DIY Bicycle Panniers from Scratch

Panniers: These are bags that can be attached to the sides of a bicycle, either from a rear or front rack. These bags are used to carry gear, clothes or other things in.

The term derives from the Old French, from Classical Latin, word for bread basket.

Retail cost for a set of panniers starts around $20 for something I wouldn't trust to hold more weight than a box of tissues and tops out around $215 for the most deluxe travel-the-world bicycle luggage you could ever hope to find.

Wanting the quality but not the sticker price of something that I hope will last me years of commuting, I decided my best option was to make my own, from scratch, using low-cost parts and re-purposed materials. The outcome: one solid bag made for less than $10. (Cost will vary depending on what you can get for free and what you already have laying around the house.)

Most of the internet instructions I could find about DIY panniers were how to convert a pre-made bag or backpack into something you could attach to your bike rack. And although there were some helpful photos of what the hooks and bungee systems could/would look like, I couldn't find any articles about making the actual bag from scratch. After many days of picture searching and review reading, I finally decided on making a smaller, sewn version of the Boundary Waters dry pack I have. With less straps (than the original) to get caught in the spokes I realized this would most likely be the best multi-purpose pannier I could make. The size is adjustable - appropriate for anything from carrying my lunch and rain jacket to/from work to hauling a load of groceries (including a gallon of milk and a sack of potatoes) back from the store or farmer's market.

As this was a custom-fit bag, made specifically for my bike and the after-market rack, along with how far my heal extends backwards when on the pedal, there is no reason for me to post specific dimensions or sizes to follow. I will mention that this is not a finish-in-a-few-hours type of project; from start to finish this bag was constructed over the better part of 3 to 4 days. And that was just for one bag. I plan to make another after giving this one a test-ride for about a month. There might always be a few little things that need to get tweaked, liked the length of the bottom bungee hook or adding a coroplast liner to stiffen up the bottom of the bag. And then there's the possibility that a major design flaw sends the contents of the bag flying out onto the pavement while I'm riding down the potholed streets of Milwaukee. Happy riding!