[mass_biker]

A damp ride into work today here in the Northeast. My typical mode of hauling work stuff is to place my shoulder bag in my basket. Today, it got pretty wet, and I have to admit, it was not confidence inspiring to have it bounce around in that front basket. Does anyone have any experience with the briefcase style bags that attach to rear racks? I'm thinking of the Carradice Office Bureau or the Ortlieb version. How easy are they to take on/off the rack? Do they look somewhat "normal" off the bike? Are they relatively waterproof?

The other option would be to put a large rear pannier on the back that would enable me to dump my shoulder bag in...but this bag of mine is about 13x13 square, so it would have to be a decent sized pannier.

My commuting bike is a fixed gear with upright handlebars. Does anyone have first hand experience using a fixie with racks and panniers? Anything to keep in mind?

Many thanks

M_B

 

[JCavilia]

Fixie w. rack & panniers

My commuting bike is a fixed gear with upright handlebars. Does anyone have first hand experience using a fixie with racks and panniers? Anything to keep in mind?M_B

I commute here in nearby Connecticut. I can't answer all your questions, but I do use a rack and panniers (and fenders) on my fixed-gear commuter, and have no big problems. I guess when the bags are especially heavily loaded it takes a little more attention than usual to grind up hills out of the saddle (more weight swinging), but it's not a big deal. The fender on the front wheel does exaggerate (or cause) toe overlap, which can be a bit of an issue on a fixie, but in practice it only happens in super-slo-mo turns (180s on bridge ramps) so it's not so hard to deal with.

I'll be interested to hear what briefcase suggestions people make. I'm looking for something like that myself.