Reviews

1. Rated 4 out of 5

   Matthew – August 22, 2020

   I have had my Arkel commuter pannier for close to 5 years now and can say with confidence that it is one of the best purchases that I have ever made. Over 5000 miles of commuting and touring rides in all conditions and it has held up fantastically. The Camlock system is better than any other pannier I have ever used and once the bag is secured you know it is not going anywhere.

   Something to keep in mind, when they say this is for commuting, they mean just that, you will be able to fit a laptop, keys, wallet, cell phone, a jacket and possible a pair of shoes but not much else. But truth be told, you really dont want to cram much more than that in anways since you need to be able to take it off the bike and carry it with you. I recently purchased a pair of Orca’s for touring as this bag doesn’t work for more than day trips.

   Something else to keep in mind, The shoulder strap needs to be tucked into the bag when you are riding, I have forgotten to tuck it in more than once and it eventually got tangled in the wheel and broke the plastic clips that attached it to the bag. Luckily its a cheap part and is easy to replace, but something to think about.

2. Rated 5 out of 5

   Frank – April 3, 2020

   I’ve used this bag almost daily for about 6 years (summer, winter, snow, rain and muck). It’s top notch and exceptionally durable. It’s not rated as waterproof, but you need to be in heavy rain for anything to really get wet. It is narrow, which is why I originally got it (better heel clearance on a short wheelbase mountain bike), and that can make digging into it harder. Rolling clothes and standing them up goes a long way to fixing that. It’s a just the right size. Fits a computer, work clothes, phones, and lunch. It’s not made for a massive grocery run. The magnetic clip is remarkably convenient. It looks totally professional when the rack attachments are covered. My biggest complaint is that I can’t hurt it, and I’m having trouble justifying purchasing the Briefcase Urban Pannier, which I’d love to try now that I am on a touring bike with a longer chain stay. As others have said, I’ve also had excellent experiences with Arkel’s customer service. I rarely write reviews, but this is a product that deserves props

3. Rated 4 out of 5

   Fernando NYC – November 12, 2017

   Bought the bag about six weeks ago, and so far it’s held up nicely. Here is my list:

   PROS

   -super secure mounting system
   -quality exterior fabric
   -comfortable to carry as a shoulder bag
   -magnetic closure works like a charm (you can click it or undo it with one hand!)
   -solid internal plate protects your laptop nicely
   -mounting hardware can be hid away with a nice Velcro flap
   -beautiful design

   CONS

   -exterior pockets are a bit small, so you can’t fit very much in them (e.g., if you want to put bike tools + charging cables, they won’t zip closed
   -tapered shape means it is hard to stand up, even if you lean it against a wall

   The one thing I’d note if you’re new to panniers is to be mindful of the size – it’s not very big. If you’re used to carrying a lot of gear say, in a backpack, you’ll be leaving a lot of stuff at home. That said, it fits my 15’ laptop and charger, an iPad, lunch and a light jacket + other small items, but if you’re like me and like to bring a notebook/papers and shoes and some bike tools, you will not have enough space. I purchased the “Shopper” unit which is where I keep my clothes and winter gear and the Commuter is mostly for my work stuff. The Bug backpack may have been a better choice for me, but I just like the way the Commuter bag looks and the fact that it forces me to carry only essential as opposed to packing everything in it.

   Overall, I am impressed with quality and security of the mounting system. The internal stitching in my internal pocket did start becoming undone, but the folks at Arkel were cool about letting me take it to the local cobbler here in NYC to get it repaired and reimbursed me for it.

   If my Commuter were to disappear tomorrow, you bet I’d order a new one.

4. Rated 3 out of 5

   Newbie – September 15, 2017

   I find the opening small but you can, with patience, fit a lot in it. Since the bottom is tapered it is hard to load because it won’t stand up at all.
   The metal hook on the elastic got caught in my axel which brought me to a sudden stop. It ripped off the bag and wrapped around the axel so it was a bit of work to get off. I am not sure what shape to rebend it back to. It’s hard to tell from the photos. I suspect that it wasn’t through the small loop on the bag. I didn’t realize how critical that was to prevent injury or damage. Other than that – it’s an ok bag.

5. Rated 5 out of 5

   Andre – June 13, 2017

   I use the bag on my daily ride to the office (20 kilometers, mostly gravel roads). Easy to attach and to remove. After six months absolutely secure, best system I have seen so far. I can also take it with me to client meetings, so no need to transfer things into another bag.

