If you’ve been keeping up with my articles, you won’t be surprised to hear that I’m a big fan of Nashbar’s Townie panniers. But I have to admit they have one shortcoming: They’re sometimes too big. That may surprise you, I suppose. Most complaints about panniers take the other tack. “Too small” trumps “too big” nearly every time. Not this time, however. Grocery panniers are a special case. Of course, if you’re shopping for the week, too much space is seldom a problem. (In fact, you may need a trailer!) But what if you’re just picking up a few smallish, heavy items? Like a box or two of wine, say? Left on its own in a rigid pannier, a 5-liter wine box flops about with every jolt and jostle—and a 12-pound free weight hanging from your rear rack doesn’t do much to improve your bike’s handling.

Here’s a fully packed pannier. Notice how I’ve used other items to wedge the wine box in place, as far inboard as possible:

And here’s a closer look. You can just see a 15-ounce box of Cheerios peeking out from under the Milky Ways. (Great bonk-busters, those Milky Ways!) It’s just the right size to keep the wine box in its place.

But what happens when I’m not buying Cheerios? Well, it’s the box that makes the spacer, not the contents, isn’t it? So an empty Cheerios box works just as well as filled one. Which is why, some years back, I saved up a few empty cereal boxes. I then prised the glued seams careful apart, collapsed the boxes, and folded them in half, before slipping one into every pannier. Now, when I need a spacer to keep a light-but-heavy load from shifting around, I just open the box up again, wedging the end flaps together as best I can. The result is rigid enough to make even a 5-liter wine box mind its manners. What’s that? You don’t care for Cheerios? No problem. Almost any comparably sized cereal box will do. In the photos below, I’m folding up an empty 17.5-ounce package that once held store-brand shredded wheat:

Notice that it takes up next to no space in the pannier when folded. So it won’t get in the way if you’re doing a big shopping. But any time you need a spacer, it will ready and willing to step in to fill the gap. (A hint: The empty box is…you guessed it…empty. So you can also use it to corral small, easily lost items—or protect fragile ones.)

OK. I know. An empty cereal box won’t win you any points in the local bicycle bling-a-thon. But it will make your life a little easier when you make a hurried stop at the HyperMart to pick up a little something for supper. And the price is certainly right. That’s not such a bad deal, is it?

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While walking around town a few days back, I saw these bicycle wheels left to rust away in the shady corner of a side yard. They looked pretty good, too. Nothing wrong with them that couldn’t be fixed. But then, we don’t need to repair and reuse anything here in the States. We have money to burn.

Or do we?

We love our bikes, right? And we never tire of looking at them. At least I don’t, and if I’m to judge from what others tell me, I’m not alone. So each Monday I’ll publish a bike-related picture. Most of the time it will be a photo, but don’t be surprised if a few drawings and paintings get added to the mix from time to time. I might even include a sculpture or two. (OK. A photo of a sculpture.) Anything, in short, that evokes the world on two wheels. And don’t be shy. If you have a picture you’d like to share, just email it to me. I’ll do the rest.

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“You get what you pay for.” Who hasn’t heard this? It’s certainly a frequent refrain on many cycling forums. But is it true? Is cheap stuff always trash? Are expensive things always high-quality? Well, I’ve certainly owned my share of overpriced, overhyped junk, so I’d already consider the second of these propositions convincingly refuted. But what about the first proposition? Do “cheap” and “good-quality” ever belong in the same sentence? In a word: yes.

And here’s a case in point: the Nashbar Townie pannier. Nashbar calls these “baskets” for some reason, but don’t let that fool you. They’re panniers. And at USD 20 each, you’ll seldom find a better bargain. I’ve used the same pair for eight years now. They’ve hauled groceries, camping gear, and books, not to mention the occasional bad-tempered snapping turtle—loads of up to 25 pounds per pannier, or 50 pounds per pair. Summer and winter. Rain or shine. Sleet or shower. They’ve even endured a couple of crash landings, when gusty crosswinds, loose gravel, or a twisting kickstand have brought me down with a bang.

And they’re still going strong. They show signs of wear, to be sure. The rain covers are holed in places. (From time to time I’ve had to lean my loaded bike against rough stone walls. Plus there’ve been those sliding falls. No matter. I patched the holes with rip-stop tape.) And three (of four) snap fasteners have rusted away, casualties of the salty slush of too many North Country winters. I could easily replace these snaps—and I will, sooner or later. But for now I get by with bulldog clips. They work surprisingly well.

Now here are a few candid snaps of the Townies out on the town:

The mounting system is as simple as it gets: a couple of vinyl-coated steel top hangers—the hangers have only just started to shed their vinyl overcoats, but scraps of old inner tube are standing by to step into the breach—and a bungee-and-hook. (There’s also a Velcro safety strap to keep the pannier on the rack if a harsh bump dislodges the lower hook. It hasn’t happened yet, but…) And the size? Just right for a standard brown paper grocery bag, though if you fill the bag right to the top, you won’t be able to get the pannier rain cover over the load, and I always use the rain covers, whether or not it’s raining. (The yellow rain covers are more likely to catch the eye of impatient motorists than the panniers’ black Cordura. And they keep road dust out of my groceries.) In any event, if you fill a grocery bag halfway and then fold the top over, it will fit perfectly.

A pannier will also hold two 5-liter wine boxes. I don’t recommend hauling two boxes in one pannier without a corresponding weight (approximately 25 pounds) in the other, however. An unbalanced load makes for uncertain handling. So maybe you’d better get four boxes.

There are other nice touches. Stiffeners in the Townie’s walls keep the panniers out of your spokes, and webbing loops make tolerable carry handles. (A hint: The panniers carry best if you place two together, back to back, and then grab both loops in one hand, though if you have four wine boxes you won’t want to carry them far.) There’s also a zip pocket in each pannier for the rain cover. And the panniers fold flat when not in use, minimizing drag.

Now here’s a look at my bulldog-clip “repair”:

The clips don’t get in the way when the pannier is folded, either:

Eight years. Say 24,000 miles. And still my Nashbar Townies keep on haulin’. Did I get what I paid for? I think so. Of course I could have paid three times as much. But I’m very happy I didn’t!