 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I have a new commuter, with a rack. I have a seriously heavy-duty lock (New York Fahgettaboudit) to encourage scrotes to look elsewhere. It's 2kg in weight...
I used to commute with a rucksack and the lock was in there, so the handling of the bike wasn't really affected.
However now I'm riding with panniers and no rack, I've strapped the lock to the rack, putting the weight as far forward as I can.
Went out for a first ride yesterday and it feels pretty nervy with that much weight over the back wheel - doesn't encourage fast cornering at all! I'm also wondering what it'll do to the lifetime of the back wheel - bearings, spokes for e.g.
So is this something I'll just have to get used to, or any ideas for how I can impact the handling less? A lighter lock means a less effective one which I'm not keen on...
I went through the same transition a few years ago, and you get used to it pretty quickly.
I wouldn't worry about the weight affecting your back wheel. The weight of the pannier is still relatively small compared to the overall weight of bike + rider.
Although having all the extra weight on the bike rather than you might feel quite different from your perspective, from where the tyres are sitting not a lot has changed, and once you're used to it you'll be cornering like you were before.
The only caveat is if you have a lot of weight on a pannier on one side then if you go over a bump the pannier can give you a nice little kick sideways as it comes back down. With the lock mounted centrally on the rack, that won't be such an issue.
Luggage on a bike feels awful to those not used to it, but after a handful of miles you adapt without realising and forget it's there. But, if you do want the best handling you need to get the weight on the rear rack as low, as far forward and as laterally balanced as possible.
If yours is the chain lock, you'd perhaps be best draping it over the leading end of the rack, with each end of the chain in a pannier. If it's the D lock, I'd just bungee it to the rack.
As said above, an extra 2kg over the back might feel heavy to you, but it isn't gonna kill your wheel.
I ride equally with and without a substantial D lock strapped to my rack and I can't notice a difference now.