Hey, thanks for stopping by! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to the RSS feed. You can also subscribe to BikeHacks by email. Thanks for visiting!
As much fun as it can be to come up with your own hack solutions, every once in a while it is nice to have a company do the “heavy lifting” for you. Backpacks and panniers have positives and negatives. Panniers are great because you don’t carry the weight on your back and get all sweaty. Backpacks are great because you can take them with you easily.
One of the problems I face using a bike as my only form of transit is that I have to lock it up a lot - especially when I am running errands around town. Then there is the four floor walk up apartment I live in. I have to lug my bike up and down the stairs every day. Throw a pannier or two on the back and it can be a tough balancing act.
I found the solution in a half backpack / half pannier on the Bike Nashbar website. I have been using the bag for about a month and absolutely love it. When riding around I put it on my rack (with a bungee cord assist for extra stay on power in case of bumps) and when I have to lock my bike or haul it up the stairs I zip off half the panel and toss it on my back. You can take the whole panel off if you wish and it fits nicely into the bag. When it comes to walking up the stairs or making a quick trip into the store, zipping just half works fine.
It also has a huge, and mean HUGE, waterproof bag that clips in and serves as the main storage compartment.
Fold over the top and you are good to go!
1 comment for this entry ↓
1 jim g // Jan 30, 2008 at 2:35 pm
To address a similar set of problems during my bike commute, I modified a messenger bag to convert to/from a saddlebag.
Leave a Comment