Carrying a laptop

[Chris[_3_]]

Google shows me there has been discussion on this topic before, but I'm
interested in any new opinions, and also sharing my experience.

I recently came off the bike while carrying a backpack with a laptop and
some papers, maybe 6 Kg in total. Good news was that the laptop came
off without a scratch and the bike came off pretty well too. Bad news
is that I broke my kneecap hitting the asphalt hard. It will take 6-8
weeks before I am able to get about without a splint and a stick, let
alone get on the bike or drive.

My strong suspicion is that without the backpack my knee would not have
broken: I have come off once before without much damage. So when I get
back in the saddle I need another solution. Leaving the laptop at home
is not an option.

I am thinking of panniers, or some sort of rack-top solution. In either
case, with good padding for the laptop. Any suggestions?

Thanks, Chris

PS for those Adelaide people who might be interested: I came off the
bike cycling across Victoria Park, a trip I've done hundreds of
timesbefore. At the Eastern end there is a little asphalt path leading
on to Halifax Street, and instead of coming cleanly onto the end of it,
I cut the corner slightly and my front wheel got in to soft soil next to
the path. There was a piece of timber edging next to the path, probably
left over from when it was built, which gave much the same effect as
getting stuck in tram tracks. I've written to the Adelaide City Council
about this, but have my doubts whether they will fix it.

Chris

[Zebee Johnstone]

In aus.bicycle on Fri, 22 Jun 2007 19:13:46 +0930
Chris > wrote:
>
> I am thinking of panniers, or some sort of rack-top solution. In either
> case, with good padding for the laptop. Any suggestions?
>

I use an Arkel 'commuter' pannier, which has a lightly padded laptop
sleeve.

If the 'bent goes rubber side up, then the laptop will be cushioned by
the clothes in the pannier if it lands on that side.

I've discovered that I can fill the pannier to just about bursting
with clothes and shoes and still slide the laptop in.

Zebee

[cfsmtb[_280_]]

Chris Wrote:
>
>
> I am thinking of panniers, or some sort of rack-top solution. In
> either
> case, with good padding for the laptop. Any suggestions?

Plenty of opinions out there if you want to investigate, fer starters
Ortlieb & Crumpler make stuff you maybe interested in.


--
cfsmtb

[beerwolf[_2_]]

Chris wrote:


> I am thinking of panniers, or some sort of rack-top solution. In either
> case, with good padding for the laptop. Any suggestions?

I also had a prang, via tram tracks, in Melbourne last year while carrying
a laptop in a backpack. My face did a damn good job of protecting both
backpack and the laptop.
I now use an Arkel pannier (model "The Bug") which converts to a backpack
in case I need to walk with it. It is not advertised as laptop-capable, but
there is an internal sleeve that holds the laptop nice and snug. I have no
problem carrying laptop plus cables and mouse, plus the clothes I need.

--
beerwolf

[Michael Warner[_2_]]

On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 19:13:46 +0930, Chris wrote:

> PS for those Adelaide people who might be interested: I came off the
> bike cycling across Victoria Park, a trip I've done hundreds of
> timesbefore. At the Eastern end there is a little asphalt path leading
> on to Halifax Street, and instead of coming cleanly onto the end of it,
> I cut the corner slightly and my front wheel got in to soft soil next to
> the path. There was a piece of timber edging next to the path, probably
> left over from when it was built, which gave much the same effect as
> getting stuck in tram tracks. I've written to the Adelaide City Council
> about this, but have my doubts whether they will fix it.

One of my regular groups often crosses Victoria Park, although I think it's
a bit silly on a road bike, esp at night, but we don't use that route.

--
Home page: http://members.westnet.com.au/mvw

[Chris[_3_]]

In article >,
Michael Warner > wrote:

> On Fri, 22 Jun 2007 19:13:46 +0930, Chris wrote:
>
> > PS for those Adelaide people who might be interested: I came off the
> > bike cycling across Victoria Park, a trip I've done hundreds of
> > timesbefore. At the Eastern end there is a little asphalt path leading
> > on to Halifax Street, and instead of coming cleanly onto the end of it,
> > I cut the corner slightly and my front wheel got in to soft soil next to
> > the path. There was a piece of timber edging next to the path, probably
> > left over from when it was built, which gave much the same effect as
> > getting stuck in tram tracks. I've written to the Adelaide City Council
> > about this, but have my doubts whether they will fix it.
>
> One of my regular groups often crosses Victoria Park, although I think it's
> a bit silly on a road bike, esp at night, but we don't use that route.

