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[inahandbasket]

+++ Rode my bike to work today! (about 8mi)
- Dropped a new-to-me pannier in the middle of Davis square
+ but a nice driver stopped and waited for me to grab it from under his fender.
--- Forgot my cell phone at home in my bike-packing rush.
- I'm crazy out of shape, I shouldn't be this winded.
+ I'm doing something about it. :-)

Comments

[miss_chance]

hurray for biking to work!

I hatehatehate dropping my panniers in traffic. It's a big part of why I'm about to drop some serious money on better panniers that can be adjusted out of heal-strike-range and have a locking clip. But I've been planning to do that since my birthday, and still haven't worked up the gumption to spend that much money.

Yay for biking to work! Couldn't ask for a nicer day to do it. Sometimes I wish my studio were a little further from my house, since 1.5 miles isn't much of a workout. I keep saying I'll take "the long way" to my studio, by way of Lexington Center or something, but it's hard to add in miles/time just because I want to.

[inahandbasket]

arr, scored some nice German waterproof ones off ebay for crazy cheap this winter!
They have bottom clips but I hadn't adjusted them for my rack spacing. I'm gonna do that for sure before I bike home! oops. ;)

My 8mi ride was really nice last year... when I was in better shape. Only a couple hills, so I can't really complain too much. ^_^

[miss_chance]

Oooh! *which* nice German ones??!

[inahandbasket]

Company called "ALEX", they're impossible to find info about on the web. I think they're the house brand of a major German sporting goods store, but they're good sized, well designed, waterproof bags.
My friend in Germany (named Alex ironically) had a set that I was oggling when we visited, then I stumbled across a pair on ebay here for all of $45.

[moominmolly]

Damn! That's a good deal. I love my Ortlieb panniers that convert to backpacks, but they were not $45.

Also: yay biking!

[pasquillacious]

ALEX is the house brand for Karstadt's sporting goods dept. Karstadt = big dept. store chain, generally high quality stuff. Regular Ortlieb panniers currently sell at 110 euros retail, the fancy ones cost 169 euros, so 45 bucks for comparable quality is quite a steal. If you come to our country for a bike tour, now you will blend in with the natives! :)

[inahandbasket]

Hah, thanks for the clarification!
Yeah, I saw the pair for $45 and clicked "buy it" immediately. :-)

Am I right in remembering that Alex had a pair of black ALEXs?

[pasquillacious]

Almost -- he had some black Ortlieb bags for a time, which he sold on ebay last year, otherwise we have a pair of yellow Ortlieb classic panniers which he, um, permanently borrowed from the place he worked for as bike messenger some fourteen years ago. Oh, and he has a huge black messenger bag. And a small black messenger bag. Can you tell he worked in a bike shop? Anyway, if you ever need good used bike parts, feel free to ask us first in general; Alex is almost always tinkering with some bike or another and we have lots of parts collecting dust in the basement.