If you do practical things with a bicycle, like shopping, you’ll know all about panniers – those gloomy bags you can’t live with, and can’t live without.When you need them, they’re usually too small, and when you don’t, they’re invariably too big. So, how about folding panniers? A very A to B solution, we thought.

The theory is admirably simple: a pair of metal baskets with hinged bases and sides. For 90% of the time, the panniers are wind-cheatingly slim, but get to the supermarket and – flick, flick, flick! In a few seconds, you’ve created two rigid containers measuring 18cm wide by 21cm deep and 32cm long. Oh all right – 7″ x 81/4″ x 121/2″ in real units (yes, we’re reverting).That’s big enough for 16 tins of cat food plus a box of Friskies each side – a total load I of around 13kg.

Get home, feed Tibbles and the process can be reversed – the slim-line versions standing out from the rack a mere 2cm each side (just under an inch, gran).

Any disadvantages? The panniers are heavy (2.4kg the pair), and they can be noisy, particularly when empty, but a well placed bungee cord should solve that one. There’s no protection from rain or pilfering either, but no-one ever claimed they were suitable for touring. Longevity? Hard to say, but these are the sort of extras that can be reconstructed with a pair of pliers and a twist of copper wire. Speaking of which, we found the crucial clip that holds the assembly shut needed a bit of tweaking, and the mounting clips were happier on a thin steel-framed rack, although they worked perfectly well on a modern alloy rack with 8mm stays.

One slight grumble on a big-wheeled bikes (or ‘cumbersomes’ in folder-parlance) is that the depth of only 21cm wastes a lot of productive space, but shoe-horn the panniers onto a small- wheeled folding machine and they begin to look seriously space-efficient.

The panniers fit just about anything, and will fold away with the bike on most, including the majority of Dahons, and the Pashley Micro (provided you have a rack, of course).You can only get one on the Brompton T-type (although folded size is unaffected), and we think two could be squeezed on to the Airframe. Besides folding, you also need to watch the heel/pannier clearance, which can be tight. But mounted so close to the ground, even a 13kg load has little effect on handling – another plus for small-wheeled bikes. Need to carry something really long? Simply strap it across the top. Good, eh?

As so often happens, we started sceptical but rapidly warmed to folding panniers, and found ourselves using them on a regular basis.This would be a genuinely useful accessory on a folding bike used as a boat tender, or similar. Wherever storage is at a premium, but there are big loads to carry once in a while.

Folding Panniers
Weight 2.4kg (pair)
Price £30 (pair)
UK supplier eGO Vehicles (UK) Ltd
mail egouk@egovehicles.com tel 01483 272222