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BUYER'S GUIDE

Best bike pannier bags and pannier racks 2025 — our ultimate guide to all your cycling luggage possibilities

The best pannier racks and pannier bags will allow you to carry everything you need on the bike, whether you're touring, commuting or running errands

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Are bicycle panniers the best way to carry stuff? They certainly can be, depending on your bike and individual needs. In this guide, we'll take a look at your bike luggage options and help you choose from the best panniers and pannier racks available.


Bicycle panniers make it easy to carry stuff that's too bulky for your pockets or too heavy for a backpack, and it's this versatility that makes them for many people the best way to carry your gear. The best bicycle panniers are waterproof to protect your stuff, durable and easy to fit and remove from the bike.

For commuting, look for bicycle panniers that are large enough for a laptop and provide organising pockets for other stuff. For touring, durability and capacity are key, but don't be tempted to go too big; you can always leave the kitchen sink at home

The best pannier racks are stiff so your panniers don't sway, and designed to fit around complications like lowered seatstays and disc brakes.

For more information on panniers and racks, visit our FAQ section at the bottom. To learn about our review process and how we compile our buyer's guides, check out this article on how road.cc reviews products.

The best pannier bags and pannier racks: our top picks

Best pannier bags

Altura Thunderstorm City 20 Pannier

Altura Thunderstorm City 20 Pannier

9
Best waterproof pannier bag
Buy now for £64.99 from Tweeks Cycles
Rugged
Waterproof
Reflective
Tough as old boots and spares are available
No real issues, but it is on the expensive side

The Altura Thunderstorm City 20 Pannier delivers fully waterproof load-carrying capability in a smart and durable package, with good commuter features. It could lend itself to a spot of touring, too.

It's fully waterproof with a roll-top closure to keep out the rain, has reflective accents all over it to maximise visibility, a padded laptop sleeve for devices up to 15in built into the structure inside, plus a zipped interior pocket, sleeve pocket and key loop.

It attaches with a robust and high quality Klickfix mechanism that incorporates a push-button release, making it a superfast job to fit and remove the bag, once all the initial fitting has been set up. The grab loop makes it easy to carry and there are loops if you want to add your own carry strap.

Oxford Aqua V32 Double Pannier Bag

Oxford Aqua V32 Double Pannier Bag

9
Best value pair of pannier bags
Buy now for £48.74 from Winstanleys Bikes
Tough
Great value
Waterproof
Mounts easily and securely
Stiff roll-top closure
No option to use singly

The Oxford Aqua V32 Double Pannier Bag is a rugged and incredibly protective load-carrying option at a brilliant price. These linked panniers are not the lightest, but they're very, very tough.

The two 16 litre bags (making up 32 litres of carrying capacity) are made from a durable fully waterproof fabric, with a roll-top closure. Each has a zipped compartment on the outside as well as reflective accents. The rear of each bag section is stiffened and there's a toughened bumper at the bottom.

Upso Potters Pannier

Upso Potters Pannier

9
Best pannier bag for durability
Buy now for £75 from Upso Bags
Does a great job of keeping its contents dry
Extremely tough
Made from recycled material
Heavier than most panniers

The Upso Potters pannier is a striking-looking thing which should last for years and years. It does an excellent job of keeping its cargo dry and secured to the bike.

Upso makes a range of bags from mostly recycled materials, most prominently the tarpaulins that go on the sides of trucks. It also uses things like fire-hoses and seatbelts where possible.

Take a peek inside this pannier and you'll see a label sewn in, saying it was handmade by Sue. That's a familiar touch for anyone who has a Carradice bag, and in fact Upso is a sub-brand run by the folk at Carradice. As with Carradice products, the bags are handmade in England and they do a cracking job. The design is relatively simple, without much in the way of bells, whistles or indeed pockets, but it's all neatly finished.

Ortlieb Vario 20

Ortlieb Vario 20

8
Best pannier bag and backpack
Buy now for £151 from Tredz
One minute it's a pannier...
...next minute it's a backpack
Fully waterproof
Padded laptop sleeve built in
Zipped outside pocket
Hook for cover can occasionally snag
It's expensive

Is it a pannier or is it a rucksack? The Ortlieb Vario 20 is part part pannier, part backpack meaning it can be attached to your bike when you're riding, and put on your back when you get off and the innovative flap system makes it easy to transition from one to the next.

