A Rack and Panniers
Above: Bike baskets in action at a Cycle Lewes Food Bank Cycle Shuttle. Image credit: Roz Bassford
Lots of people have a bike. Maybe it’s for a commute or just to get around town quickly. It gets them from ‘A’ to ‘B’ without fuss. Perhaps it is purely for leisure and exercise – it gets them from ‘A’ to ‘A’ with a marvellous loop of Sussex countryside in between. However, add a pannier rack and a pair of panniers or a basket to the basic bicycle and your two-wheeled friend becomes a far more capable form of transport. It can transform personal lifestyles towards more planet-friendly outcomes whilst bringing health and wellbeing benefits without barely having to think about it. Let’s have a look at some of the great new things you can do with a bike with a modest investment in carrying capacity.
A one bag solution
Above: This pannier has rack attachments on one side and padded shoulder straps on the other so it converts in seconds from a bike pannier to a backpack. A hinged cover flap smartly clips over the side not being used. Other makes and models do something similar. Image credit: Ian McKay
Sure, one can grab a backpack but that’s not particularly comfortable to cycle with, particularly if it is heavily loaded. This is a favoured solution for young people and students as you only need one bag for walking or riding. Consider then a bicycle pannier which quickly converts into a half-descent backpack. There are a few makes and models now on the market.
Make the most of that efficient travel time
In our busy lives, as we try to efficiently make use of every minute of the day, the bicycle neatly cuts the time it takes to get places. That affords you more choice and flexibility in what to do with those valuable extra minutes. Perhaps on your cycle commute home you can swing by the shops. Having remembered in the morning to hang another pannier, you can easily accommodate that otherwise tricky mid-week shop for all the consumables you’re running low on. Maybe you’re returning a child’s bag who had a play date at your home or you need to pick up a few bits from the builder’s merchants on your lunch break. No problem, the pannier equipped bike can do it all.
Do a weekly shop with one bike trip
Above: With front and rear panniers, a family weekly shop is possible on a conventional bike. Image credit: Ian McKay
With front and rear panniers, you might even be able to do a full family grocery shop with a single trip. You’d be amazed at how easy it is to pedal a heavily laden bike if you’ve not done so before. Front and rear panniers also bring a better balance to your bike. Be careful of putting too much weight on the back if there is no counter-balancing ballast on the front.
Think of how fit you will get
With increasing loads, it does get progressively more difficult on the hills and that cannot be ignored in a town like Lewes but just think how fit and strong you will get! Start off with modest amounts and over time as you feel able to take more, you can build up your load-carrying capacity to a full shop. If you have a family, maybe you can rope-in a young volunteer with their bike, also equipped with a rack and panniers. Think of the planet-beneficial behaviours you will be instilling!
Trade-in sleekness for a slice of the multi-functional universe
Some people just don’t want to spoil the stripped-down look of their bike let alone concede a few extra grammes of bag carrying clobber. If you only own a racing or gravel bike and have no interest in turning it into a multi-functional utility bike, fair enough. But just think of the many positive lifestyle potentials you could be missing out on from that glorious multi-functional universe of bag carrying bicycles.
If you cannot afford a second bike to be your beast of burden or you don’t have room for another bicycle, perhaps you need to reconsider your current machine as more of an ‘all-rounder’. Maybe concede a little on the clutter front. A rack doesn’t weigh very much on its own. It only gets heavy with loaded bags attached so in a way you get the best of both worlds and that’s the beauty of the system.
Bike packing – might it just be an expensive one-trick pony?
Many wishing to take-up cycle camping have opted for a new range of camping and luggage products which, in various Velcro strapped ways, temporarily attach to the bike. This newish phenomenon is known as ‘bike packing’. The attraction for bicycle aesthetes is that after your camping trip is over, all the camping paraphernalia comes off and you are back to a stripped-down bike again. But what about all the other day-to-day cycle functionality you could be missing out on?
Above: Bike packing is a possibility for anyone wishing to take their ‘racing’ or ‘gravel’ bikes on long distance trips with essentially Velcro-fixed bags. Photo credit: Crispin Williams
Of course, in the old days we had ‘touring bikes’ for conventional cycle camping. These bikes had slightly heavier and stronger frames with lugs front and back for attaching not just a rear pannier rack but also one for the front forks. Tourers look very much like normal road racing bikes with dropped handlebars but they have a slightly more relaxed riding geometry with less jittery steering. Thus, your lightweight camping equipment didn’t need to be cycle specific as it does nowadays for bike backing products. Most importantly of all though is that once back from your camping trip, that tourer is poised for its next task which might be a commute with a laptop or a trip to the shops for food or even to the garden centre.
The e-bike game changer
Above: There are plenty of e-bikes on the market to choose from with a wide range of capabilities, sizes and cost. Image credit: Ian McKay
The early 2020’s has seen a flurry of new bicycle technology hit the market and particularly around electric bikes and cargo / utility bikes. Those little motors make steep hills seemingly disappear as far as your legs are concerned. You can carry not just enormous amounts of stuff; some are even equipped with long padded saddles so you can effortlessly haul extra persons around. They are perfect for the school run with a visit to the shop on the way back from work. The e-bike really is a game changer. However, some of them cost as much as a small second-hand car and it is wise to have a secure place to keep them overnight. They are not for everyone.
The inherent wider benefits
With all these little and big outings, without having to squeeze in a special trip to the exercise class or the gym into your busy schedule, you are giving your body a perfect blend of routine exercise. You are putting in place the daily exercise you need without having to think about it and without having to torture yourself for not having anywhere near achieved your New Year’s must-improve-fitness resolution. Just as importantly, your mind is getting a much-needed opportunity to regularly destress and, if you’ve pedalled with enough vigour, you’ll get a tidy hit of endorphins to keep any lethargic gloominess at bay. Cycling is good for you both physically and mentally and having a rack and panniers on your little planet-friendly machine gives you even more excellent reasons to be on it!
For further reading on the health benefits of cycling, have a look at this great article on the Cycling UK website: https://www.cyclinguk.org/briefing/case-cycling-health
December 2023
If you have any comments or suggestions about this article, please contact Ian McKay through: info@cyclelewes.co.uk
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