Gadling Gear Review: Vaya Pannier Hybrid Bicycle Bag

by Pam Mandel on

Once upon a time I was a hardcore bicycle commuter. This means I still know what I like in bike gear because when you do enough time in the saddle, you get opinions about these things. Vaya makes good looking bike bags that will help you get your gear from point A to point B – and make it easy for you to carry your stuff around when it’s off your bike. I checked out their Pannier Hybrid, a bag that goes from your bike rack to your back.

Their pannier is a bucket style roll top back that closes with a big clip. I like the sturdy hardware and I like the easy to use clips that attach the bag to your rack. The liner is waterproof and the roll top closure makes sure your stuff will stay secure. The strap that keeps your bag from swinging around when it’s on your bike converts to a shoulder strap, so when you’ve unclipped it from your bike, it’s totally manageable, unlike my old Ortlieb bags.

There’s something about the configuration of this thing that I didn’t love, though. It doesn’t quite hold what I need for commuting – or perhaps I need two, as I can’t get away with just one. I put a pair of shoes (I ride in cleats) and a clean shirt in the bag and it was almost full. It’s a little narrow to hold the kind of stuff I haul around on commuter days. While my Ortlieb panniers are not great for carrying around, they’re easy to load and unload and hold lots of stuff.

There’s an external pocket on the back (the side that would be up against your bike or your back). I’m a little confused about what I’d use it for, though. Because it doesn’t seal, I don’t think I’d put my wallet or my phone in there. Maybe it’s for stowing a candy bar or other small things that you won’t be stressed about if they should go missing.

The bag is great looking, totally sharp, made from recycled bike tube material and super heavy-duty scrap canvas. You can pick your colors – that’s cool – and which way you want the bag built, for slinging over your left shoulder or your right. I really wanted to like this bag but my years of commuting mean that it’s not quite the bag for me. If you don’t need to carry around a lot of stuff – you want to stow your lunch and your laptop and maybe a book – then it will absolutely work for you.

The messenger hybrid is $135 from Vaya. While you’re poking around in their site, check out their other bags too. I didn’t love the hybrid, but the other bags look totally hot. Really.

Photo of the Day: Stops along the way

by Jessica Marati on

A simple stop along a bicycle route is captured in today’s Photo of the Day from Flickr user Kurt Schmidt. The image, taken with a Canon EOS 7D, depicts a quiet street scene with a vintage pink bicycle parked outside a cheerful cafe. One can imagine the rider ordering an espresso then sitting with a croissant and a newspaper before continuing along her way.

Does your travel snapshot belong here? Upload your favorite shots to the Gadling Group Pool and your image could be selected as our Photo of the Day.

New York City bike share program coming in Summer 2012

by Jessica Marati on

At last, an urban bike share program is coming to New York City, and planners are involving city residents through community workshops, bike demos, and an online map system for suggesting station locations.

Organized by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and Alta Bicycle Share, the program will be funded by private sponsorship and user fees. Though a fee schedule has not yet been released, organizers say that membership will cost less than a monthly public transportation Metrocard.

Coming off the success of networks like the Vélib in Paris and Capital Bikeshare in Washington DC, the New York City bike share program also hopes to capitalize on the popularity of alternative transportation methods among the city’s active and socially conscious communities. According to NYC DOT, commuter cycling more than doubled between 2005 and 2009, and it continues to grow each year. To cope with the demand, NYC DOT doubled the mileage of on-street bike lanes between 2007 and 2011. By 2017, they hope to triple it.

The new system will include more than 10,000 bikes at over 600 stations, and is part of a larger effort to make New York a more cycle-friendly city. The program is scheduled to kick off in Summer 2012.

In the meantime, check out this video celebrating the joys of New York City biking from my friends over at Holstee… and start shopping for a helmet.

[via NYC DOT, Flickr image via nycstreets]

Trick out your bike with animated wheels

by Grant Martin on

Well here’s a new way to hipster out your bicycle for your daily commute (I’m looking at you, Portland). Youtube user TheManimation concocted a paper insert to go on top of a bicycle wheel that when rotated turns into a groovy animation. You won’t see it at first. Initially, the whole thing will look like one of those folded paper snowflakes that we all used to make in kindergarten. But once the wheels get moving, everything hits the right frequency and the gears start spinning (literally). The result is pretty impressive.

Biking the car-less streets of New York City after Hurricane Irene

by Kent Wien on

I’ve suddenly found myself stuck in New York City after my 3-day Rome trip canceled. Watching the news last night, it looked like Manhattan would be without power and struggling even to survive the ‘storm of a lifetime’ on Saturday.

Instead, after Hurricane Irene passed through the city earlier this morning there was an erie calm. As I woke up, I wondered if we were in the eye of the storm.

It turns out, Irene may have some strong winds on the back side, but for now, a little fun could be had by biking through the empty streets of the city.

Here’s what I found at 5th Avenue, Central Park, Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, the U.N. Building the Queensboro (59th Street) Bridge and the East River. Wide open streets and unencumbered riding! A video is the best way for me to describe the morning:


There was a atmosphere in the city today. One biker told me he saw people playing Wiffle Ball in Times Square. Tourists, with nothing else to do, gathered on Broadway, umbrellas in hand, just to look at the streets.


New York is an amazing city, but after a snow storm or situation like we had today, the break in monotonous city life offers a chance look around them and see just how great this place is.

I thought I’d had enough of Irene after experiencing it from the air, but today Irene brought many of us a pleasant surprise, and some time to reflect on how thankful we are that it wasn’t worse.