Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier

Comments about Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier:

These are really nice grocery panniers. I've had other brands, but these are my favorite. I use them as a pair 95% of the time.

They are VERY durable. The fabric used is thick, capable of withstanding hard use and even a fall or two without damage. I am incredibly hard on my bike panniers, but these have put up with a world of use and abuse. Case in point: I frequently put my 6 yr old daughter on my bike rack and she rides with her feet in these. She has even stood up in them--yet they are still like new! That is well made!!! I use these all the time for my daily commute. They are great for tossing your purse, bike locks, jacket, or other gear into... fast and no fuss.

The panniers each hold a lot of groceries (comparable to a large brown paper grocery bag). With careful packing, you can get a ton of stuff in them. I take them into the store with me, then bag my groceries myself so the balance is good. The sides are nicely stiff and stable at the top, so you can actually overload them without worrying about the sides drooping and letting things fall out (a problem I have had with some other grocery panniers). Be aware that the panniers ride a bit above a rack, (about 1-2 inches) so if you want to bungee something on top of the rack, it will need to either sit between the bags, or sit on tip of the rims of the bags. The bottom of the bag is also stiff and stable. I have had no problems with my panniers sagging (again, a problem with some cheaper bags I have used).

The arm straps are comfortable to use and are a nice length for slipping over your forearm, even when you are wearing a winter coat. They easily tuck inside when not in use. One negative on this point: I wish there was a shoulder bag strap or, at least the _option_ to use a shoulder strap (ie. D rings). I take my bike on a train several times a week. Being able to use a shoulder strap would make it a lot easier to get my bike on and off the train when I have groceries.

Speaking of on and off, the bags are VERY easy to work with. You just drop the clips over your rack rail, eh voila! This is one of the best features about these panniers. The clips lock easily (just a flip of the fingers) and work great. They come preset to a small size rack rail, but I just popped the little circle tabs out with a screw driver to make them fit my heavy duty rack.

Another nice feature is the adjustable stabilizer bar on the inside of the bag. This slips onto the struts of your bike rack and effectively keeps the panniers from sliding forward on the rack where they might interfere with your heels when you pedal. I have had issues with other grocery panniers that were attached with bungees/hooks. These are not optimal in my experience as either the bungee breaks over time, or the bag slips back and forth as you start and stop. Let's not even talk about what a pain that style is to attach to a rack when the bags are fully loaded with groceries.

A minor dispointment is the so-so reflective striping on the bags. They look stylish but I wish they had wider tape so that they would really stand out in city lighting at night or in rural roads from a distance.

The panniers have a tab to attach a blinkie to. This works well, but be aware that the Planet Bike Superflash (the BEST blinkie in the world for the price!) will sag a bit because the blinkie is longer than the bag (ergo, the light tips over and faces the street more than the car coming at you). I would love to see the manufacturer place the tab about one inch higher on the bag to avoid this problem.

Another minor quibble: it would be nice to be able to purchase a rain cover for these. As far as I know, such a thing does not exist for this product. Since I use them all the time, I sometimes have to deal with rain or snow on the ride home.

Finally, as with any decent grocery pannier, you can fold them up and snap them closed when you don't want them sticking out from your rack.

Overall, these are well worth the money if you plan on using them a lot!

Comments about Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier:

I purchased this last week on my way to Wisconsin's North Woods and used this clip on shopping bag daily. I use it like the "green" canvas bags that are widely available. There was room for a gallon of milk and plenty of other stuff. I am too cheap to buy two of these and was a little concerned that I'd be off balance with all the groceries on the same side, but it was not an issue. The bag was easy to adjust to my rack (with a small phillips head screw driver)and is easy to detach and bring inside with me so I don't buy more than I can carry. The only con is the price, I could have bought 20-40 regular canvas bags for the price of this shopping bag/pannier. (A previous reviewer noted problems with a wide rack, I wonder if they noticed the instruction to remove a blue ring for wide racks.)

Comments about Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier:

Only started using these the other day. I used the older ones for years (and wore out a couple of pairs while I was at it). This newer model is clearly superior -- its adjustable mounts allow it to be mounted safely and securely to more types of racks (I had some trouble with the older ones), and the carrying straps is a cool feature. But, hey, at nearly twice the price of the old ones, I don't know if it's worth the improvements. . . . And they _didn't_ improve the feature that bothers me the most -- the lack of "stops" to keep the diagonal metal support rods from slipping through the clips that hold them; I'm always having to slip those back in, which is annoying. Granted, I probably use these regularly beyond their design capacity, routinely loading full and heavy grocery bags into them -- which gets me to what is _really_ great about these bags: they are the perfect size to slip a standard size paper grocery bag (or an REI reusable shopping bag) in and out of. Makes it a breeze to use your bike for grocery shopping, and it effectively raises the carrying capacity of the pannier (as a standard grocery bag is well taller than the pannier). Bottom line (I have to admit in the end): I love this bag!

