When a bag is not tapered like a pannier you need to place it a long way to the back of the rack, to allow heel clearance; and then it is surprising how far the bag can curl round the back of the rack and foul the wheel. Altogether it is a much more challenging task than you make out in the video.
Tried it today. Worked! Went on a ride with the family today. Was able to bring a ton of food. Simply put one of those cooler grocery bags in the backpack and 4 blocks of that blue ice. Filled to the brim with food! Felt like the smartest guy on the trail while everyone else was enjoying granola bars and warm water😎 Next up, lashing sleeping bags, pads, tents.
Mountain hardware bags often do not have the two plastic gear loops: I am going to experiment with the bungee hooks and wrap them around the large hand carry strap at the top . Hopefully they don't wiggle around too much while riding. I will report back. And thanks so much for this tutorial! I knew there had to be a way.
The only trouble I see with this is that you require a good quality rucksack! if not the bouncing around, especially if the rucksack contains considerable weight will eventually cause rips. Personally I would simply just attach a milk create and sit the bag in that!
That's true. Not a perfect solution, but a quick and dirty one. I use this method for crosstown riding, no backpack has failed on me so far. This of course cannot replace some decent panniers.
The straps take the weight either way - on the bike or on a person. If the stitching isn't strong enough it'll fail on both. I wouldn't expect rough terrain to make a difference unless the pack was very heavy or the straps weak, but you shouldn't buy a cheap pack anyway.
You're a verry smart and helpful man! I admire your great skill-sharing ability to convert dumbos like me into smart persons even before your video ends! And you did it without speaking a single word! You just made my day and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Maybe you could put heavy and less valuable items on the opposite side in a satchel to balance the bike while riding? Like a mini pump for your tire, 2L bottle of water are not a big loss if stolen but are very important for hydration, repair...
1:53 it looks like the backpack interferes with the spokes of the rear wheel. Trying to figure out how to hang my son's heavy laptop backpack on his bike rack. It has shoulder loops but no chest strap, and the lower straps would dangle and tangle.
my bike and bag is different and cant use this trick into mine. but the basic is really helpful. now i have a solution for mine by modifying your solution. tks broh
I ride the bus/walk and also bike instead of having a car, which gives me quite a bit of relevant experience. The notion that most backpacks have those D-rings and also a thorax strap doesn't work out in my experience. Some do, but by no means a majority. I use other means to carry bicycle cargo, but my current project of using a bus to get into the areas I want to go camping and then the bicycle for the last ten miles or so calls for something like that.
Spotted something for others to think about, if the D buckle the bungee goes through on the bag are to big the the bungee won’t hold the bag up, the bag will just slid down nothing to hold it up, this looked good but a bit dodgy.
This is very smart, I appreciate the video. Do you ever have problems with the backpack's straps getting caught in your spokes? Looks like you have waist straps on the pack that could flop around - do you have an easy way of securing them?
Hasn't happened to me so far, loose straps that are long enough to be caught in the spokes can usually be put away in smaller pockets on the outside of the backpack. Easiest solution: tie them together :-)
WRONG. The lower corner of pack will tangle with spokes on every bump. I mounted backpacks on bikes, but with stiff plastic panels "permanently" attached to the bike on both sides of rear wheel as a barrier to prevent pack and spoke contact. Attach with bungees up to the seat, but more as a Shock ABSORBER, so the pack bounces. Into Mexico, I put the bicycle on buses (1993) and after arriving at destination, toured with backpack and guitar.
you could easily make those loops yourself with 4 strong zip ties if you really needed to. Even my kid's schoolbags can be carried around like seen in the video. Get creative, that's what it's about!
Smart, but looks a little dangerous - especially with so many straps hanging around 😕 Though from experience I know that at least if something does get caught in the rear wheel it is not too bad - whereas something getting caught in the front wheel can be disastrous. cheers JB
just didnt like how your bag was touching the wheel a little, eek I also don't really know how you attacked it to the rack like that, what that knot is and how.
It isn't a knot, it's just looped round itself at the bottom of the rack where it fixes to the frame. Straps/bags do catch the wheel sometimes but it's fine as long as they aren't long or loose enough to get tangled. Might wear a hole though.
Where did you get those hooks and how did you attach bungee coord's both ends to hooks and to the bike, respectively? Looks like at the bottom part there's some kind of a knot.
the knot at the bottom is simply the bungee cord folded in half looped through the bottom and the hooks fed through the loop part of the bungee and pulled taut.
Make it so you have to stretch the cord 4-6inches to Be Very Tight. Also Can Bend the Metal to be smaller on Bungee cord Hooks. Last but not Least If you Tie A permanant loop on Either side of Cord you Can Wrap Bungee around Rack up top and insert cord ends into the Loop you created. This will Over Stretch and hopefully stop the removal of the Cord from rack over bumps and off Camber Turns..
Hasn't happened so far, but I use this only for crosstown riding. Rough terrain might be problematic, but: the shorter the bungee cord the more stable the whole setup will be! Test it out for yourself, I personally like this as a quick and easy solution.
What is that black bundle of fibers going from the left side of your rack down the right side? Is that to provide extra support to the rack? Also, is there any instability in carrying this on only one side? I carry like 15-20lbs in my backpack (books computer food) and am concerned about stability. My milk crate topper with the backpack moves around an awful lot when I ride.
The bundle of fibers is just another bungee cord that was on the rack. You don't need it at all. The "instability" just as if you're riding with just one pannier, I haven't had problems so far. Depends on the weight you're carrying of course - just test it out. Bungee cords are cheap, good luck!
