Comments on: Commuting 101: Carrying Your Laptop

By: rod

rod — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:26:38 +0000

I’ve fallen twice with my Dell laptop in an Arkel Commuter, and both of us are doing just fine.

By: Noah

Noah — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:13:34 +0000

It’s not a big deal. I’ve fallen with my laptop in a pannier a few times, and it’s the same one shown in the photo at the beginning of this article. The handlebars, wheel, and other parts of the bike hit the ground first anyway, and if you pack your work clothes around the laptop, it’s got even more padding. I’m not saying there’s no risk of damage. I’m saying a few falls hasn’t hurt my laptop in more than 3 years of commuting with the same machine.

By: matt

matt — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 22:06:18 +0000

I am still fishing for the right solution. I have a 14″ Thinkpad T400s with an SSD (so no worries about disk problems). I place it in a form-fitting sleeve whenever I take it somewhere.

At first I put it in my laptop backpack, which had two problems. First, I got really sweaty (even in winter) where the shoulder straps rested on me. Second, one time I fell over at a stoplight and the laptop bag took a hard hit, putting a couple of cracks.

So I switched to putting the laptop backpack in a basket mounted on a rear rack. This has been great so far (no sweat, literally) though I worry that it will still be damaged if I fell over again (yes it’s bunjeed down).

I’ve thought about getting a trunk bag or pannier to put it in. I would worry though that if I fell over again, the entire weight of the bike would come crashing down on the laptop and potentially crush it. So I’ve held off buying one.

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:25:01 +0000

I started with the Arkel commuter, but then I started taking my work clothes in with me and that didn’t have the room. i also needed to have a place to dump bike layers when the ride home was warmer than the ride in to work. So I switched to the Arkel Utility Bag. Has a suspended sleeve to hold the laptop and PLENTY of room for the extra clothes.
Take the laptop out and it’s a great utility basket for shopping and such. this is the bag for you. I also use the Arkel tailrider for the bike tools and power bars etc….

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:40:30 +0000

I’m with you, Steven. Waterfield designs bags are hands-down the best out there.

http://www.sfbags.com

They make ‘em in the USA and their customer service is unbelievable.

By: Steven

Steven — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:10:21 +0000

Short and sweet: I get all my bags and cases from Waterfield Designs. Best of the best.

http://www.sfbags.com

By: Franklin

Franklin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 04:30:13 +0000

I keep my laptop in a jansport laptop bookbag, bungeed to my cetma 7 rail rack. Sometimes i put the bag in a milkccrate on top of my rear rack.

By: mb

mb — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:14:05 +0000

I slip my Macbook (shut it down, not sleep) into an IDEE laptop sleeve with memory padding. Then it goes into the Ortlieb Rear Roller Classic on my Dahon MU P24.

So far so good.

By: Yangmusa

Yangmusa — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:32:55 +0000

If I really must bring a laptop, I have an old (& tiny) Fujitsu Lifebook that I replaced the hard drive with a compact flash card. No moving parts to get rattled by the bike, but I still put some bubble wrap under the laptop sleeve in my bag.

Most of the time, I don’t need to bring a laptop. I have a Psion which meets most of my mobile computing needs (yes, even in this day and age…)

By: Ian

Ian — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:10:55 +0000

My employer ponied up for a timbuk2 messenger BACKPACK. It’s the coolest.