Linus “The Office Bag” Bike Pannier – $69.99 | Felt Cafe 3 – $449
Sometimes it’s worth sacrificing a little functionality in the name of style and form.
Most bike panniers look like they came from some sort of fanny pack transplant program. Nylon, synthetic materials, all begging you to over-stuff and bulge it out like your drunk uncle’s warm up pants on Thanksgiving.
Sidenote: Only thing more relaxed than warm up pants on Thanksgiving, are Zubaz on Thanksgiving.
The Linus Bicycle company, who also makes pretty smart looking bikes, has easily one of the top solutions. Their “Office Bag” is simple, just rigid enough, and specifically designed to protect a laptop. Description says it’ll fit 13″ laptops, but my 14.1″ HP sneaks in there just fine.
There’s not a ton of width to each bag, just enough for a few smaller items like a cordless mouse, a bike lock, gloves, etc… and although they send along a shoulder strap with the intent of being able to detach it from the bike rack and take it with you, that’s damn near impossible. The leather straps and brass buckles look great, but if you want to secure it tightly to make sure it’s not bouncing around, you gotta cinch those suckers down. That’s no problem, but sneaking your fingers under that rack to unbuckle is a pain. It’s best just left on the bike.
To prevent thefts it comes with brass D-rings which allow you to padlock or zip tie the bag to your rack.
Not for everyone and not for long distance journeys. But if you can travel light and need some good looking extra cargo space for getting around town? They’re a great choice.
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A bike-related question that is semi off-topic:
Are there any Dappered approved bike HELMETS out there? I will not ride without. It sucks with the helmet hair, but that can almost always be fixed pretty easily. Just wondering what you recommend for the actual helmet itself though!
Cheers,
Ben
That is a nice looking pannier. Coincidental you’d post this today; I was just looking at an article on how to make your own panniers (link below), which might be an alternative for the more DIY-inclined among us.
http://www.carryology.com/2010/10/26/make-your-own-bicycle-pannier/
This counts too then, right?:
http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/Gallery%20C/Triumph%20Bonneville%20Sixty8%20Range%20%20The%20Generation.jpg
Honestly… the most stylish helmet is the one that keeps your noggin safe. If you’re really concerned about style, though, make sure to stick to things that are simpler, only one color, etc. Bern and Giro make some pretty understated helmets without all the aerodynamics and venting details of your typical race helmet. I’m rather fond of this one by Nutcase, in American Argyle: http://www.rei.com/product/814707/nutcase-bike-helmet-mens
But at the end of the day, we’re talking about a block of foam that you stick on your head to prevent serious injury. There’s only so good it can look.
These are really nice bags. I’ve been down to the Linus showroom in Venice, the guys down there are super helpful, really genuine guys. And their bikes are beautiful! They’ve also got a double sided roll-up bag (http://goo.gl/IgEKE) for a bit more. Basically, if you’d like a good looking accessory for your bike, they’ve got a good thing going at Linus.
For me, I use a Timbuk2 pannier (http://goo.gl/zP4Ek) – which, admittedly, is not the most stylish option, but it is extremely versatile. The pannier hardware “stows away” to make the bag more like a traditional messenger when you get off the bike. At any rate, much easier to take on and off than the Linus bag.
Check this one out – http://goo.gl/gYxdM
BenR has it right – a styrofoam bucket strapped to your head can only ever look so good. I’ve seen a few attempts around that try to disguise a helmet as a hat in some way or another, but none achieve anything better than a look that’s best described as awkward.
The fact that the effort is being made though is encouraging – all we need is one innovator who can invent a less bulky (but still protective) material to make helmets from and we’ll have hope for a truly stylish helmet.