I’m fed up of riding with a backpack on my commute. I have a Carradice SQR tour but I am not using that on the carbon seatpost of my Giant TCX (can’t change it due to the D-Fuse design).

I am looking to buy the Axiom streamline rack (looking at the rack I can get around the lack of bridge stay for rear mudguards as well) and I’ve noticed Planet X have some reasonably priced bags. Bags

These ones have caught my eye as a. they are cheap and b. they are light.

What do you reckon STW hive? I’ve never had panniers before, so I appreciate the help.

Ortlieb – end of thread.

The Axiom racks are good on non-touring type bikes not just for getting them to connect to the bike but also because they shunt the rack back relative the axel / short chain stays of road bikes so that the panniers don’t get in the way of your heels. Better for when you’re riding but makes the loaded bike quite a handful when you’re not on it. If you need to wheel your bike around at all at either end of your journey a heavy pannier on that kind of rack makes the bike want to rear up and flip over

Depending on how much stuff you commute with the slim pannier / bags from Orlieb are good

Just as strong and waterproof as the touring panniers but less bulky once off the bike and easier to access.

i recently invested in some bike pack goodies from alpkit

its amazing how little the extra weight effects the bike compared to previous top heavy pannier experiences.

even for commuting i reckon it would work and still gives you the option to have a beard growing/sleeping in the bushes adventure at some point later.

I have an Altura Urban and Ortlieb roll-top panniers.

For everyday use I prefer the flip-top opening of the ALtura, waterproofing has not been an issue in 5 years of daily commuting. This is important as stuff can just be put in rather than having to wrap everything up to make sure it stays dry and panniers take a hard time.

A secure quick release mechanism is really important – the convenience of just pushing a button and lifting, or just lifting in the case of the ortliebs is very useful too. Also an organiser flap / pockets to keep things like keys / phone / wallet handy, and sections to segragate foul weather geart / locks / tools into different sections would be good. Being able to just remove the pannier and take the whole thing with you, as opposed to leaving it on the bike and emptying it is very useful, otherwise pack everything in another bag to take out of the pannier if you’re going to leave it on the bike.

Not a great deal to add other than good choice moving away from rucksack to panniers. So much more pleasant!

Those PX panniers are cheap enough to give a try.

FWIW I have some Ortleib Back Roller Classic – I only have one on the bike for commuting as that’s plenty of space for me. Even fully laden/heavy I don’t really notice the weight on one side except in extreme (overfull!) loadings, even then they are manageable.

They are over 10 years old, get used everyday, and still look in great condition & still waterproof…..

I’ve got some of those PX ones.

Amazing quality for the money, would deffo buy again.

Only slight issue is that they’re not two separate panniers, and they attach with velcro so aren’t ideal for taking off the bike.

I just leave them on and use a couple of suitably sized bags as liners.

This attempts to be an office bag (but will get dirty) –

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/altura/urban-dryline-briefcase-15-ec059562#features

And this will take pretty much everything but feels a bit ’empty’ when there’s not much in it.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/altura/urban-20-pannier-single-ec008432

Ortleib are great, pretty much indestructible in my experience

Mine were used almost daily for years with plenty of loads, my rack in the other hand has almost warn 50% through the tube where the pannier rests. The pannier plastic seems far harder wearing the the alloy tubes of the rack. But tbh the miles I’ve done I don’t think the racks done bad either. It’ll need replacing soon after I get riding again though.