Panniers

secretsam

Can anyone recommend some reasonably priced panniers, suitable for carrying a few clothes and odds 'n' ends to and from work? It's 15 miles each way so back pack is no good. Waterproofing would be a bonus, but don't want to spend the earth!

woopidstanker

Personally I do anywhere between 13 and 17 miles each way to work, don't see the problem with a backpack as long as it's half decent... (got a Berghaus Freeflow)

apreading

Personally I hate wearing a pack - sweaty back as soon as you have set off and why lug all the weight on your body when the bike can carry it? Just doesnt make sense.

I have Altura Dryline 32 on my bike - only ever use one unless I am touring with Son or carrying kit for local scout group on one of their rides. Had them for more than 5 years now and used in all weather. The main one I use is starting to show signs of wear and has a couple of patches where time has taken its toll but still going strong. About £68 for a pair if you shop around - you might even get them for a little less with a code and/or Quidco etc.

talius

I use a barbag - took a bit of fettling to fit it to a road bike as they are all made for thinner bars; and I am clearly odd as I am the only commuter I ever see with one. But hey ho, it kills the style but it is practical.

roger_merriman

SecretSam wrote:

Can anyone recommend some reasonably priced panniers, suitable for carrying a few clothes and odds 'n' ends to and from work? It's 15 miles each way so back pack is no good. Waterproofing would be a bonus, but don't want to spend the earth!

wateraproof ones tend to be earthlike in cost and weight!

I have one and a halfords cheapie which is intended to be a laptop bag as well, clearly the halfords one isn't waterproof and only takes so much but its not bad, the older waterproof jobby can take rather a lot of gear for work or shopping etc.

jamesco

In 8 years of daily use my Altura pannier has never let me down. It's the old version of this one; my girlfriend has these and they're equally good, lighter but less water resistant.

To be honest, if I were you I'd look at the reviews on the retailers' websites as they'll be reviewing the product, not whether you should use panniers / rucksacks / messenger-bags

jeepie1999

Ortlieb back roller = buy once,buy right.
I went for an altura and it fell apart after 2 years, but the Ortlieb rolls on.

awavey

I picked mine up from the aldi/lidl promotions last year, certainly waterproof, only downside is I cant detach it to carry round as a bag, like the more expensive ones, so I have to use another bag to carry my stuff in

desweller

I had a set of el cheapo Halfords panniers that lasted for years and years until some so-and-so vandalised my bike.

If you're not gonna be touring with them or owt I don't think you need to overthink it too much.

jds_1981

apreading wrote:

Personally I hate wearing a pack - sweaty back as soon as you have set off and why lug all the weight on your body when the bike can carry it? Just doesnt make sense.

My solution in summer is to carry all my clean stuff in on Friday morning, and dirty stuff home Friday evening. Means there's only one day of lugging stuff around, and no odd weight on your bike. The rest of the week you're cycling free.
(obviously doesn't work if you're taking lunch in every day although you might be able to put in a medium saddle bag.)

What I really don't like about panniers is with them you lose the ability to unweight your bike over potholes and similar.

jds_1981

I actually used to use one of these which I quite liked. http://www.evanscycles.com/products/alt ... 8#features
The metal eventually fatigued though. I don't think I was overloading it, just hit a few speedhumps too many times at speed.

redvee

I picked up a single Ortlieb Roller bag for £27 from a private sale, been going strong for over a year with no issues apart from being white it shows up the dirt.

Barteos

Third option - Carradice saddle bag. An excellent compromise and a good investment. Handles much better than panniers and looks less dorky/cleaner. I like my Super C http://www.carradice.co.uk/index.php?pa ... duct_id=33

BTW There is nothing wrong with backpacks for commuting. Decent ones are very comfortable and offer much better handling than any luggage attached to a bike. Sweaty back isn't the end of the world.

elbowloh

woopidstanker wrote:

Personally I do anywhere between 13 and 17 miles each way to work, don't see the problem with a backpack as long as it's half decent... (got a Berghaus Freeflow)

Snap.

notsoblue

Jeepie1999 wrote:

Ortlieb back roller = buy once,buy right.
I went for an altura and it fell apart after 2 years, but the Ortlieb rolls on.

