[Closed] Rucksack vs pannier/rack for commuting

My commute is 20 minutes...no way would I use a back pack, it's night and day in terms of comfort.

Your bike won't look as cool, and a rack is a rack and a pannier a pannier so I won't bother with a picture (you can Google anyhow) .

Leaving shoes etc at work and taking all your shirts in on Monday helps.

I found a small rucsac (with Scotchlite strips on back for ViZ) for light stuff like clean shirt etc and a rack top bag for heavy stuff worked well. More aero than panniers though at my commuting speeds I'm not sure that really mattered.

I do an ~18 mile round trip commute and I switched from a big backpack to a single 23 litre pannier a few months back.

I couldn't go back to wearing the backpack. No way.

Let the bike carry the load, not your back.

You don't need expensive Tubus rack and Ortlieb panniers, I have a topeak super tourist DX rack from Halfords during one of their 20% off all cycle gear times and a cheap Avenir pannier from Go Outdoors [url= http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/avenir-right-pannier-p135184 ]here[/url] which I got them to price match with Tredz to get for £17ish. Very good for the money, even includes a rain cover. Can add the other side if I need more space.

Have done a 13 mile round trip and 33 mile round trip commute and no way would I do it with a backpack having done it with panniers, mainly for all the reasons already mentioned above. I used to drive for one reason or another once every 5-7 days so took in spare clothes, bags of fruit etc in the car then only needed to carry lunch and maybe socks etc daily.

Much as above I'd never go back to Useing a rucksack
Again.

Pair of panniers. Leave one packed with repair kit & waterproofs. Just so much more civilised way to travel. Also, full guards too.

I do a 22 mile round trip with a back pack - works well for me 🙂 I don't take much though, leave shoes and jacket in the office.

Panniers on a 15 mile each way. Get a second pair of shoes and leave at work.

Again, pannier(s) win hands down. +1 for adding guards too.

My commute is 40 mile round trip, and I've ridden it both with panniers and rucsac. I have to say that unless I have to take a lot of stuff in I ride with a rucsac. Maybe my commute is a bit different to those of you in the shires, but I have nearly 150 set of traffic lights each way and I unfortunately I seem to get caught at a surprisingly large number of them. With panniers I've found that accelerating away from a dead stop so many times negates the other advantages with having nothing on your back, and so I use a 25 litre OMM sac. Shoes are kept at work, trousers get worn 2-3 days and left at work, just take a shirt, pants, socks and hanky in every day.
Try both and see how it goes, there are no right answers.

My commute is short but I don't change my clothes. Because of that I prefer panniers as I get less of a sweaty back

Panniers every time.
So much more versatile. You can fit loads of shopping in, a lock, and chuck all you helmet etc in when you're parked up.

a P your bike is lighter and feels faster without the weight on it but you are still accelerating the same mass - simple physics.

a P your bike is lighter and feels faster without the weight on it but you are still accelerating the same mass - simple physics.

I was going to say that but then I thought about it a bit more. Yes the all up mass is the same so for a given force the acceleration should be the same but a heavily laden bike can't be thrown around under you quite like an unladen bike. Not sayig you can't accelerate away but I find I adopt a slightly different riding style keeping the bike more steady. I guess that could be seen as bad news for numerous swift accelerations. Still my carrier of choice though.

Panniers, definitely. Much more civilised.

Not sayig you can't accelerate away but I find I adopt a slightly different riding style keeping the bike more steady. I guess that could be seen as bad news for swift acceleration.

25-30 min commute here. I use panniers. Leave shoes at work though. One pannier carries my clothes, the other has spare gloves, lock etc.

Bizarrely. I miss the feeling of wearing a rucksack so I still take my Camelbak with a few pieces in it.

weak legs/arms? never had a problem myself. Not sure I'd call carrying lunch and a change of clothes "heavily laden" either!

No you are right 🙂 I've toured with a 60kg all up bike and I guess that might count as heavily laden not some sarnies! Same principle applies I guess, but just to a much lesser extent.

As above

Guards
panniers - just one will do, or if you really can go light then a rack top bag. Leave spare tubes & pump in it
leave shoes at work
take in shirts & clothes on the days you;re not cycling

I only have a 2 mile each way commute, and no way would I return to a rucksack for carrying stuff.

Panniers all the way! And full length guards as mentioned.

Crap pic, but here you are

[img] [/img]

Rucksack for me now that I commute off road. However I have a rack fitted and a pannier at work and one at home so if I need or want to carry something heavier than lunch and spare clothes I can and just take the road home. On road panniers every time.

