rack.

I also found some really nice ones in this shop on Etsy*, ships from Hungary and can be customised on request. A pair of these ones might do the trick.

Good luck!

*Full disclosure, I work at Etsy, but have no connection to this seller

fits

Here you go
http://totalwomenscycling.com/commuting/accessories/10-prettiest-pannier-bags-bicycle-32394/

galwaycyclist

Yakuza wrote: »

Yep, I was planning on the saddlebag-style ones, with half the weight on either side of the rear wheel. I weighed the bag on Monday, it was just shy of 8kg, or about 20% of her bodyweight.

Thanks for the recommendations so far.

I caught something on the radio the other day about some lady who has come up with some system for splitting schoolbooks.

As I understood it split the book between two chapters and put an improvised cover on each half.

If the books are rented from the school thats probably out and it might make them difficult to resell later.

But it definitely seems a way of cuttng down the weight.

Wishbone Ash

Yakuza - I have an Altura pannier that's not being used and I'd be happy to give it away for your daughter has use for it.

(I bought it for commuting but the pannier thing just wasn't for me and I went back to using a backpack. I'd say it has been used no more than 5 or 6 times and is as new expect for a few loose stitches on the interior mini-pump pocket).

Re the previous comment - the rack clips adjust to a few different widths.

(PS - My daughter also started secondary school and they are using ipads with the books downloaded on it. It's a great weight reduction but I'm always concerned she'll lose it or it will be nicked on the train. She wouldn't be very security conscious.)

Peterx

galwaycyclist wrote: »

I caught something on the radio the other day about some lady who has come up with some system for splitting schoolbooks.

As I understood it split the book between two chapters and put an improvised cover on each half.

If the books are rented from the school thats probably out and it might make them difficult to resell later.

But it definitely seems a way of cuttng down the weight.

+1 to this. I heard the lady on the radio as well. Prevention is better than cure.
However my google fu skills failed me there when I looked for a linky. Sorry.

Yakuza

galwaycyclist wrote: »

I caught something on the radio the other day about some lady who has come up with some system for splitting schoolbooks.

As I understood it split the book between two chapters and put an improvised cover on each half.

If the books are rented from the school thats probably out and it might make them difficult to resell later.

But it definitely seems a way of cuttng down the weight.

It is one way to cut the weight down, for sure, but I don't think I could bring myself to do it.

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Yakuza - I have an Altura pannier that's not being used and I'd be happy to give it away for your daughter has use for it.

(PS - My daughter also started secondary school and they are using ipads with the books downloaded on it. It's a great weight reduction but I'm always concerned she'll lose it or it will be nicked on the train. She wouldn't be very security conscious.)

Many thanks for your kind offer, I'm happy to buy a new one (we've checked out a few of the links above and she's having a think about it).

The iPad sounds good in theory, but (like you) I'd have concerns about security, damage, battery life (the thing won't hold much of a charge in a few years). Also there are licencing issues with those ebooks - they are licenced to the child using them and can't be transferred to a sibling when the time comes.

Qualitymark

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

(PS - My daughter also started secondary school and they are using ipads with the books downloaded on it. It's a great weight reduction but I'm always concerned she'll lose it or it will be nicked on the train. She wouldn't be very security conscious.)

You can insure your iPad for outside the house by paying extra for 'specified items'; however, they might be doubtful if it were going to a not-security-conscious teenager.

If you're rich, you could buy a second lot of schoolbooks, as friends of mine did, so one set was kept in school and the other at home, and only the copybooks have to travel.

Altura are great, but Argos have a cheap double pannier that can stay on the bike because it's untrendy and generally cheapsky-looking http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3335617/Trail/searchtext%3EPANNIER.htm - probably cheaper in the shop than online.

Or even cheaper http://www.amazon.co.uk/PedalPro-Double-Rear-Bicycle-Pannier/dp/B008OIWV8E/ref=sr_1_1?s=sports&ie=UTF8&qid=1410365330&sr=1-1&keywords=panniers

beauf

I've an Ortlieb but it wouldn't be suitable for books, or trendy enough. Some in work have some better looking ones. I'd have to ask them where they got them.

https://www.cyclechic.co.uk/shop/bags-baskets-panniers

I had problem fitting mine to a MTB, the frame was a bit short for panniers. I had to find a rack that allowed me to set them back a good bit.

Yakuza

Ended up getting these http://eurocycles.com/proddetails.aspx?pid=138 (€38 in their Airside shop, more expensive online with "free" delivery). I made several calls to B&M shops, Eurocycles were the only shop (within a reasonable driving distance from the house) that had double panniers in stock. While I don't think they're going to last for ever, if she gets two years out of them I'd be happy enough to replace them.

Edit: I see that they're the same ones as QualityMark posted above; I never thought of Argos for that stuff (and I wanted to try them out for size, bookwise etc) before buying. Thanks to all that posted.