Thule Pack 'n Pedal Commuter pannier

Thule's Commuter pannier is part of its Pack 'n Pedal range of racks and luggage. It works best with the Thule Pack 'n Pedal Tour Rack, though Thule reckons it works with 'virtually any rack'.

The Thule Commuter pannier comes in left- and right-hand specific versions. Inside, there is a main compartment with a sleeve that will easily fit a 15in or 13.3in laptop and you might even cram a 17in behemoth in there.

At 19 litres claimed capacity the bag should be more spacious than the Carradice Super C A4 we reviewed a little while ago. In practice the way the Carradice bag works means you can get loads more in. With a laptop inside the Thule bag, you can just squeeze in a lunchbox on its side, whereas in the Carradice with the same laptop there's still loads of room.

The mounting system is clever. Pull the blue toggle and the hooks rotate to release the top bar of the rack. The bag is held down by a strong magnet on the rack that grabs a steel plate inside the rag. It holds the bag securely, but I found the spring-loaded hooks a bit of a fiddle, especially with the magnet engaged when the bag is not perfectly horizontal.

The hooks are mounted on a plate that rotates horizontally into the bag, leaving a flat aluminium surface with nothing to snag. The bag comes with a nicely padded messenger style shoulder strap, so it is really comfortable to carry around for longer periods of time.

Though it's designed to work best with the Thule Pack 'n Pedal Tour rack, it comes with a little adapter that allows you to mount the magnet on racks of other makes. I tried it with a Tortec Ultralite and that worked fine. Make sure your strut diameter is compatible before you buy.

The bag has a roll top closure, held down by with a strap and buckle that is fed through a little loop near the top. This works well enough, but the metal buckle is different from what you see on most bags. Unlike the usual backpack type buckle, you can't easily open or close this one with one hand.

A small pocket that will take keys and a wallet sits underneath the strap. There's a grab handle on the top of the closure though this doesn't really work at all with the bag open.

On the outside, there is a special transparent pocket that will take a rear light. The idea is that you can be visible without needing any special brackets. It's a neat solution in theory, but I prefer proper all round visibility from the back of a rack, rather than from a pocket in a pannier which will throw more light towards the side it hangs. If you're buying a single one for UK use, make sure you get the right-hand version if you're planning on using the special rear light pocket.

There is a fine mesh pocket on the front of the pannier, handy for storing the included waterproof cover. On the rear-light-pocket side are a couple of straps with metal buckles that allow you to cinch the bag down when you're not carrying much. A neat feature, but not one I have missed on other panniers. When the bag is half-full, the strap system that holds the roll top rolled up isn't particularly effective. I would have preferred this to work better over side-compression.

You'd think a roll-top closure would indicate a completely waterproof bag, but this isn't the case, hence the waterproof cover. The pannier coped fine in mild rain without the cover, but I wouldn't trust my laptop inside in a prolonged downpour. The cover isn't attached to the bag, so it's easy to lose.

The waterproof cover also renders the rear light pocket rather useless, which is ironic as you need visibility all the more when it's raining. I think it's a shame Thule didn't just go for completely waterproof construction, seeing as they've used a waterproof closure system. Who really wants to deal with the faff of a waterproof cover?

Overall, the bag looks and feels like it's really well made. The bottom, for example, is a one piece rubberized moulding; it should be fine to put your bag down on wet surfaces. Though the bag isn't waterproof, Thule claim that the main material is weatherproof and breathable, and features built-in reflective fabric. A quick test with a torch in a dark room only really makes the logo on the front (as in visible from the side when mounted on rack) stand out.

The Thule Commuter pannier retails for a £100 (though it can be found for £90 online) for a single bag. You can buy a pair of Ortlieb front panniers for that - and they weigh the same as a single Thule pannier. Those are the penalties you do pay for all those clever design features.

Verdict

The Thule Pack 'n Pedal commuter pannier is cleverly designed and very comfortable to carry off the bike. The price for that is both cost and weight.