+1 I've had my ortliebs for 6 years now, still as waterproof as when I got them.

TheStone

Another vote for Altura. I bought some fairly cheap ones many years ago and they've been perfect.
I only use them on longer tours (1 week+). For anything shorter (and commuting) a Deuter backpack works fine for me.

holiver

I have a pair of Vaude Aqua Back panniers which are of excellent quality and are waterproof. They are not light though.

They were £60 or £70 at Evans in August last year.

ex-pat scot

Ortlieb for pannier bags. I've had mine 20 years and still waterproof.
I've just bought a lovely Carradice mid-size bag (fits a laptop and running kit easily) - I'm using this as my day-to-day commute bag with excellent results so far.

small_bloke

holiver wrote:

I have a pair of Vaude Aqua Back panniers which are of excellent quality and are waterproof. They are not light though.

They were £60 or £70 at Evans in August last year.

+1 This is the best deal you will find at the moment.

I have both Ortlieb and Vaude Panniers. Both very good. Vaude are slightly heavier approx 400g heavier per pannier
Ortlieb back roller classic pair = 1750g (£90 from Spa Cycles)
Vaude Aqua Back pannier pair = 2650g (£70 from Evans Cycles)

Altura are not too bad but nothing hooks on/off as easily as the Vaude and Ortlieb. Also some are not very waterproof (they use an overbag)

My advice, buy the Vaude from Evans Cycles as a pair and sell the other one on ebay. This will work out the best value. Don't buy cheap ones from Aldi because the hooks are weak and your bag will fall off mid-ride (like mine did).

Since I bought panniers 2 years ago, I could never live without them. They get used for commuting, shopping, going to the gym etc. No matter how heavy you load it, the bike will carry it. A backpack will leave you unstable when it gets heavy.

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... 2b0s74p984

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/vau ... g-ec047552

small_bloke

small_bloke wrote:

holiver wrote:

Vaude Aqua Back pannier pair = 2650g (£70 from Evans Cycles)

Well the price just changed and now gone upto £80 instead of £70 from Evans.

awavey

small_bloke wrote:

Don't buy cheap ones from Aldi because the hooks are weak and your bag will fall off mid-ride (like mine did).

I checked the ones I have are from Lidl by Topmove,they dont havejust weak hooks keeping them on the bike on mine, they are double (triple infact with the extra top box bag) but are joined together across the top its all infact one piece of material so no joins to fray, and are held on to the rack (that was from Aldi ) by way of spring loaded arm clip, the only way they are falling off is if the bags split, I think theres more chance the rack will break

walkingbootweather

I have used the Lidl/Aldi Ortlieb copies and they are OK for the money, but the clips do tend to break. Spares are available from Germany but aren't cheap compared to the price of the bag.

In the long term you are better off in getting a good quality pannier from a top maker. Even at £100 a go the reliability and ability to source spares makes them a good long term bet.

For commuting I mostly use a Altura pannier which has for me the right configuration of comparments. It has been used pretty regularly for over two years and is still going strong. It seems to be pretty waterproof but I'd recommend getting a couple of different size dry sacks which are also useful for separating wet towels and sweaty kit from clean stuff. You can pick these up from e-bay for just a few pounds but may have to wait a couple of weeks for delivery e.g example

daniel_b

Pbk have 20% off Ortlieb, ends today I think.
Going to nab one of those rack bags, already have the back roller classics.

4% cashback through quidco too.

jimmypippa

holiver wrote:

I have a pair of Vaude Aqua Back panniers which are of excellent quality and are waterproof. They are not light though.

They were £60 or £70 at Evans in August last year.

Yesd the Vaude panniers seem pretty similar to Ortleib in quality and I do slightly prefer the Vaude back compared to a colleagues Ortleib.

As I've only used the Vaude ones since 2008 (about 30,000 miles) I can't say how long they'll last...