Panniers and racks, room for improvement??

design-cycle

Hello all.
First of all I would just like to say thank you for providing a wealth of advice and information on this site, its a great reference for any cyclist.

My name is Rob Ellis and I am working on a final year design degree project relating to carrying luggage on bikes during long distance tours, with particular focus on cycle camping. It would be great to hear your experiences of the following points:
if you do not want to clog up the forum please feel free to email me at rob-ellis@hotmail.co.uk
Any advice you can offer will be very much appreciated:

Firstly what brand and type of panniers and racks (steel or alloy) are you using. Why did you choose these particular products?? Are you happy with them??

Also when camping over night (if you have done this), what do you do with the pannier bags, are they removed and taken into the tent?? Are the bags quick and easy to remove/replace or can they be troublesome?

Throughout your cycling experiences have you ever had any pannier racks or pannier bags fail on a ride?? I've heard about alloy pannier racks flexing and shearing from their fixings.

Finally if you have taken your bike on planes to tour abroad, how did you carry your luggage i.e. in the panniers or in an additional suitcase and the panniers stowed with the bike in the luggage hold??

Thanks again for your input
Kind regards
Rob Ellis

andymiller

Tubus Cosmo panniers. Vaude something or other panniers. Happy with the rack. the panniers are OK but not fully waterproof and some screws have rusted!

Panniers go in the tent porch. Easy to take off and replace.

Did once have an ally rack break on me. Now only use tubus steel. No panniers never come off - Rixen Kaul fixing system is excellent.

I generally travel by train when touring abroad. If I did fly I would have to check them in.

Only problem with the panniers is the weight. But then maybe it's a question of weight/durability/waterproofness - pick any two?

andymiller

Duplicate post deleted.

Chokingfish

I have a steel rear rack and so far its been bomb proof (blackburn) I had the matching front rack which I had an accident with and witnessed someones front rack going through their wheel while in motion - it wasn't pretty so I now go on the premis that if I'm taking enough stuff to fill front rack bags, I'm taking too much!

I use Ortleib panniers and had a Ortleib 'rack pack' which fits my tent, sleeping mat & bag in, plus other stuff. Bungee cords over the top for extra storage. The panniers are easy to take on and off and are waterproof. They live in the porch overnight. I love them and wouldn't swap them for anything!

I've flown with my bike several times. You are allowed 2 hold items, one has to be your bike. I tend to get a big 'market' bag for all but one pannier - I take the other as hand luggage. Otherwise I have a large Exped dry bag which I use to put them in.

kirsty

singlespeedexplosif

Blackburn alloy rack, Ortlieb panniers. Nothing but nothing but great performance from both. Chosen because of sturdiness/lightness of rack, sturdiness/waterproofness/capacity/re-buildability/reputation of panniers.

Panniers easy to remove, waterproof, use them as a pillow when camping.
Flying - bike, panniers, tent, all other kit in bike bag. no additional luggage.

Personally no failures, but a friend has had (front) racks shear off fixings during a 6 month tour. More to do with the fixings themselves from memory, complicated plates/bolts thing on the forks of his Surly Long Haul Trucker.

pneumatic

Nothing much to add.

Blackburn + Ortlieb, tent bungied on rack between them. Bar bag for essentials, seat bag for tools and spare tube.

When flying, put panniers in a large holdall, which gets stored with the bike bag at left luggage.

Panniers in tent, used as furniture (tables, seats, pillows etc.)

Heel clearance and balancing the weight of contents (especially of front panniers) are issues to be resolved by trial and error.

Wooliferkins

Blackburn rack, Carradice panniers. Had to replace a pannier this year as it had worn through after a mere 15 years constant use!. Tent and kip mat bungeed on top. On the plane everything went in the bike bag with the bike. Cheap brand bike bag bought from Geoffrey Butlers years ago.

FAT_ROB

Another tick for Ortlib panniers, I opted for the Pannier plus (think thats the ones (£100 sheets) on the back and the same on the front, These are hooked up to Thorns 'own brand' expedition rack and lo loaders.

Its the business! Waterproof, bomb proof and a doddle (to me) to get on and off. I am probably going to opt for one of their bar bags (I have done without till now) and probably upgrade from just bugeeeing (if thats a word) my tent to the back by getting one of there rack bags

Did consider the Caradice Super Cs which look the business but 'apparently get heavy as the don't shed water!! and lets be honest its a lot of money to buy them to disprove that

Honky Dory

Spent a total of four years touring and gone through three sett's of bags, three front and four rear racks (all alu!). Tubular steel racks are the only thing that can take the pounding and I do like waterproof bags. Consider my current Ortlieb PVC Rollers as the best of the lot.
What I miss are:
- compression straps that keep the gear in place and reduce wear
- large internal divider/pocket
- mounts that do not need spacers that are easily lost, fit all, don't crack or wear out
- lower mount that don't detach while riding on rough stuff trails (ortlieb has scrapped the lower strap!)
- eco friendly non PVC material (waterproof hemp?)
- quick release rack mounts for packing the bike
- foldable tubular steel rack to save space in box
- incorporate the fenders with the rack
- style!
Fix this and you have a winner!