DIY pannier/computer bag

In 8 easy steps.

1. Rejoice at the fact that Spouse’s boss sent him to a seminar in town today, which means you get to use the car for your chiropractor appointment AND a trip to Lowe’s.

2. Go to Lowe’s.  Get an inexpensive set of drill bits, two carabiner-type fasteners, a grommet kit, and 8″ black zip ties.

3. Go back in time and charge your cordless drill battery.

4. The holes on the braces of my brand new rack were too small to accommodate the post/screw that goes through the thingy that clamps down on the seat post, and attaching the braces to the threaded holes on the frame would’ve meant it wasn’t level.  So I drilled out the holes on the braces and attached them that way.  Success!

5.  Hold the bag up to the rack and make sure the carabiners are of sufficient size to attach it to the rack.  Eyeball it and figure out where you’d need to punch two holes to accommodate a zip tie attaching the back of the bag to the part of the rack that attaches to the wheel part of the frame.

6.  Poke out and widen the holes to fit the grommet thingy.  Read the instructions and pound away.  Curse your lack of a workshop, and the fact that you have to put them in inside-out because you can only access one side of the fabric (it’s a sleeve meant to let a suitcase handle pass through).

7.  Clip on the metal bits of the handle to the rack, and thread two zip ties (let’s hear it for the safety of redundancy!) through the two grommets and around the rack post.  Tighten them up and leave the excess only if you want the “kacketakacketakacketa” to serenade you on your ride.

8.  Marvel at the elegance (and cheapness!) of the solution you’ve found to a persistent problem.  Relatively permanent, and able to be taken off in a moment’s notice if necessary.