I’ve been pretty happy with my pannier bag made by Timbuk2. It’s a “convertible”, meaning the clips which attach it to a cargo rack can be secured with some Velcro straps, so one can quickly and easily pull it off a bike, pull out the shoulder strap, and use it as a slightly awkward and slightly uncomfortable shoulder/messenger bag. It’s well made, capacious, and water-resistant. Elina liked it so much that she bought the same one.
However, I’ve always been a little suspicious of the clips. They’ve never seemed quite as secure as I’d like, and my prior bag, a convertible tote which used the same clips, actually came off the bike a couple of times while traversing the streets of Manhattan. I was lucky each time in that my bag wasn’t run over by any cars, but they were close calls.
Yesterday was the closest call yet: while biking to work, I hit a bump at high speed, and the bag flew off my bike onto the street, right in front of an oncoming bus — with my laptop and iPad inside! Luckily the driver was able to stop in time, and I retrieved it. The only damage was a slight scuff on one of the corners of each device. Still, I clearly need something more secure. So I checked out Timbuk2′s current offerings, and ordered their Tandem Bike Pannier, which has bungee clips on both sides of the rack, and seems like it’ll be more secure.
