An accurate conclusion IMO, although interesting to note that the Ortlieb
'Roll Top' closure out sell
'lid type' by 8/1.
I believe this is in part due to the fact that those who want the more the traditional styled lid type closure will often go for more traditionaly made panniers like
Carradice Super C, if you want to know what I use then it is
Carradice, they are 20 years old and still going strong. They are made of the tried and tested material 'Cotton Duck', the material itself is waterproof but the seams are not taped, so technically they can not advertise it as a waterproof pannier, 'Cotton Duck' is also about as durable as I have seen.
In practice however the material expands when wet closing the seams, I recall touring in the
Picos De Europa one summer and carrying four litres of water in 2x 2ltr plastic bottles, one of which split emptying the entire 2lts into the pannier, which held the water like a bucket. I am not saying they are better than Ortlieb , both companies make a superb product, they are just different that's all, I doubt we will see many who have anything negative to say about either and rightly so.
In all cases I would recommend carying contents in a heavy duty carrier bag, moisturee is in the air after all, plus you can poull the entire contents out when you arrive at the destination easier.
Paul_Smith
www.bikeplus.co.uk
CJ wrote:Well I'm going to confuse the issue by telling why, having used and still owning both, I prefer and use more often the Packer style, which does also have a carrying handstrap by the way.
I never used the shoulder strap but found the Rollers take longer to put stuff in and out of (during which rain falls on the contents), and lacked the facility to just stuff something under the hood. This is particularly useful when the "something" is a wet or dirty rolled-up jacket that you want to keep separate from dry and clean pannier contents. I also found that the Packer's drawstring top and hood tensioning straps work better to restrain a partial load when the pannier is half-empty.
), the extra chain length helping in that respect.
although personally on a tour like that you should be able to carry enough in two water bottles to last long enough between refreshment stops
