Bike Luggage
Bike commuting involves a lot of inventory control. At a minimum you need water, a light, batteries for the light, and a fix-it tool. If it’s hot out and your commute is any real length, you’ll need clothes and toiletries. And you may want a map, GPS, gym membership card, towel, chain lube, rags, emergency pump, sun block, tire patches, something to read… it can quickly get out of control. If you’re wearing bike pants, you may not even have pockets for your wallet!
It’s generally hard to protect bike luggage from would-be thieves, so you want to be able to remove and put it back easily.
It has taken me a while to arrive at a configuration that really works. A rack is essential, but I’ve found panniers and baskets to be unwieldy.
I attach a top pack to my rack. For heavier loads, I hang laptop bags from my rack with carabiners. I find I can carry a surprising amount of stuff this way, so much that I have to make sure to distribute everything evenly to keep from becoming unbalanced at low speeds.
Bungee is useful so long as you don’t get carried away with it. I often use it to provide some extra securing for my top pack. That also permits me to tuck my U-shaped bike lock away on top of it.
Backpacks are okay, too, if you keep them light and it isn’t very hot out. I avoid messenger bags… I find them hard to balance and they can strangle you if overloaded. Even fanny packs can hurt you over time if consistently overloaded.