Quoted message said:Hi,
I remember seeing one time a small light blue backpack, in the style
used for schoolbooks, not hiking, that happened to have the
attachments on it to fit onto a bike rack. Does anyone know of
anything similar? I can't find anything on google except for a hiking
backpack that turns into a pannier, and how to sew on a bungy cord to
do the same thing.
I just think it would be neat to commute with my few things and have a
normal-looking backpack to pull off my bike.
Thanks,
Dan
"http://www.arkel-od.com/panniers/backpack/overview.asp?fl=1&site="
Just be aware that the mounting system isn't the greatest. Depending on
your shoe size, you may need to get a rack that will work well with this
pack, by allowing it to be mounted far enough back. See
"http://bicycleluggageracks.com/" for some good racks, and more
information on using the Arkel Bug.
Arkel needs to put some sort of fasteners near the bottom the bag that
are not just in the center, because the bag pivots out from the top rail
in wind, or over bumps, then slams into the wheel if the rack doesn’t
have a strut pretty far back like the Jandd Expedition.
The shock cord that comes all the way from the top and even when
fastened it doesn’t help much. Standard panniers usually have a shock
cord or strap that is attached near the bottom of the pannier that
attaches to the rack near the bottom of the rack, but the Arkel Bug
lacks this.
The Arkel panniers, other than the Bug, have a better design for the
shock cord hook, because there are multiple positions for the hook to go
through, rather than just through the center as on the Bug, so it can
attach to the bottom of the rear rack even when the attachment point on
the rack is not in the center. The instruction sheet that comes with the
Bug is the same as for the other panniers and mentions the multiple
positions for the hook. I was looking for the multiple positions for the
hook that were mentioned in the instructions and couldn’t find them. I
called Arkel because I believed I had received a unit that was
defective, but they explained that the Bug didn’t have those multiple
positions because it would interfere somehow with the backpack function.
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