Home made bicycle panniers

In my previous post I wrote about the Carradice panniers that I wasn't happy with, and how I improved them. However, before that, I had seen a post on a Facebook group I'm in, where somebody had made some panniers, and I thought - I could do that..... Hers were roll up ones, which would have been my preferred style, but I didn't have enough fabric for that. Next time maybe.....

My fabric came mostly from a military surplus rucksack which I had bought some time ago, for about £15, completely taken apart (which took ages - the stitching was tough to unpick!) and washed. I saved everything - all the webbing and all the buckles. I didn't have quite enough fabric so had to use some new Cordura for the sides. I also used some red fabric which came from a pair of Karrimor panniers, which I had bought in a charity shop for £3, thinking they were too good a bargain to miss. However, as they turned out to be nothing like as good as the old faithful Karrimor ones I've got on my Trek, which I suspect are older, I cut them up too. The netting was new, from Contact Left.

Karrimor panniers - maybe 25 years old now

Oh and I nearly forgot, some time ago I had acquired, for free, a bike transporting bag, which I also cut up. I used some of the black fabric from it for the linings, and some of the stiff foam (closed cell foam? I'm not quite sure....) for stiffening the backs.

So, I drew up a design, and cut out pattern pieces. I didn't want the panniers too big, so looked at the measurements for some of the smaller Ortlieb and Restrap ones online, and used those measurements as a basis. I definitely wanted some outside pockets. I wasn't sure at the beginning exactly how I'd attach the panniers to the bike, although I knew I wasn't going to go the whole hog and use proper pannier attachments. This was partly because I was trying to avoid spending  any money on buying anything extra. As you can see, in the end I made straps from old inner tubes to attach them. The panniers are not identical due to not having enough of the same fabrics for each one. I also did the pockets differently, because I was learning as I went along!

I used my Bernina 930, with Gutermann Mara 70 thread, and my industrial Seiko Stw-8b with bonded nylon thread. I bought the latter machine about two years ago and this is the first project I have used it for. It proved invaluable. I compare this machine to a tractor when it starts up. It's a beast! Here it is - 

Anyway, here are the panniers, on my Koga Traveller -

As you can see below, the two rear pockets are different. I did not do them "properly", with a proper lid, although I'd like to teach myself how to when I've got time. I just made it up as I went along. Both have Velcro fastening.

Rear pockets

Flap with zipped net pocket, front pocket underneath, net pocket on side. The reason for the wire twist tags on the bottom strap is that I made them much too long! I'll shorten them when I get round to it.

By the way, sorry about the wheelie bins in the background. I usually have washing in the background, which is nicer really, although in our previous house, when we first moved there (estate cottage) we were told that the owners of the Big House (and owners of our house) did not want to see our washing on the line from their windows. I complied, using a rotary washing line out of their view, until baby number 4 came along and we just had too much washing. Then I stopped complying and strung my washing down the garden on a nice long line. That's the Upper Classes for you!! Back to the panniers.

Strap with Velcro

When I made the second flap, I thought I might as well add a zip pocket to the inside. I should add that it was only after using them for the first time that I added the drawstring tops. They were just too open at the top  of the sides without them. I couldn't really do it on the machine, at that stage, without a lot of hassle, so I stitched them on by hand, hence the big stitches.

Drawstring top and inside zip pocket

The "C" is where I had labelled all the pieces so I wouldn't forget what each one was. The strip above the C is where I strengthened it before adding a webbing handle on the outside. I should really have got that red Karrimor bit visible on the outside somewhere, just for amusement!

Here is the back, with the strap, made from old inner tube, stitched down the edges

to make it lie flatter. 

I could actually use the strap as a shoulder strap when the panniers are off the bike, although I don't aim to be taking them off the bike when in use as it takes ages to strap them back on again! However, thinking about when I'm staying overnight somewhere, and want to take my stuff into a B and B, I made 4 coloured bags out of oddments of lightweight fabric so that I can just remove these and their contents from the panniers. I made the orange one from a rucksack cover that I found on the Ridgeway. there's not a lot that I won't pick up and take home when I'm out and about!

