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Permalink Reply by jen on July 21, 2010 at 6:08am

After looking at the picture you attached I dont think carrying the chain across your shoulder is helping. The weight of it is more that likely putting pressure on the tendon in your neck.

Have you thought of using a messenger bag that is actually designed to be carried on a bike with a large amount of weight? One that can be tightened across your chest to evenly distribute the weight across your back and not pull down on your shoulder. You want your bag to be snug against your back and the stability straps can keep it from swinging when you are in motion.

I have and old chrome bag that I have been daily riding with for over 8 years with and average of 30lbs a day in it. My shoulder has been sore now and again but I make sure to stretch or massage it out. Also doing a little shoulder strength training helps alot to.

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Permalink Reply by Robot Gabe on July 21, 2010 at 10:51am

I wear a backpack for year round riding. On a typical day I carry shoes, socks, lunch, dress shirt, t-shirt and a toolkit. I have never had any back problems or any kinda pain associated with me carrying a full load. Do I look like a dork on my fixie with a back pack? Who gives a crap...

A back pack is going to be your best bet for weight placement over a messenger bag. Sometimes you just need to not watch the cool kids and wear what will be best for your health.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Studer 8.0 mi on July 21, 2010 at 10:56am

Chucko said:

Have you considered a rack for the front?

I used to use a medium-sized handlebar bag to carry stuff on my commuter, and switched to a front rack. Just to ensure I liked using the front rack, I purchased a smaller (inexpensive) rack from Nashbar.

The thing mounted really easily, and carries 10-12 lbs no problem. Plus, it only cost $13.

Turns out I loved the front rack so much I recently switched to a CETMA half-rack, with a rail. A little more costly than $13, however.

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Permalink Reply by wig [ isaac ] on July 21, 2010 at 3:57pm

interesting and fun [ WIG ]
functional and comfortable [ WIG ]

alexandria it sounds like your needing to have a backpack made to fit your body. YES i saw that you expressed the feeling of DORKey ness with a backpack. But maybe if you had a hand in its creation that feeling would melt away....

take a look at my site and even more my flickr sets on backpacks. you might see something that sways you over to the dark side of BACKPACKS..

I hope this helps. feel free to email me with any questions or text .... good luck

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Permalink Reply by Ramon Cota on July 21, 2010 at 10:37pm

Funny. I ride around with a chrome bag. Reading this post is the first time i've made the connection with messenger bag and the odd pain I have in my left shoulder.

That said, Rivbike.com has some fancy bags, with fancy prices. This one's 50 bucks, but it might be worth it. I just want to carry a hand pump, spare tube and an extra t-shirt. Seems like it might do the trick without having to mount hardware.

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Permalink Reply by payton on July 22, 2010 at 6:03am

If you're really seriously opposed to attaching a rack to your bike* -- and no, dorky panniers aren't the only thing available to attach to them, and a visit to Copenhagen Cycles or Dutch Bike Chicago should absolve you of that notion -- then a handlebar bag would be vastly more flexible than any other bike-mounted bag. Saddle bags are necessarily really tiny, and a quick release system adds a lot of weight and space to something that doesn't have much space to begin with.

That said, a handlebar bag will change the way your bike handles and isn't as aerodynamic as either a saddle bag or a rack trunk.

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