safe to transport laptop in pannier with rear hub motor right next to it?

[IainSo]

I'd expect there to be a fairly strong electro-magnetic field around the motor, so I'm worried about transporting my laptop this way. Can anyone confirm that they carry their laptops in a pannier and don't have any problem?

 

[KirstinS]

My view is that shocks are a bigger cause for concern in damaging hard drives (unless you have modern solid state drive). It is very easy for a knock to damage head/arm and destroy a harddisk. Peronally I'd say a laptop is safer in a backpack where the bikes front suspension and your personal suspension (legs/knees/arms) limit an knocks from our potholed roads, kerbs.I have Crumpler backpack that is nearly a decade old. Still looks brand new, superb quality and desned specifically for carrying laptops (they do other bags for cameras/tablets and so forth). cheers

 

[JamesW]

I have NO suspension on a solid Ali frame bike with the tyres normally running at 80PSI - 60PSI with the winter spike on currently. I have not mananged to kill my laptop by vibration yet carrying it in a pannier bag and the roads around here are not very good quality (and where they are, there are loads of speed bumps for traffic calming!). I do have a front hub, so cannot comment about the electromagnetic effect, and I do ride slightly more carefully with the laptop onboard than without, but I wouldn't be too worried myself. (Mine has survived 2 years of vibration over 20miles at least twice a month.)

 

[KirstinS]

its all really just a personal risk assessment tied into a bit of luck. I've travelled round the world for 1.5 years with a ancient iBook chucked into a backpack. It coped with everything thrown at it from -20c to + 45c, from 100 humidity to near zero, boucning around 3rd world country buses, innumberable baggage handlers and altitudes of nearly 5000m. And I also had a hardrive let go due to a chair banging slightly against the corner of a different laptop. I would still respectfully suggest that a backpack provides greater safety than panniers. Ain't nothing perfect though ! I dont know about the magnetic field outside of the motor but - just thinking aloud - I would expect the steel spokes attched to it to become magnetised over time. I've never noticed such an effect (fully appreciate this isnt esactly a scientific answer!)

 

[VictoryV]

[quote="but - just thinking aloud - I would expect the steel spokes attched to it to become magnetised over time. I've never noticed such an effect (fully appreciate this isnt esactly a scientific answer!)[/quote]
However, the spokes may be stainless steel (mine are) so unless specially prepared (induction hob s-s pans for example) then they will be non-magnetic. You could foil wrap your computer, this would act as a faraday cage for any magnetically induced currents, and if u were really worried connect the foil wrap to the frame (earth) of the bike to carrry away any induced currents back to their source - the motor.

 

[D8ve]

The hard drive is normally mounted in a metal (fariday)case. The local low frequency fields from the motor should have no effect on that.
It's an un nessisary scare story. Shock, drops and theifs are a more realistic risk.