Comments about Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier:

My family uses bikes extensively for local commuting and shopping, and we all have a set of two of these paniers (they used to sell at REI for $50 for a pair, which was a sweet deal). Just last night I used mine to bring home two 12-packs of beer, two jars of salsa, a pie, and a gallon Pur water pitcher. They go on and off of the bike easily (need a rack), and stay on. The only problem I have encountered is that the lower hooks tend to get caught on the wire of the shopping carts and can be difficult to remove from the carts.

Comments about Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier:

This pannier looks great and seems to have a great system to keep it attached to your bike rack... but it will only fit on racks with extremely thin supports. I am using a Topeak rack and trunk bag and wanted to attach the pannier as well, but the "hooks" on the bag won't fit over any of the tubes on my rack.

If it will fit on your rack, this grocery pannier would be great, you can securely attach the pannier "hooks" and adjust all of the attachment points to fit your rack.

Comments about Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier:

I prefer to do my shopping and errands on my bike. I tried so many things to help carry stuff on my bike: a milk crate, bungy cords, canvas bags, a back pack. I needed something big enough for groceries and other shopping. The Novara packs fit the bill. They have clips that close around the frame of the rack that keep them in place and keep the bags from flying off when hitting bumps (like some similar products). I like that I can clip them on and off very easily. This way I can bring them into the store and make sure that what I'm buying will fit. I have two packs, but even when only one is filled my bike stays balanced. Another good feature is that they fold shut which is nice when not using them or you want to put your bike on a car rack and not take the bags off. Also they are shallow enough and sit far enough back on the rack that I don't kick them when peddling (and I have big feet).

Comments about Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier:

I have an earlier version of these panniers. They have been very durable and have performed very well. I use them primarily for shopping but I also carry my briefcase in them for work. I recommend them.

Comments about Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier:

We have 3 of these panniers that we use between our 2 bikes - just bought a 4th. They are easy to load up with groceries - or in the springtime, we make several trips to the greenmarket and load up with plants for the garden.

The snap-on, snap-off clip that latches the panniers to the rack is worth its weight in gold. I had an earlier version of a grocery pannier and sometimes my heel would hit the pannier, sending it and everything in it crashing to the street. After trying these models, the older ones all ended up in the trash. My rack has exceptionally large tubing (Topeak) and even with the spacer removed, one clip doesn't latch all the way. It's secure enough with the other clip, and my wife has a standard rack that works just fine.

I always have at least one of the panniers on my bike, just in case I pick something up while scooting around NYC, and my wife often uses one for her purse. No balance issues even with only one pack and heavy loads. Flexible & convenient! The only minor issue is that the snaps that hold it closed when not in use are not terribly secure, but it's not a major problem.

Comments about Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier:

First off, I rarely write reviews but I appreciate those who do so here goes. After years of road and mountain biking, I had been wanting an around town bike so late last year I bought an original 1983 Stumpjumper. With gas approaching $3.50+ per gallon and the need to lose those excess winter pounds, I set off in search of something to carry groceries and other stuff so I wouldn't drive to the store as often. The reuseable shopping bag over the shoulder just doesn't work. After looking long and hard, I found this as a solution. Whoever designed this gets an A+. It would be nice if it had a top cover or a zippered closure but that's really minor. This is a very well thought out product. It's simple and effective. Take it off in seconds, bring it into the store with you and fill it up. The fold up feature is genius. There were a few comments about hitting the bag with your heel and there are several factors that might cause that - maybe with some bikes, it can't be fixed but there is plenty of lateral adjustability with this bag. I have size 15 feet and managed about 1/2 inch clearance so I'm sure I'll bang the bag from time to time but I haven't yet. Buy this. You won't find a better solution. [...]

Comments about Novara 'Round Town Single Bike Pannier:

It would be 5-stars BUT the bracket that holds the bottom clamp to the rack stays does not stay put, especially when they are heavily loaded. The set screw does not work well so I lost the clamp twice. Each time they slid off when I was removing the bags or just afterward. Luckily, each time I found them- whew. They are important! Now, a screw and acorn nut hold it in place and all is good! I had the older ones and looked around because the price seemed high - until I bought them almost a year ago and used them. I rarely drive an auto so I am always using them and they are so much stronger and easy to use. They hold their shape and the open top means I can carry bulky items. A top notch product!