Are you thinking of getting into bike commuting and thinking what are the best options for carrying extra clothes or other important work items. There are two main options that I use when commuting: either a backpack or panniers. The Hill by Detours makes this decision a little easier as this pannier is full of features to help you transport your items safely and easily.
First off, the Hill has 850 cubic inches of space, which is ample amount of room to get stuff back and forth from work. The Hill has one main compartment that will fit shoes and a change of clothes easily. Also it has a second compartment that is big enough to hold a 14.1 inches laptop or smaller or tablet. As you can see in the picture to the right, I am able to get a pair of shoes, jacket, pants, shirt, socks, laptop and water bottle with room to spare. The laptop is a tight fit so any bigger than 14.1 it will not fit in there but papers or books fit in nicely. It also comes with a few small interior pockets to keep thing organized and easily accessible.
One nice feature of the Hill is the TPU-coated waterproof top flap. This will help keep all your contents dry and protected from those unexpected sprinkles. But when it really starts to rain it does come with a rain cover that will cover the rest of the pannier. The nice part is that the rain cover has its own little zipped pocket so you will never have to look for it when caught in a storm.
One of the best things about this pannier is that it comes with a shoulder strap to convert it into a messenger type bag. I dream of having this type of pannier/bag back in college. I would ride my bike and then have to carry my panniers full of books around campus. I thought it was be nice if my pannier had a shoulder strap to make life a little easier for me. The shoulder strap hooks on two big loops with two big clips making it easy and foolproof. The nice thing that they thought of was to add a piece of neoprene to cover the pannier clips when used as a bag.
The Hill is a great pannier for someone who commutes but also would like a bag to carry around campus or the office. It looks much cooler than a briefcase. In my opinion, Detours has thought this bag through by adding padding throughout the bag and small reflective material on the outside. If you are in the market for a new pannier, check them out at the link below.
• MSRP: $95.00
• http://detours.us/store/panniers/the-hill-pannier/
Product provided for free by the manufacturer for review purposes.