As usual with an Ortlieb pannier, you can adjust the mounts along its rail to suit your rack, and an adjustable arm near the bottom keeps the pannier in place while you're riding. 

On the other side of the bag is a full-on backpack – that is, chunky padded shoulder straps that are adjustable, as well as a chest strap to keep it in place, and a decent amount of cushioning along the whole panel. But the really clever thing about this system is the built-in rotating cover that keeps things looking neat and protected on the side you're not using.

More of our favourite pannier bags

Carradice Super C A4 Pannier

Carradice Super C A4 Pannier

9
Buy now for £64 from Carradice
Swallows a laptop, lunch and sundries easily
Incredibly hardwearing

This is a made-in-Britain pannier that does what it says it will and is built to last.

Carradice luggage has a well deserved reputation among mile-eaters for being tough, no-nonsense and durable. The Super C A4 pannier, specifically designed — as its name implies — to take A4 files and similarly shaped objects, certainly lives up to that.

As with everything in Carradice's Super C range, it's made from cotton duck, a traditional heavy, waterproof waxed cotton fabric. Cotton duck is incredibly hard-wearing and will keep your stuff dry for decades to come. It can be repaired easily by stitching or gluing, and can be reproofed with reproofing wax. It also gives Carradice bags an idiosyncratic retro look.

Altura Heritage 16L Pannier

Altura Heritage 16L Pannier

9
Buy now for £39.99 from Cycle Store
Heritage looks
Light mounting options
No horizontal adjustability

The Altura Heritage 16L Pannier is excellent. It's very well made, very weatherproof, and very versatile – you can use it up front on a lowrider rack or fit it at the back, in any weather, or even heft it as a shoulder bag.

It's made from 12oz waxed canvas, and although Altura only describes it as water resistant – perhaps because the zip on the 'lid' isn't waterproof – they're being quite modest. The fabric is very good at repelling rain; like, all-day rain.

Tester Tass writes: "I think the Altura Heritage is excellent. I really like the look, and the fact you can use it as a shoulder bag. The fabric is tough and weatherproof, it's a great size, and it includes light-mounting loops. You can buy cheaper 'I'm a pannier' panniers, but if you like the heritage looks and shoulderable versatility, it's well worth the money."

Ortlieb Back-Roller 40L Panniers

Ortlieb Back-Roller 40L Panniers

8
Buy now for £112.49 from Sigma Sports
Tough
Weatherproof
Highly adjustable
Spares available
Good environmental credentials
Expensive
Best when full or near full

The Ortlieb Back-Roller is a German-made classic. Voluminous, tough, water resistant and with a wide range of spares available, these panniers should last for years. Add in a five-year warranty, tool-free adjustability and good environmental credentials, and Ortlieb has delivered another winner for your world tour. 

The Back-Roller should work with just about every rack out there, and you can make all the adjustments required without tools, which is handy when you're travelling and you want to keep weight to a minimum.

Inside there's a large open space with just a drop-in pocket and a smaller zipped mesh pocket. 

Vaude Aqua Back Light panniers

Vaude Aqua Back Light panniers

8
Buy now for £120 from Vaude
Extremely light
Waterproof
Highly adjustability without tools
Great eco credentials and short supply chain
Moderate 5kg capacity
The closure system works best when full

Vaude's Aqua Back light panniers are tough, waterproof and lightweight, at just over 1.2kg in weight. The capacity is modest at just over 19 litres each, but the design means you can stuff them, and they work best when nearly full. Coupled with a roll-top closure system and external netting, this makes them more suitable for touring over commuting.

A plastic plate at the rear helps the Aqua Back Light panniers retain their shape and also supports the internal pockets. The waterproof material used for the bags themselves makes them tough as well as light, and the super-versatile mounting system is a doddle to use.

They're eco-friendly too, made from Econyl which avoids the environmentally problematic PVC. 

