panniers

The commute yesterday was a little wet. It was a classic midwest thunderstorm day with periods of bright sunshine on a wet, sparkly landscape interspersed with furious rain showers, nighttime gloom, and bone-rattling thunder. I used up my spare clothes at work so I wouldn’t spend the day with a stripe of street grime up the back of my shorts. Yes, I could still use some fenders.

Today has been gorgeous, though, and I finally decided to buy a bike rack and panniers online. I went for low-cost basics, so I hope everything fits and works well. At the time of purchase, the rack was about $15 and the grocery panniers (I got two) were $28 each. Those prices were about as good as I could find, including eBay, given that I wanted a strong, all-purpose rear rack and grocery panniers. The panniers should get me to the store and back while also having plenty of room for whatever stuff I need to haul to work and back. I’ll just keep a sturdy plastic bag in each one in case of rain.

I’m still coveting the laptop commuter pannier by Arkel, but can’t justify the money right now when it just wouldn’t be much use bringing home a gallon of milk from the store.

When everything arrives and I’ve had a chance to try it out, I’ll post some reviews.