new pannier

I've finally replaced the panniers I bought in 2005; rather than get two of the slim ones as I've been using, I bought a single fat one.

My old panniers were worn out. One had a torn zipper and a hole in the fabric and was useless, and with those sort of narrow bags you really need two if you're filling one halfway with a repair kit for flat tires. So I'd taken to wearing a backpack for the commute, and wondering why I was dealing with so much back and shoulder pain. Turns out that carrying 10kg of crap (repair kit including portable air pump; rain coat; change of pants for the office; lunch; etc) around on a 22km bike trip every day will do that.

The model I've bought isn't actually a true pannier in the sense of being a water-resistant all-in-one carrier, but is instead a more practical and roomier .. shopping bag. I'm looking forward to having more room and less back pain.