Oxford Aqua V20 Single QR Pannier Bag

Oxford Aqua V20 Single QR Pannier Bag

8
Buy now for £33.74 from Winstanleys Bikes
Rugged
Cost effective
Waterproof
Easy to use secure rack mounting
Stiff roll-top closure
Not the lightest

The Oxford Aqua V20 Single QR Pannier Bag is affordable, easy to use and adjust, and utterly bombproof and protective. One of the first things you notice about the Aqua V20 is how robustly built it is. This is no ultralight pared-down carrier, it's a solidly made, indestructible-feeling bag designed to keep its contents safe and dry no matter what's going on outside.

The fabric is tough and fully waterproof, with a roll-top closure ensuring it stays that way. It's a single compartment design, with a zipped exterior pocket and lots of reflective accents. The rear panel of the bag is stiffened and there's a toughened hard plastic bumper at the base of the bag.

Best pannier racks

SKS Infinity Universal MIK Luggage Rack

SKS Infinity Universal MIK Luggage Rack

9
Best universal pannier rack
Buy now for £95.99 from Tweeks Cycles
Easy to attach
Carries any panniers
Secure and quiet when mounted
Not meant for carbon frames

The SKS Infinity Universal MIK Luggage rack is an excellent universal rack that fits almost every frame and carries bags securely and quietly. This rack is aimed at those who want to carry bags but whose bikes don't feature rack eyelets and reviewer Josh says that SKS has "smashed it".

SKS says this rack can safely carry 12kg and coming in at 975g, it's not particularly heavy. Josh says, "when riding without bags I forgot it was even there". 

If you have an aluminium or steel bike without rack mounts, the SKS Infinity rack is an excellent option but it's worth noting that if your frame is carbon, you should look elsewhere. 

Elops Seat Post Pannier Rack 500

Elops Seat Post Pannier Rack 500

9
Best value pannier rack
Buy now for £24.99 from Decathlon
Easy to fit
Works with most bikes
Removable side rails if you're not using panniers
Works with panniers and beam/trunk bags
Fit-and-forget piece of kit
Tough as old boots and spares are available
Bolts quite hard to tighten
Not for carbon seatposts

The Elops Seat Post Pannier Rack is an excellent choice - it's cheap, tough, easy to install and great at carrying loads securely whether in a beam bag or panniers. Attach it to your bike's seatpost and you can use it to carry panniers or a trunk bag up to a 10kg max.

The Elops Seat Post Pannier Rack lets you turn your road bike, mountain bike, hybrid or e-bike into a moderate load carrier. Installation is a breeze and the rack comes with four bolts and a split sleeve (Decathlon describes it as a washer) that goes around the seatpost to stop it getting scratched and marked. It's designed for seatposts from 25-32mm in diameter.

Once the pannier or bag is on the rack it really is a case of fit and forget. Provided you've tightened the bolts correctly there's absolutely no swinging or swaying whatsoever, the whole setup is rigid. 

Tailfin Carbon AeroPack

Tailfin Carbon AeroPack

8
Best rack and bag system
Buy now for £296 from Tailfin
Beautifully made
Fully waterproof
Mounts in seconds
More capacity than a seatpack
AERO
Expensive
Some bikes might struggle to accommodate it

The Tailfin Carbon AeroPack is a really well-executed seatpack that's simple, stable and can be fitted and removed in seconds. It's about the neatest solution for adding some storage space to pretty much any bike. Yes, it's expensive. And no, it's not as versatile as some other setups. But it does the job it's designed to do extremely well, and it's a lovely thing that's a joy to use.

Tailfin's main claim for the AeroPack is that it's 'The fastest way to carry gear – on any bike'. Partly that's an aerodynamic claim. The AeroPack design means that the bag is tucked away in the dirty air behind the rider, and the parabolic carbon arch that supports it is designed to cut cleanly through the air too. 

There's a carbon arch keeping everything steady laterally, and inside the bag there's a lightweight alloy frame to give the whole thing structure. When you're riding, the AeroPack sits there anonymously. It's entirely rattle-free and impressively stiff. There's no lateral movement at all when you're out of the saddle, and most of the time you forget it's there at all.

