koala logs

I'm now finding it tedious to keep attaching and removing the panniers from the rack when I have to get inside a grocery store fearing the pannier bags might get stolen.

I wonder if I could punch some small holes along the pannier bag and attach them to the frame with zip ties, would that discourage would-be thieves from tying to steal it? At they won't be able to remove the bag without any tool. They'll need a box or wire cutter and if they attempt to remove the bag, they have to deal with a large number of zip ties and risk damaging the bag trying to remove it.

I'm not a commuter and I never have to leave the bike out in the sun for long periods so there's no risk of damage from exposure to the sun nor the rain. The bike spends the vast majority of the time indoors.

koala logs

Forgot to mention, it's a cheap $10 30L pannier bags (two bags joined together) from aliexpress. It didn't have hooks you find on more expensive bags. the weight is supported on the rack by the fabric joining the two bags and fixed to the rack by straps. But the advantage of these dirt cheap nylon bags is they are much lighter than the more expensive bags and tend to "deflate" when empty so doesn't impose on performance when empty like it's not even there.

I don't intend to leave any items on the bag when I lock the bike outside. However, the bag is rather very easy to remove, I can simply pull it off the rack without even undoing the straps. The straps undo themselves rather easily. I can tie a knot where you can't just pull out the bag and it will take a lot longer to remove the bag with the knots but can still be done without using any tools.

Update: I went ahead and attached the bag to the rack with 16 zip ties in 16 different places. It was quite worth the effort. Forget the anti-theft aspect of it. The zip ties eliminated swaying of the bag when I'm riding out of the saddle! Made a huge difference in the bike's handling and feel when I'm riding with the bags loaded! I'm definitely keeping it that way stop worrying about the bag getting stolen.

brianinc-ville

Your solution seems just fine. Me, I prefer to use Wald folding baskets instead of pannier bags. They come with mounting hardware that's pretty difficult to take off, and you can then just take your bag inside with you. They're made to fit U.S. standard paper grocery bags, which means they fit the reusable cloth bags that most supermarkets sell.

koala logs

Yeah baskets will always attach by nuts and bolts so a thief can't just take them without using any tool. Less attractive to would-be thieves too.

The lightweight pannier bags I have are real nice though because I use the same bike for long recreational rides. Less weight is always better for long rides. The bags are sometimes used during these rides like when buying cheap produce from roadside vendors so I realized, it would be nice to have them on the bike all the time.