My new Panniers

As i spend a lot of time riding about on my old fixie i thought rather than going down the route of modern panniers i would try to find something a bit more in keeping with the style of the bike and to be honest modern panniers are quite large so i would end up carrying too much.

I searched about for some canvas panniers and could only find really expensive Japanese bags or the modern types. So i put some ingenuity to the test, i found some great old french military bags that are canvas with a leather lining so should be mostly waterproof on ebay.

They are shoulder bags so tick the box of not being too large. Luckily they had belt loop attachments on the back of the bag which make a great anchorage point for the mounts to attach to the rack.

So after a bit of trial and error i made up two brakets by bending some steel bar into two hooks in a long U shape configuration so each hook pokes out either side of the belt loop. As this was my first go i am going to get some better material and make up a few pairs until i am really happy and get them powdercoated. They seem sturdy enough so are good for testing the principal.

To stop the bag bouncing i have added a bungee cord to the (loads of strap mounts on these bags) bottom of the bag to loop round the lower end of the pannier, and as they are a little long they feed back up and act as webbing to strap a jacket to the top of the pannier within easy reach.

As you can see i have also a small front rack, this is a rear rack from a childs bicycle shortered to get in the right position and clamped to the forks. This wont hold a lot of weight so should last long enough to source a couple of neater clamps.

All in all it fits and holds what i need - its time to test before it gets broken down for paint and finishing in the new year