More of our favourite pannier racks

Ortlieb Quick Rack

Ortlieb Quick Rack

9
Buy now for £82 from Tredz
Peerless stability and total absence of rattles
Very light
Incredibly quick and easy to fit and remove to almost any bike
Very pricey when compared with most conventional alternatives
Not always compatible with mudgards

Ortlieb's Quick Rack is an affordable and versatile luggage system for bikes with eyelets, and even frames without as long as they're not made out of carbon. The rack is super quick to mount and take off, making it an excellent, temporary option for carrying a decent amount of cargo. 

At first glance it might look just like a regular, old-school rack but it takes just 15 seconds to put on and five seconds to take off - a nod to its Project 15-5 codename. This is made possible by the hook system that attaches the rack to pegs attached to the M5 or M6 eyelets.

The rack has a maximum load of 20kg and its 10mm diameter tubing is constructed of aluminium. Weightwise, this one comes in at 580g but Ortlieb also offers a light version that weighs 440g.

Topeak Uni Super Tourist DX Disc

Topeak Uni Super Tourist DX Disc

8
Buy now for £43.99 from Bike Inn
Solidly made and finished
Straightforward to install and adjust
Impressive capacity
Excellent lateral stiffness
Works well with different luggage
Trickier to repair than steel

The Topeak Uni Super Tourist DX Disc Rear Rack is a beefy aluminium alloy model reckoned capable of carrying 26kg (55lb) and designed to be compatible with most frames and different types of luggage. The engineering and finish are excellent, and it has proven straightforward to adjust and switch between bikes and different luggage. 

The top platform 'MTX Quick Track Plate' is dual-purpose. Designed to integrate with Topeak's in-house luggage, it also serves as a moderately effective arse saver, though tester Shaun said he'd still be more inclined towards a proper mudguard. The two-tier structure also means panniers and top bags can co-exist without access hassles.

The rear lighting mount is intended primarily for Topeak's Redlite but it will accommodate others. In fact, the beefy tubes will also work with lights with inserts for aero seatposts, assuming you're not using two panniers.

Tubus Disco rear rack

Tubus Disco rear rack

8
Buy now for £116.1 from Cycle Store
Stiff and strong for its weight
Too narrow on top for a rack-top bag

The Tubus Disco is a rear pannier rack for a kind of bike that isn't designed to take one: a cyclocross, mountain or (these days) road bike with a disc brake caliper attached to the seat-stay and no rack eyelets at the dropouts.

In a sense, it's a solution for the cyclist who bought the wrong bike. But it's easy to be wise in hindsight, and this sturdy German rack lets you carry luggage on a bike you didn't anticipate equipping with panniers.

It's made from chromoly steel tubes. That means it's stiff and strong for its weight. It's rated to carry 20kg, as much as many sturdier-looking aluminium racks. Steel is easier to weld if you do break it on the way to Timbuktu or wherever, although for the vast majority of owners that will be only a hypothetical advantage.

Tortec Epic Alloy rack

Tortec Epic Alloy rack

8
Buy now for £38.99 from Fawkes Cycles
Superbly rugged
Extremely rigid two-tier design
Easy to fit

The alloy version of Tortec’s beefy stainless steel Epic rack is a sensible weight, very stiff and, if you shop around, excellent value for money. Made from 6061 rod and available in a choice of anodised silver or black powder coated finishes, it's a subtly clever set up designed to fit a full range of frame sizes, shapes and types.

Like many modern rear racks it has an extra set of top bars so you can carry your panniers a bit lower and so drop the centre of gravity of the whole lot. Its best feature is that the Epic Alloy's lateral stiffness is vastly superior to similarly priced competition, especially when loads sneak past the twenty kilo mark.

Madison Summit rack

Madison Summit rack

8
Buy now for £34.99 from SJS Cycles
Looks great
Very well priced for a heavy duty rack
Well built

Madison's Summit heavy duty rack is a quality item at a sensible price. Madison claim that the wide base offers greater stability and while that may be a bit of marketing spin, the rack certainly does feel very solid.

The most unusual feature of the Summit is the way the struts attach to the frame. Rather than a single hole either side through which a bolt screws into the dropout eyelet, the Summit comes with a separate footplate on to which the strut bolts. In fact you get a choice of two different footplates to allow for varying frame designs.

