Pannier bag for carrying laptop?

[John_S]

Hi All,

I need to get a bag to carry a laptop to and from work and I just wondered if anybody has any suggestions & recommendations?

My bike does have a rear rack but at the moment I commute using only a small rack top bag which I wouldn't be able to fit a laptop into.

Up until now I've not needed a computer at home but now I need to get my laptop home so I'm looking at what my options might be.

I don't really like riding whilst wearing a rucksack and so I'd like to look at pannier bags.

If anybody has any recommendations for transporting a laptop and keeping it safe and dry that will be much appreciated.

Thanks for any help & suggestions!

John

p.s. I'm sorry if I've posted this in the wrong place because I wasn't sure if it should be here or in the commuting section.

 

[vickster]

Get a Topeak rack bag with the fold out panniers. Laptop in padded sleeve, job done. Superb piece of kit

You'll need a compatible rack.

 

[Kestevan]

Wiggle do a dhb roll top pannier that's excellent for a large laptop bag.

 

[Profpointy]

My laptop was happy in my Ortlieb for 5 or so years' commutting. Normal panniers not laptop specific. Fell off twice too

 

[Jason]

I used a Decathlon 20L roll top pannier for a year without issue. Bought a cheap neoprene sleeve to envelope the laptop first.

 

[BurningLegs]

As @vickster and @Jasonbourne have mentioned - a sleeve for the laptop is essential. I put my 13" laptop in a neoprene sleeve, and the sleeve goes into a cheap Lidl pannier bag, held onto the rack with a bungee. Total cost for the bag, sleeve and bungee was less than £20 so really good value.

The Ortlieb bags are the gold standard (with a price to match), but I still don't think you'd want to put a laptop in there without any extra protection.

 

[John_S]

Hi vickster, Kestevan, Propointy, Jasonbourne & BurningLegs,

Thanks for the messages and tips.

Having taken a look the Topeak rack bag does look like a good bit of kit with the roll down bits on the side for the laptop. However I've already got a rack and ideally, unless I have to, I don't really want to replace what is a perfectly good rack for something new. If I was buying both the rack and the bag though it would be a good option.

From reading the other messages I will probably be able to use any old pannier bag just so long as I get myself a laptop sleeve to protect it. Having take a quick look around it seems that the neoprene type laptop sleeves are pretty ubiquitous so I should be able to pick one up cheaply enough which is good.

Then I just need to have a think about a pannier bag and what to get from the dozens to choose from. Ideally I don't want it to be too big and bulky and I'll try to take a look at the options in LBS first so I can see what the size/bulk and quality is like and buy from the LBS if they have something suitable. However having not looked before I'm not actually sure what kind of a range and options the LBS will have but I'll wait and see.

Thanks for the help.

John

 

[KneesUp]

I am the cheapest of cheapskates. I used some very cheap generic pannier bags - clothes and lock go in one, laptop and shopping go in the other. I wrap the laptop in bubble wrap ...

 

[BurningLegs]

A perfectly decent approach, @KneesUp

Someone I know has a very low cost pannier bag that doesn't have any fancy mounting system like the Ortlieb's, but he has it permanently fitted to his rack, and puts all his kit in a 10p bag for life. This means when he gets to work he just takes the bag for life into the office with him, and also means that his gear is nicely protected from the rain even though his pannier is nothing like waterproof. Brilliantly simple!

 

[Profpointy]

For what it's worth I just put my laptop straight in the pannier without any special padding. Did quite a few thousand miles without issue, including a pannier detatchement and a couple of fallings off, one of which was a sommersault over an Audi boot.

 

[KneesUp]

A perfectly decent approach, @KneesUp

Someone I know has a very low cost pannier bag that doesn't have any fancy mounting system like the Ortlieb's, but he has it permanently fitted to his rack, and puts all his kit in a 10p bag for life. This means when he gets to work he just takes the bag for life into the office with him, and also means that his gear is nicely protected from the rain even though his pannier is nothing like waterproof. Brilliantly simple!

If I'd adopted that approach, it's possible the mounting system of my bags would still be more than barely attached. I'll do that with the next set