Spotted on Newbury Street this weekend, these pretty panniers appear to be DIY.I can't imagine where s/he found such perfect bags - they look purpose built with that flat side for hanging against the bike, and look like they match all the Gilles Berthoud bags. Yet the attachment system is certainly not ideal. I wouldn't want to ever need to unloop all those straps threaded through the rack. I suppose it wouldn't be hard to rig a set of hooks instead, if one could find bags like these.
Does anyone know these panniers?
6 comments:
this is related only by Newbury Street. The ANT and I were out by the Fluevog store on Saturday, and the salesfolk there, after commenting on the bike, mentioned that the owner had designed this shoe called The Westerley, which basically comes with a hard alloy sole encased in rubber, intended for use by bike commuters. I was intrigued, but had already blown through my quarterly shoe budget so have to postpone consideration until next year. Have you known anyone who's ever used one for that purpose?
As an aside, there is a fellow who lives either in CT or RI who has shown up at the Boston Brevet series with what is essentially a Berthoud show bike. Blue Berthoud frame with fenders and a full set of matching luggage. It is swish.
From the picture, they don't actually look like panniers, but rather a couple of satchels/purses/man-bags with one flat side. Pretty ingenious, but I'm not sure how much weight they could hold.
As far as having them solidly hooked on reinforces the whole idea of leaving your bike bags on the bike. They do this in Holland all the time, and you just make it a more permanent part of the bike.
Cris,
I drool on that Berthoud bike every time I see it! Such a pretty rig.
I don't know the Westerley shoes, perhaps someone else here will though. I can think of someone who might really like these, thanks for the tip!
JPTwins, yeah, I figured it was some sort of DIY it just seemed so convenient that they have those flat sides. I still want the corset-style Berthouds, even though I have no real need for them.
They may not be intended (initially) as panniers, but have been adopted for that purpose. I've done a similar thing with an old leather satchel. I agree that the support system leaves something to be desired. But this technicality is easily rectified with less than $10 in hardware.
Decent job whoever did it. FWIW my Basil Karavan panniers are strapped on with leather straps. They are intended to be left on the bike, not taken off regularly, such is the Dutch way. I have threaded a small stainless steel cable through mine to make them a bit more theft resistant.
Aaron
re: Westerly shoes - I use them for commuting. Did so in Boston when I lived there and now do so in Baltimore. They work great - the rubber soles grip regular old pedals just fine. Not sure about the "alloy sole" bit - it feels like hard rubber, no metal. The great thing about these shoes is that they actually look work-ready. I suppose a cheaper (though perhaps less fashion-forward) solution would be to use any old pair of wingtips that have rubber outsoles glued to them.
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