steve2k

Riding to work this morning I didn't realise that my wife (who was taking our son to visit friends) was going the same route as me.

Anyway, as I was pushing along at about 18mph my right pannier fell off. The truck that was behind me swerved and braked so as not to squish my pannier, he then drove over it so it went between his wheels (very considerate I thought). The next car stopped to pick up my pannier then passed it to me as he drove past me (I'd turned around at that point). The next car had my wife in it, looking pretty pale. I smiled and waved.

It wasn't until a bit later when I caught her up at the queue for the lights that I realised why she looked pale.

What she had seen was me infront of a truck, then the truck brake and swerve, then my pannier come out from under the truck. She assumed the worst.

The important thing being that even with stopping to pick up my pannier, I was still quicker than her over the 5 mile journey from our house to the motorway. And I've got a cold. I think this commuting is turning me into some sort of invincible super human. I'd better look out for a nice cape.

1ply

Caution - Capes may hinder the progress of rear wheel

Translation - they can get caught in the spokes causing you to go boom (not good)

BIG-E

Not if you keep moving

aadhils

Yea but you gotta stop sometime at red lights and what not ...

Flimflam

Nice of the trucker to dodge - makes me feel good to know others care/think in that way. Glad you are OK

As for the cape, well, I'm sure there's a way to avoid entanglement, but more importantly... what colour? And would it have a HHCMF logo, or perhaps a chipcom portrait on?

Artkansas 

I think you owe your wife a romantic meal for scaring her that way. Every time you go to ride now, she is going to have that in her head. She needs a little first aid.

littlewaywelt

+1

acroy

NO CAPES!

Marylandnewbie

If you get a cape go with something only about waist length. It is very hard to keep your superhero cool when your cape gets caught in the rear wheel and knocks you down!!

Highcyclist

I'm not sure what kind of pannier you're using, but my Arkel Commuter has not come off the bike while moving yet, and I don't expect it ever will.

sauerwald

A while back, while locking my bike to a meter in the Boston area at about 6:00PM there was a young boy admiring my very freddish bike (racks, panniers, fenders, lights, etc.) He asked if it was fast. I told him that in this town, it is faster than any sports car. He was suitably impressed.

CommuterRun

Haven't seen that movie in about three years, but I was thinking exactly the same thing.

DrCycleMrDrive

Hopefully you are still allowed to ride your bike.

Do you mind me asking what kind of pannier and why you think it came off?
bounced off hooks? something break? hooks short? bungee weak or worn? ???

CommuterRun

I have panniers with a pair of simple, flat metal hooks at the top of each one, and a bungy running down the back with a hook that attaches to the bottom of the rack.

The problem I was having was I didn't know these things were apparently designed to be randomly self detaching. Especially if loaded light.

So what I did was to cut a rubber band for each hook from an old innertube. Put the rubber band over the hook, attach the hook to the rack, pull the rubber band up and around the rack frame, then back over the hook.

It's kind of a wee bit of a hassle, but I haven't had a pannier even try to bounce off since doing this.

The main reason I decided on rubber bands to secure these hooks over Zip-Ties was that that the rubber bands can be reused, until they break and then it's a simple matter to just cut off a couple more.

Sawtooth

Wow, what a great post. This reminds me of the time I got "caught" blowing a very late yellow light at about 30 mph by my wife who happened to be at the intersection waiting to turn left into my lane. That did not go unnoticed.

steve2k

My panniers are Altura ones (the only ones my LBS stocked).
The have 3 plastic hooks, the first 2 slip over the top of the rack, the third slips around the front of the rack to hold it in place. There's a little velcro look that is supposed to hold them secure.

I think they just bounce off because the velcro thing is pretty loose and doesn't stop the panniers bouncing up. Maybe I should do something about that.

Picture of bike with panniers: https://www.picklay.com/wp-content/up...CN1395-350.jpg

fordfasterr

LOL , no you don't ! LOL

jeff-o

This is the perfect opportunity to ask your wife's permission to buy new panniers!

Eggplant Jeff

My thoughts exactly, except for the cape bit (Has it really been that long since that movie came out?!). If I'm sick and commute I feel better. It's like a universal cure-all.