Just saying like - try stopping and restarting about 90 or a 100 times on a commute of 20 miles and compare the difference in acceleration between using panniers and wearing a rucsac. I know what the difference is, although apparently I'm weak, wrong and don't understand physics. I rode 6,500 miles commuting last year - don't you think I'd choose the least painful option?

That initial push off is likely slightly quicker - more weight on the pedals vs. static weight to be accelerated. Can't imagine there's much in it after the first pedal stroke, though.

For out of the seat thrashing, I reckon panniers have it, you aren't bobbing a weight up and down in the air, and you've more weight over the back wheel for traction.

Almost forgot - panniers do incur more air resistance, that's a noticeable penalty some days.

Chill out aP & re-read my post - no need to take it as an insult.

Saddlebag (Carradice Camper Longflap) and SQR block.

Sits behind the saddle, with litle impact on bike-handling, and can be removed in seconds. Holds as much a single pannnier. Any more than that and you're carrying too much gear.

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I commute a 45 mile round trip and use a rucksack, tried panniers but they made the bike handle like a pig. And for me at least the weight of the rack and panniers must have been at least twice the weight of the rucksack and over the years i've learned what i do and don't need to put into the pack to keep weight down to a minimum.

Just saying like - try stopping and restarting about 90 or a 100 times on a commute of 20 miles and compare the difference in acceleration between using panniers and wearing a rucsac

Zero. It might feel like a difference, but I'm sure if you tried actually measuring it properly you'd discover just how badly calibrated the human body is as a measuring instrument.

I used to opt for the backpack option on my old commute (~8 miles each way) and that was okay, but if I had to carry the laptop as well, it was topping out on preferable weight to carry.

As mentioned above, try to find a way to leave shoes at work (plus any wash kit and other heavy items).

My commute is now longer (~20 miles each way) but I don't do it every day. I tried the rack and panniers option and it felt much nicer than having the weight on my back, but the rack seemed to be made of lead and it all seemed really heavy. I've recently swapped to a Carradice saddlepack with the SQR fitting and it's a revelation as the whole package is considerably less weight and it's an easy fitment to get the bag on and off. The other advantage or me is that as it is fitted to my winter road/CX/hack bike, it's a whole load easier to just go out for a ride on it at the weekends without carrying the extra weight of a pannier rack.

Tortec Ultralite rack with Altura Urban panniers:

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8173/7970179748_36f81a5a1d.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8173/7970179748_36f81a5a1d.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/simonjohntaylor/7970179748/ ]My Elswick Ambler super tourer[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/simonjohntaylor/ ]Simon J Taylor[/url], on Flickr

They also fit on my Inbred and Pompino when required.

I do like panniers and use them in the summer when the weather is warmer on my commute, in the winter though I prefer a backpack- I ride more offroad on the commute in the winter and I don't like the handling/balance change associated with panniers.

I do both for my 20 mile round trip. Remove the rack for club nights (tonight in fact) and use a rucksack with laptop and files. Other days, it's a 1kg rack and Ortlieb Downtown pannier, vs. a Deuter Race exp.

There is no doubt that the bike FEELS a lot nicer without the rack and Ortlieb pannier. The bike is a LOT lighter too. However, my average times are no different because I am commuting rather than training. I ride fixed wheel, so acceleration changes are noticeable. Once up to speed, there isn't a lot of difference - I've ridden a chain gang with the pannier.

If you aren't bringing in a laptop, and the files aren't too big, then a racktop bag will take shirt and shoes. A small rucksack like the Deuter struggles with shoes, to be honest.

As an aside. I broke my collarbone last year, and the lumps left make prolonged rucksack commuting not very comfortable, and that has been up to 60 miles on one occasion.

As a second aside, spares are always kept on the bike in a bottle cage. Lights bolted to the bike. It's a commuting bike, after all 😉

i do a 24 mile round trip on a Pompetemaine and use panniers all year round. I have used a backpack in the past but got aches and since switching have had none.

Would also go with full mudguards as there is nothing worse than getting wet from road spray.

If possible i leave trousers and shoes in work so i minimise the weight i have to carry around with me.

Got the option of both but i often choose the rucksack as its faster, doesn't get covered in cr@p from the roads (even with mudguards) and doesn't make any difference to the bikes handling.

Always take the panniers if i'm carrying a lot though.

I would never go back to a rucksack.

A Carrdice SQR tour bag like this
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/carradice-tour-saddlebag-c-w-sqr-16ltr-prod3693/
which fits on the seatpost is another option and limits the additional clutter on the bike whilst still carrying enough for me.

Carradice SQR Slim here (on an 11 mile each way commute with bridleways).

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£63 from wiggle - no rack required and seconds remove when you don't need it.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/carradice-sqr-slim-bag-including-sqr-bracket/