Tubus Cargo Classic Rack

Tubus Cargo Classic Rack

8
Buy now for £92.99 from Bike Inn
Rack is impressively sturdy
Impressively light
Easy to fit to most frames

The Cargo Classic rack from Tubus is the company's original rack. It's a solid rack that is really easy to fit and is compatible with most frames on the market.

If you want a rack that can take a heavy load, the Cargo is rated up to a whopping 40kg, plenty for a couple of stuffed panniers and a tent on top. Despite its load capacity, it's impressively light.

Fitting to the frame couldn't be any easier. The two adjustable struts are easy to install and they provide a wide range of adjustment so you can get the rack perfectly set up in the right position. All bolts are supplied.

Riding with a pair of Ortlieb panniers mounted to the rack showed there to be no clearance issues. Even with heavily loaded bags, the rack is impressively sturdy. It doesn't budge over rough roads and cheerfully handles you heading off-road too.

Everything you need to know about pannier bags and pannier racks

faq-icon
Are panniers useful for cyclists?

Folks who choose to carry stuff in bike panniers tend to be a bit fanatical about it. They point to the advantages of bicycle panniers over shoulder bags and backpacks: no sweaty back, larger capacity, far more comfortable, easier to waterproof and did we mention you don’t get a sweaty back?

Another big advantage of bicycle panniers is that they can only be used on the bike, which means a) I know where they are (on my bike) and b) people in your house are less likely to go to the hassle of borrowing them so they’ll stay there.

faq-icon
Where do you put a pannier on a bike?

Bicycle panniers hang at the side of your bike, on purpose made racks. They can fit in three main locations: next to the rear wheel; by the top of the front wheel; and next to the front wheel hub. The rear location is the traditional place for large bicycle panniers, though there’s no obvious reason why – perhaps early cyclists were just aping the way horses are loaded behind the rider.

For this position to work well, your bike needs fairly long chainstays so that the panniers can be over the rear wheel contact point and still leave heel clearance. That means carrying rear bicycle panniers on a typical road racing bike isn’t ideal. Not only will a light frame be flexible with a load at the back, but assuming you can bodge a rack on in the first place (see ‘What if my bike doesn’t have eyelets’, below), the bags will be so far back they’ll tend to sway and wobble.

However, touring bikes have longer chainstays and are usually stiffer so this is a good place for panniers on a touring bike; many such bikes come with a rear rack as part of the package.

If you need even more capacity, for a long tour or camping trip, then you’ll want to put bicycle panniers on the fork as well. You can get racks that put them up high, at the same level as rear racks, or down low by the wheel hub.

A high front rack is good if you want to carry light items on top of the rack as well. It’s a good place for a sleeping mat, for example. Typically, front panniers for high-position racks are smaller than bicycle panniers rear .

faq-icon
What if my bike doesn’t have eyelets?

Ideally, any bike you’re going to use to carry bicycle panniers will have eyelets on the frame to bolt on a rack or racks. The popularity of gravel/adventure bikes and the rise of ‘soft’ cyclocross bikes means more and more bikes do have eyelets, though often only on the dropouts. However, many still don’t. Fortunately there are plenty of options if you want to put a rack on a bike that’s not intended for one.

Several manufacturers make racks that will fit a bike with no eyelets. Thule’s Pack n Pedal rack straps on to the seatstays and will fit just about any bike that has a few inches of space there, including suspension mountain bikes. Pack n Pedal racks are intended for use with Thule’s matching panniers which have a dedicated hook attachment and are held against the rack by magnets. They’re very nicely made, but the steel plate for the magnets to grab makes them heavy. Thule makes a side frame for the Pack n Pedal racks that allows the use of any panniers.

Other manufacturers such as Tubus and Old Man Mountain also make racks that will fit bikes without eyelets, and accessory kits that can be used to fit other racks to such bikes.

You can also get racks that fit on the seatpost, though these should only be used with very light loads as they tend to sway.

faq-icon
How to attach a bag to a bike rack?