Thanks. It's an official bike route - BikeDirect map #9 - and is
actually a great route into town from the Eastern suburbs, avoiding
major roads, and is very popular. The lighting at night is lousy, but
my prang was 8.00 in the morning.

Regards, Chris

--
Remove finger before replying

[NickP]

I carry my laptops in a Carradice saddlebag which has a piece of sleeping
mat closed cell foam cut to fit the inside of the bag to provide some
padding to the contents. I've been carrying them to and from work on a daily
basis for almost ten years and have had zero problems. I even carried a
small laptop in the saddlebag when we were touring Europe for eight weeks in
2004. http://www.users.on.net/~njpayne/bikestuff/Switzerland/altdorf.jpg.

Nick

"Chris" > wrote in message
...
> Google shows me there has been discussion on this topic before, but I'm
> interested in any new opinions, and also sharing my experience.
>
> I recently came off the bike while carrying a backpack with a laptop and
> some papers, maybe 6 Kg in total. Good news was that the laptop came
> off without a scratch and the bike came off pretty well too. Bad news
> is that I broke my kneecap hitting the asphalt hard. It will take 6-8
> weeks before I am able to get about without a splint and a stick, let
> alone get on the bike or drive.
>
> My strong suspicion is that without the backpack my knee would not have
> broken: I have come off once before without much damage. So when I get
> back in the saddle I need another solution. Leaving the laptop at home
> is not an option.
>
> I am thinking of panniers, or some sort of rack-top solution. In either
> case, with good padding for the laptop. Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks, Chris
>
> PS for those Adelaide people who might be interested: I came off the
> bike cycling across Victoria Park, a trip I've done hundreds of
> timesbefore. At the Eastern end there is a little asphalt path leading
> on to Halifax Street, and instead of coming cleanly onto the end of it,
> I cut the corner slightly and my front wheel got in to soft soil next to
> the path. There was a piece of timber edging next to the path, probably
> left over from when it was built, which gave much the same effect as
> getting stuck in tram tracks. I've written to the Adelaide City Council
> about this, but have my doubts whether they will fix it.
>
> Chris

[SomeGuy[_51_]]

Chris Wrote:
> Google shows me there has been discussion on this topic before, but I'm
> interested in any new opinions, and also sharing my experience.
>
> I recently came off the bike while carrying a backpack with a laptop
> and
> some papers, maybe 6 Kg in total. Good news was that the laptop came
> off without a scratch and the bike came off pretty well too. Bad news
> is that I broke my kneecap hitting the asphalt hard. It will take 6-8
> weeks before I am able to get about without a splint and a stick, let
> alone get on the bike or drive.
>
> My strong suspicion is that without the backpack my knee would not have
> broken: I have come off once before without much damage. So when I get
> back in the saddle I need another solution. Leaving the laptop at home
> is not an option.
>
> I am thinking of panniers, or some sort of rack-top solution. In
> either
> case, with good padding for the laptop. Any suggestions?
>
> Thanks, Chris
>
> PS for those Adelaide people who might be interested: I came off the
> bike cycling across Victoria Park, a trip I've done hundreds of
> timesbefore. At the Eastern end there is a little asphalt path leading
> on to Halifax Street, and instead of coming cleanly onto the end of it,
> I cut the corner slightly and my front wheel got in to soft soil next
> to
> the path. There was a piece of timber edging next to the path,
> probably
> left over from when it was built, which gave much the same effect as
> getting stuck in tram tracks. I've written to the Adelaide City
> Council
> about this, but have my doubts whether they will fix it.
>
> Chris
I used to stick my laptop case inside my deuter pannier (one of the
larger models). I figure the bag within a bag setup should give it some
extra padding, and if I need to carry extra stuff I can just take the
other pannier too.

Now however I'm on a bike with no easy way to attach a pannier rack...
damn.


--
SomeGuy

[treadly&me[_22_]]

For what it's worth...

Contributors to a
recent discussion (http://treadly.thingoid.com/2007/02/16/notebook-computer-on-bike/
"Carrying a notebook computer on your bike") I
had on this topic mostly seemed to come down in favour of using
panniers to haul computers.

My latest thoughts are that, in the event of a crash, a computer is
just as likely to be damaged regardless of whether it's on your back or
in a saddle bag. And as your experience illustrates, maybe that kind of
weight is not a good thing to have on your back while you're having a
close encounter with the pavement.

