Carry more versus carry less

I’m not happy with my seatpost rear rack on my bianchi. It’s too much of a hassle to routinely tie my bag to it. It’s kind of fun; I like the knot tying. But it’s a bit of a commitment. And right after I bought it, I saw they make seatpost rear racks with support for panniers. So I bought one.
It can be attached without taking off my seat via a 4-bolt clamp (quick release is vastly overrated—mostly it just makes theft quicker and easier). So I can easily take it on or off if I want to use it or not.

And I got some simple bags that can go on it. I don’t want to load down my bike with lots of accessories. And I don’t want something that will get stolen. I like the idea that I can put my bike bag in this bag, and then put this bag in my bike bag when I’m off the bike. We’ll see if it works. I’ll keep you updated.

I also got some new fenders, and my current rear fender is attached to the rear rack in a rather ingenious fashion (scroll down to “working that rear” below).

All this would be easier if my bike had eyelets for fenders and a rear rack. But I’m kind of happy it doesn’t because if it did, I would have all this shit on my bike. And this isn’t a bike for that. I like this bike to be a nice, light, simple bike. But seeing how this is my normal commuting bike, there has to be some middle ground and putting stuff in a basket is so much better than putting it on your back.