I found this soft sided cooler alongside the road earlier in the week. Pictured below strapped to the handlebars with a belt/strap thing I also found so I could get it home on the rackless, basketless, bike I was riding.
I brought it home with the intention of turning it into a pannier.
First up was to stiffen the back of the bag that would rest against the bikes rack. Looking the bag over I noticed it had an exterior compartment and I could place and mount the back in this compartment and not have to put any holes in the main cooler compartment. This would make the compartment useless but I preferred this over puncturing the main compartment.
For the back I decided on this aluminum sign I had stashed away which just happened to be a perfect fit as it was. I would have to bend the sign to get it in the exterior compartment and then flatten it back out once it was in.
I drilled holes in the back plate and the bag’s exterior compartment to attach the rack mount hardware. I taped washers and nuts to hold them in place over the holes. Not pictured I also drilled holes for a bottom mount.
For the rack mount hardware I used these wire clamps which hook nicely over the rear racks that I have on a few of my bikes. I intentionally mounted them where the bags handle attached to lessen the chance of the fabric ripping..
I bolted a strap across the bottom and attached a couple of bungee cords to keep the lower portion of the bag snug against the rack.
Yesterday I loaded it up with food and a few other items to take to my parents. I bounced off a few curbs on the way and everything stayed in place.
I don’t know that I’ll use it that much. I already have 2 sets of panniers and I don’t have faith that this would keep food items frozen or fresh on a 30+ minute ride home from the grocery store in high or low temperatures. Making it though gave me something to do on a windy day I didn’t ride.
Side note… since my previous post about this bike. I swapped out the handlebars. I also cut off all the cable stops which were from it’s former life as a multispeed, hand braked mtb.