Single Pannier on the left or the right ?

[Boogaloo]

I often use only one of my panniers and always mount it on the right of the rack but have recently been wondering if it may be better off mounted on the left (kerbside),
My thinking has been that mounted on the outside it projects a little further into the road and possibly encourages cars to give a few more inches of space as they pass. However my rear dynamo light attaches to the rear of the rack and is I believe partially obscured by the pannier. I do also use an extra light fixed to the rear of the saddle which is clearly visible.
I see plenty of other cyclists riding with one pannier mounted on the left and am wondering if there is any convincing argument for me to change?

[gaz]

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=15001

[foxyrider]

I generally go kerbside so I can access contents without standing in the road (if I need my rain coat or camera for example. It's not a rule, sometimes I use the 'wrong' bag so it's roadside. Of course if I park the bike before going into the bag it's fairly academic!

[MikeF]

I often use only one of my panniers and always mount it on the right of the rack but have recently been wondering if it may be better off mounted on the left (kerbside),
My thinking has been that mounted on the outside it projects a little further into the road and possibly encourages cars to give a few more inches of space as they pass. However my rear dynamo light attaches to the rear of the rack and is I believe partially obscured by the pannier. I do also use an extra light fixed to the rear of the saddle which is clearly visible.
I see plenty of other cyclists riding with one pannier mounted on the left and am wondering if there is any convincing argument for me to change?

How does that happen? Pannier should be on the side. I'd put on the right so drivers will give you more room.(hopefully)

[gregoryoftours]

For what it's worth I usually use the right hand pannier, but I don't think it's much odds either way really. If your rear light really is obscured by a pannier on the right at angles where it's going to make any difference then I'd try swapping, although many panniers have reflective material on them in which case right hand side is useful.

[mattsccm]

Shouldn't think that an odd inch on the right will make any difference to working cars. If , heaven forbid, I used one pannier I would Mount it on the right. That makes it easier to access of the bike as it leans left side on me and I lean over. If its propped against anything the will be against the wall.
But the lack of symmetry! Please no. And it feels unbalanced.

[Cyril Haearn]

I would always put it on the offside, the weight imbalance would be insignificant

[drossall]

Mine goes in front:

[LollyKat]

My husband and I have shared a pair of Carradice Super C's for many years. He prefers the left, I prefer the right, so we're both happy! I like the way that on the right it makes me look wider, and I have a small rear light permanently fitted in the loop on the pocket as a supplement/back-up to the main rear light on the seat post.

He has secure parking at work so leaves his pannier on the bike - as he leans it leans chain-side against a wall he can more easily access a LH pannier.

Since we have done it for so long we don't notice any imbalance - it only needs a fractional shift on the saddle to compensate.

[Cyril Haearn]

Was there not a thread somewhere about GDPR pannier rules with pictures of combinations allowed or not?

[peetee]

Whatever feels more comfortable. It will unbalance the bike and the chances are you will be able to cope with this better on one side than the other just as you would cope with a fall better on one side than the other. I don't like turning sharply to the right because if I had to bail out I would always choose left. For that reason I ride with a single pannier on the right as I would lean slightly left to compensate.

[gaz]

Was there not a thread somewhere about GDPR pannier rules with pictures of combinations allowed or not?

viewtopic.php?f=51&t=122293&p=1236994

[eileithyia]

I had a set of panniers that were clearly left and right side..... I used the right one only until it started to wear out then switched to using the left hand one only....

[Boogaloo]

I often use only one of my panniers and always mount it on the right of the rack but have recently been wondering if it may be better off mounted on the left (kerbside),
My thinking has been that mounted on the outside it projects a little further into the road and possibly encourages cars to give a few more inches of space as they pass. However my rear dynamo light attaches to the rear of the rack and is I believe partially obscured by the pannier. I do also use an extra light fixed to the rear of the saddle which is clearly visible.
I see plenty of other cyclists riding with one pannier mounted on the left and am wondering if there is any convincing argument for me to change?

How does that happen? Pannier should be on the side. I'd put on the right so drivers will give you more room.(hopefully)

I may be wrong about this. The pannier (Ortleib) is mounted as far back as poss for heel clearance so it does reach to the back of the rack but is probably only obscuring from the side. I'll check tonight on the way to work.

[Boogaloo]

I should have said that I use both when carrying any weight so as to keep things balanced.
It may be time to swap them round anyway to keep the wear and tear even.
When I first had them the plastic lower mount was gradually wearing it's way through the alloy rack stay. I now have the stays protected to prevent this.