Considering commuting by bike on occasion

[ETChipotle]

I have about a 17 mile mild uphill rail trail commute to work. Unfortunately I would need to bring a laptop along. Is there a consensus whether the laptop go in front or back on a rack?

I have several front or rear options for racks on my 2015 ogre. Don't have a rack on it yet. I've always wanted a 24 pack rack for it, but I'm not sure if a laptop is okay there.

[cyclingdutchman]

Hm difficult case imho. So, a front rack might be ok if you have a suspension fork. Rigid fork would be to rough on the laptop I think. Rear rack also. So only option would be backpack but I wouldnt like to have a heavy backpack for 17m. Maybe the combination of a pannier and backpack would work? Backpack with laptop only, pannier for everything else.

[ETChipotle]

Would an ice cream truck with Bud and Lou be a better choice?

[root]

Would an ice cream truck with Bud and Lou be a better choice?

LOL, wut?
Oh, you're talking bike model! I was envisioning you commuting to work in an ice cream truck, making some extra money from the neighborhood kids on your way in. It would take a long time though.
A fat bike doesn't strike me as a great commuter. The extra heavy wheels would be a bear to spin. I've seen some commuting, but they were e-bikes. And you don't want aggressive knobs for commuting unless necessary.
I think a fat normal size slick/semi slick would be better, maybe around 2". Pad up the laptop with foam, laptops can take a fair amount of jarring I would think, as long as your not using it while riding! I'm not sure how much a diff front or rear will make, I think rear tends to take a little more jarring as you can't as easily actively avoid obstacles on road. 17mi is a pretty good distance, about twice my commute I do once a week. And what about rain? You'll want something quite waterproof, some kind of dry bag. Normal panniers will let water inside if you get caught in good rain.

[jrm]

Id love to not have to ride on shitty, congested city streets on my commute. Ultimately a rear pannier would be the best place for a laptop. When i rarely need to carry a chromebook I use a wald basket/bag along with clothes and such. Porteur racks look cool and work great but youll need to use a "gate" in order to keep things from shifting if youre bagging the laptop.