6. Rated 5 out of 5

   Shawn – December 13, 2016

   I’ve had my Arkel Commuter pannier for ten years, and in that time I’ve used it on countless daily commutes. I can’t speak to the current design (it’s changed somewhat since my model), but it terms of quality and practicality, it’s top notch. The bag is also effectively indestructible – nothing has needed repair. It just keeps going.

7. Rated 3 out of 5

   Ultradianguy – July 8, 2016

   After reading a review of equipment for bike commuting, I thought the commuter pannier was going to be fantastic. I bought it based on that review – and I’m basically pretty happy with it – but it’s not as perfect as the review indicated. Here’s what I’ve found:
   Aesthetics – looks great, and I’m very comfortable using it for business. I don’t need to transfer things into another bag. Construction quality is excellent.
   Hanging on bike — I found it difficult to get it to clear my heel. It hangs down quite low and is only slightly tapered — by adjusting the hooks all the way to one side, adjusting the stabilizer to one side, AND extending my rack to it’s extreme position, I did get it to clear – but it was tough. It seems to be working fine now but it took a lot of tweaking.
   Space – the opening is very narrow – that is in depth. I find it hard to insert and remove things, and hard to open the top enough to really see what’s in there. There’s a nylon rain shield at the top which is presumably intended to protect contents from rain. What’s strange is you can’t pull it all the way shut. It narrows the opening but doesn’t close it. So on the one hand, you can’t open the top very wide, but on the other hand, the drawstring closure doesn’t close it all the way either. It’s not very useful – though it could be. My Axiom bags have a similar feature that actually works.
   Features – I love the magnetic clip. I really like the two external pockets – though I wish there was an additional outside pocket set up for keys – with some kind of key ring clip so keys can be very handy but not risk falling out. The internal pockets are nice – but as I said before, it’s so narrow that it’s hard to see what you’ve got in there. I love that you can cover up the rack hardware so it really doesn’t look like a pannier. Nice carry strap and you don’t have to take it off to ride.
   I plan to keep this because there are very few commuting business panniers around lately and this seems to be the best. Two others I liked are discontinued. It’s very good – but it could be great.

8. Rated 4 out of 5

   BTW Dad – June 22, 2016

   My boys gave me this bag for Christmas last year, and I use it on my daily commute, sun, rain, or snow. It holds my laptop, a change of clothes, and lunch, and goes onto and off of my bike in a flash, yet is absolutely rock-solid attached while I’m riding. Outstanding, quality product.

9. Rated 5 out of 5

   Andy – May 4, 2016

   I’m a sucker for good customer service and products and Arkel has both in spades. This bag is fully functional, comes ready to fit my back rack w/out adjustment, and does everything I need to do. On top of that, an agent called to cancel my 2 day shipping ($22 or so) because it was going to arrive in 2 days anyway -saving me that money. HUGE fan.

10. Rated 5 out of 5

    Alyssa – November 28, 2015

    I love this bag. Yes, it is not cheap. But it is so worth it. It is everything you want in a briefcase bike bag.

    It is tough so it won’t be damaged in hard use on a bike. It is good looking with a comfortable strap so you can bring it to the office. It has a lot of space — more than you’d think looking at the external dimensions — so you can bring what you need. It has some great external zipper pockets as well to hold smaller items conveniently.

    And best of all it has the most fantastic secure system to attach it to your bike rack. This system makes it super easy to attach and to remove the bag, but also amazingly secure. I bet Arkel has a bunch of patents for this system – totally deserved. After using this bag, I cannot imagine using any other bike bag system. In fact, I went out and bought another Arkel bag (I decided I wanted a bag for groceries) because I love this system so much.

11. Rated 5 out of 5

    Paul – July 13, 2015

    I have been using a commuter pannier for three months and I am extremely satisfied with the product. I wish I got it straight away instead of purchasing a low end pair of panniers that died within a year.

    I use it nearly every working day to carry my laptop (a 15″ MacBook Pro) and it feels completely safe (the laptop is kept inside a thin sleeve). The commuter pannier is large enough to also carry everything else I need daily including few papers, basic cycling hardware (rainlegs, a light cable lock…) as well as a small preschool school bag, and more on occasions.

    Even under medium rain, which happened infrequently, everything inside has always been completely dry, including papers stuffed in the external pocket. Today, it still looks like brand new.

    The mounting system just works and the pannier is very easy to install and remove. It definitely wouldn’t fit the original rack of my vintage bike (I haven’t even tried) but it fits a modern, unbranded pannier rack I bought for this purpose.

    Finally, the commuter pannier is elegant enough to be brought in meetings with corporate clients, and the mounting system in the back is so discrete that no one seemed to have noticed so far this actually is a bike pannier.