Pannier Guy...on the topic of why no one likes you.

Sing us a happy song, Pannier Man. No? Typical.

With "touring" actually in the name Idaho Mountain Touring, you can bet we stock ourselves some panniers. We'd better...and to be honest we want to. Touring is cool, and we support it. Commuting is cool and we support it. Essentially, riding your bike is awesome no matter how you slice it, and if you need to haul some stuff along then panniers are a great way to go about it.

Here's the thing, though. I've worked in my fair share of shops, and just about every time Pannier Guy comes through the door, the worker bees flee or groan or both. The scenario is as such: Pannier Guy comes in and asks if we have any panniers. Some unlucky soul escorts him to our wall. Never mind what the wall happens to look like, just assume for our purposes it's the most mind-blowing-ly awesome pannier display ever. Salesperson starts asking questions on the way.

"So, are you looking to commute, or are you going on a trip?" Don't uhhh [with relative indifference]. "Do you already have a rack?" Guuhh. [condescendingly, somehow] "How much gear do you need to carry?" Puhhh [meaning: I've stopped listening to you] "What bike is it going on? How weather resistant are we gonna need these things? Do you need them to be super-easy to remove?..."

Pannier Guy, looking at the Wonka Pannier Factory-land in front of him: "Well, do you have anything else? This isn't much of a selection."

"If you're looking for something else, we'd be happy to order it for you. Or we can both go over to the computer and see what other options are out there."

I'm coming for ALL your panniers! Just.. not those ones.

Pannier Guy: No...that's ok

"Were you looking for a specific brand?" ....as Pannier Guy mumbles and looks down on his way out the door. End of scene, homies. Fin. I'll turn it into a Pannier Guy hate-screenplay if you want more some other time.

As a salesperson, though, that type of an interaction leaves one very frustrated (that's OK, it's why we get paid), and I'm sure Pannier Guy isn't too stoked either. Yet I see it over and over again. 

Our actual pannier area.

Here's how I'd like to help. First, that's a best-case pannier salesperson I depicted. It doesn't always go like that, but if it does here's what you, Pannier Guy, can do on your end: at least try to know what you want. You don't have to educate yourself, we're here for that, but ask yourself what your needs are. Try to answer some of those questions above. When you do, you might see that what you want actually is right in front of you, or at least we can get it. But we need some sort of direction, which means you need some sort of an idea of what you want to do with these things. 

On our sales floor right to-the now. 

Another point: you can get a great rack, and then add Arkel or Ortlieb panniers. You'll have a setup that will outlast your bike, but it's gonna cost you. As with anything, be prepared to fork over for the nice stuff and don't act completely thunderstruck by the notion that it might be over a hundred bucks. 

If your frequency of use, or budget, is less than herculean, that's fine, systems like Trek's Transport setup, or Topeak's, are nice, come with an unconditional guarantee, and have panniers and trunk bags that install/remove in seconds. Convenient, and they'll last at least a few years. 

So just take a breath; have a Coke and a smile, Pannier Guy. Your long road awaits, and Uncle IMT's just here to help.