So I guess if I were lugging a computer these days, I'd go for the
pannier also. But I find I'm OK transporting my data back and forth on
a portable disk: it's a fraction of a the weight and size of even the
smallest notebook computer, it fits in just about anywhere (backpack or
pannier), and it's (arguably) less likely to get damaged in the event of
a bingle.


--
treadly&me

[TimC]

On 2007-06-25, treadly&amp me (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
>
> For what it's worth...
>
> Contributors to a
> recent discussion (http://treadly.thingoid.com/2007/02/16/notebook-computer-on-bike/
> "Carrying a notebook computer on your bike") I
> had on this topic mostly seemed to come down in favour of using
> panniers to haul computers.
>
> My latest thoughts are that, in the event of a crash, a computer is
> just as likely to be damaged regardless of whether it's on your back or
> in a saddle bag. And as your experience illustrates, maybe that kind of
> weight is not a good thing to have on your back while you're having a
> close encounter with the pavement.
>
> So I guess if I were lugging a computer these days, I'd go for the
> pannier also. But I find I'm OK transporting my data back and forth on
> a portable disk: it's a fraction of a the weight and size of even the
> smallest notebook computer, it fits in just about anywhere (backpack or
> pannier), and it's (arguably) less likely to get damaged in the event of
> a bingle.

But some consideration also needs to be made for daily wear and tear.
Vibration is not good for laptop (says he whose laptop crashed one day
simply because we went over a series of potholes while I was
programming on a bus) harddrives, even when powered down. Make sure
it is padded, but that if the laptop has gone straight into the bag
since being powered on, there is still enough ventilation to allow it
to cool down in a reasonable amount of time and not sit there
festering in the heat.

--
TimC
Radioactive cats have 18 half-lives.

[thefathippy]

On Jun 22, 7:43 pm, Chris > wrote:

>
> My strong suspicion is that without the backpack my knee would not have
> broken: I have come off once before without much damage. So when I get
> back in the saddle I need another solution. Leaving the laptop at home
> is not an option.
>
> I am thinking of panniers, or some sort of rack-top solution. In either
> case, with good padding for the laptop. Any suggestions?

Sorry Chris, no suggestions, but I'd really like to know why you think
that without a backpack your knee would not have broken. Are you a
contortionist? ;^)

Tony F

[EuanB[_81_]]

Chris Wrote:
> Google shows me there has been discussion on this topic before, but I'm
> interested in any new opinions, and also sharing my experience.
>
> I recently came off the bike while carrying a backpack with a laptop
> and
> some papers, maybe 6 Kg in total. Good news was that the laptop came
> off without a scratch and the bike came off pretty well too. Bad news
> is that I broke my kneecap hitting the asphalt hard. It will take 6-8
> weeks before I am able to get about without a splint and a stick, let
> alone get on the bike or drive.
Ouch. Hope you're riding pain free soon.

chris Wrote:
>
> I am thinking of panniers, or some sort of rack-top solution. In
> either
> case, with good padding for the laptop. Any suggestions?
I use Ortlieb back roller classics. They're big enough to accomdate a
laptop bag, although recently I've taken to just using my Chrome
Metropolis. Put the lappy in that, put the bag in the pannier. May
seem a bit wierd to some folks but seeing as some days I need to take
the laptop home and other days I don't I at least have the option of
leaving the panniers at work, before I started using the Met I didn't
have that option.

I'm not concerned about wear and tear on the laptop, it's a work
computer so if it gets damaged it doesn't come out of my pocket. All
data's saved to server drives so no risk of data loss there. in four
years I've had a cracked screen and a cracked cooling tube. Cracked
screen was clumsiness on my part, the cracked freon tube was general
wear and tear which happens on laptops not subjected to the rigours of
bike commuting, so I'm told.


--
EuanB

[TimC]

On 2007-06-25, EuanB (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
> in four
> years I've had a cracked screen and a cracked cooling tube. Cracked
> screen was clumsiness on my part, the cracked freon tube was general
> wear and tear which happens on laptops not subjected to the rigours of
> bike commuting, so I'm told.

I wasn't aware of such a thing as a freon tube in a laptop. Does your
laptop form a convenient and aesthetic piece of furniture as well?

--
TimC
>You seem to be implying here that one gets rich after gaining a PhD?
Of course one does. The other 99 out of a hundred get bitter.
-- Paula responding to TimC on ARK

[Dave]

On Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:33:05 +1000, TimC wrote:

> Does your laptop form a convenient and aesthetic piece of furniture as
> well?

You really need to work on your pick up lines.

--
Dave Hughes |
God was my co-pilot, but we crashed in the Andes,
and I had to eat him - adferraro