Pannier - Bicycle Panniers

Bicycle Panniers

There are many styles of bicycle panniers. Touring panniers come in both rear and front styles, usually sold in pairs, intended to hold enough equipment for self-sustained tours over days or weeks. Commuters who bicycle have pannier options designed to hold laptop computers, files and folders, changes of clothes or shoes and lunches. Since the movement against disposable shopping bags emerged, many panniers are made easily detachable from the bike, to allow using them for shopping bags. Some cyclists create makeshift pannier bags out of grocery bags, grocery baskets, garment-bags, convertible backpacks, and various multi-purpose bags as alternatives to purchasing a commercial pannier.

The first panniers designed specifically for bicycles were patented by John B. Wood of Camden, NJ, in 1884. The modern bicycle pannier was invented by Hartley Alley (1919-2001) of Boulder, CO, in 1971. Alley also designed a handlebar bag and other bicycle luggage that he manufactured and sold under the Touring Cyclist brand in the 1970s until his retirement in 1984.