This was the first time I used the panniers - rather nervously! - for shopping. Sausages on the rack! As you can see, when filled with shopping, the right hand one is hanging away from the bike a bit too much. However, the next time I used them, I arranged the straps differently, which kept them both closer to the bike.

The rather complicated arrangement of the straps round the rack!! 

They are obviously not going to be waterproof, but I have waterproof covers that came with the Carradice ones so I will use those if necessary.

Although I say it myself, I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. I didn't expect them to be this good! In fact I was chatting to an old neighbour the other day, who is a cyclist, and when he looked at my panniers I told him I'd made them, and he was extremely complimentary and said "You wouldn't have known it!"

You might now be wondering why I need 3 sets of panniers..... well obviously I don't really, but it was only after making these that I realized that I could hack the Carradice ones and improve them, so of course I had to.... I also enjoyed the process of designing and making these. It was good practice for me on the Seiko too, especially as I encountered some problems with it along the way but managed to fix them and keep going. 

Hacking my Carradice Carradura rear panniers

 Before I start on the Carradice panniers, I would like to say that I have actually just made a pair of panniers, and I'm quite pleased with them, but need to make a couple adjustments before I reveal them here. 

These are the Carradice ones - 

I bought these panniers about 3 years ago. I'd read some reviews and thought they looked a good buy for the money, which was £58. I intended to use these mainly for touring on my Koga. I have a pair of very old (25 years perhaps) Karrimor panniers, which are excellent, and which I have also used for touring. I can't fault these panniers. I suspect they might be front panniers but when I bought them I knew very little about such things - I just bought them because they were reduced and were better than the ones I had at the time. They stay on my lovely old Trek, which I now mainly use for shopping, but here they are on the first tour I did in 2016 -

I have also had, I'm almost ashamed to admit, two pairs of Ortlieb panniers, both of which I sold without hardly using them. The first pair were front panniers and I realized I just didn't need them - I was never going to take luggage front and rear on my future tours. Then I bought a rear pair but I just couldn't get them to sit on my bike properly - I wonder still if I wasn't doing something wrong but they just seemed to hang down. I also severely missed having outside pockets, so I sold that pair too. I do now wish I'd kept the front ones and used them on the back, despite them not having outside pockets. Anyway.... back to the Carradice ones.

The HUGE problem with these was that when you went to flip back the lid, it just didn't flip!! You either had to hold it out of the way with one hand, which made getting things in and out awkward, or somehow fasten it back temporarily. It was stiff due to piping at the sides, and also if you put stuff in the pockets on it that made it even worse. Another thing I disliked intensely was the black interior and black drawstring closure at the top, as it made the interior very dark. These two things added together drove me nuts! That was what actually drove me to make some (as well as seeing some that someone had made in a DIY Outdoor Gear group I'm in on Facebook) but then I thought - despite their drawbacks the Carradice ones are too good to waste. So I hacked them.

This is what I did - 

I cut where the lid was joined on each side, where the arrows are. I then completely opened up the lid by unstitching all the binding and removing the very stiff piping (photo below, again where the arrow is) and some other excess material which was making it stiffer. Then I had to sew it all back together again! This was quite tricky as getting it close enough to the machine was difficult. It is a bit of an untidy job as a result but I couldn't do it any better. Obviously there are now gaps where the lid no longer joins the bag, but it still covers the top of the pannier when closed, and for waterproofness I will just use the separate covers that come with them anyway.

Stiff piping

Piping gone! I stitched this seam down by hand later.

Then I cut off the drawstring bit at the top (should have taken a before photo but I expect you can guess what I mean) and sewed on the yellow bit you can see. This came from an old tent. Relining the inside completely would have been impossible. The alternative would have been a whole separate bag, but I knew that it being loose inside would annoy me, so this was my alternative. 

I went out yesterday with them on the bike and I was over the moon to be able to flip the lid right back!! And what with that and the yellow drawstring bit I can see inside them so much more easily. 

I have to say that I would never buy these panniers again. That's the trouble with buying online - you can't really tell quite what you're getting. I would rather pay more and get what I really want. But having said that, my hack job has vastly improved them (to me anyway!) and I will now be a lot happier using them.

Have you any tales of hacking your bike luggage?