Modern bike panniers are securely attached to the rack by mechanisms that lock closed so the hooks can’t bounce off the rail. For anyone who remembers watching a bag roll down the road after bouncing off a rack on a steep descent, these systems are a blessing.

Many pannier makers use attachments from a third party like German fixing maker Rixen & Kaul. Rixen & Kaul’s Klickfix designs started with a handlebar bag mount and now include ways of fixing almost anything you can imagine to your bike. R&K also makes a wide range of its own bags.

Ortleib has its own systems that either grab a standard rack or include attachments that amount on the rack. This QL family of mounts all include a grab handle that opens the hooks so you can lift them off one-handed. QL1, QL2 and QL2.1 will fit any rack, while QL3 needs a custom mount but sits the bags further down on the rack for a lower centre of gravity and better stability.

faq-icon
What are bike racks made of?

Racks are usually made from steel or aluminium rod or tubing. Steel rod racks are the cheapest, but are usually only found on very cheap round-town bikes. They tend to be, frankly, rubbish: flimsy, rattly and flexible. Aluminium rod is next up and is light and inexpensive. Racks made from aluminium rod start from about £10 and, if designed right, can be stiff enough for moderate loads.

Steel and aluminium tubing is where it’s at if you want to carry more substantial loads. Aluminium tubing racks start from about £20, steel from around £50.

If you want the ultimate combination of strength and light weight, German rack maker Tubus offers a titanium rear rack, the Logo Titan.

As important as the material is that the rack have some sort of triangulation to help make it laterally stiff. A rack that’s a simple rectangle when looked at from behind will be more flexible than one that has struts that slope inward from the bottom. Large-diameter tubing also increases stiffness, just as it does with bikes, though there are practical limits to how large rack tubing can get; you still have to be able to fit a pannier and hooks are usually a centimetre or so across.

Emily is our track and road racing specialist, having represented Great Britain at the World and European Track Championships. With a National Title up her sleeve, Emily has just completed her Master’s in Sports Psychology at Loughborough University where she raced for Elite Development Team, Loughborough Lightning.

Emily is our go-to for all things training and when not riding or racing bikes, you can find her online shopping or booking flights…the rest of the office is now considering painting their nails to see if that’s the secret to going fast…

Add new comment

5 comments

Avatar
levestane | 1 month ago
3 likes

I haul the weekly supermarket shop most Sunday's, usually about 40 kg. After breaking the welds on a number of aluminium alloy rear and front racks (the emergency zip ties lasted longer!) I've gone for stainless steel Tubus. All good so far.

Avatar
Oldfatgit | 1 month ago
2 likes

Ortleib do mounting blocks for the Quick Rack that go on your seat stays, if you don't have any mounting eyes. Not for carbon frames though.

They are additional kit, at additional cost ... But worth it if your eyelets are missing or buggered (like mine after repeated traditional rack on, rack off).

The Quick Rack also has an additional clip on mudguard, which is fit once, leave on ... It's not that expensive and works well.

Quick Rack can also be used with a RedShift seat post.

You might have guessed I've got one, and like it.

It suggest it for people like me with only one bike, who commute during the week and want to ride without the additional metalwork at weekends.

Avatar
Steve K replied to Oldfatgit | 1 month ago
1 like

It seems slightly strange that the article has the Quick Rack marked down for being expensive, yet it is cheaper that it's nearest equivalents on the recommended list.

I've been considering investing in the light version - I run a conventional pannier rack most of the time, but take it on and off fairly frequently depending on my riding.  That only takes a few minutes, but can be a bit fiddly (in part because it shares eyelets with my mudguards) so a lighter, quick to put on and off rack is tempting.

Avatar
Oldfatgit replied to Steve K | 1 month ago
2 likes

"I run a conventional pannier rack most of the time, but take it on and off fairly frequently depending on my riding."

I used to do that, and combination of soft aluminium and hard steel being repeatedly undone and done up, left me with stripped threads.
I wish I'd came across the Quick Rack when I had first got the bike, would have been so much easier.

Avatar
Steve K replied to Oldfatgit | 4 weeks ago
0 likes

I've now bought one.  Too early to give a proper review, but so far I'm happy with it.