front pannier advice

[atrayner]

Am going cycle touring /camping in France in June/July - would like advice on front panniers please - I have fitted a Blackburn low rider rack, and wondered which would be the best budget front pannier to get - also not sure what size to get either - the shops round where I live don't have much of a selection of front panniers (which does make me wonderf if i do really need one, am only going for 8 days !
Have seen on various websites Carradice super c front panniers, are they any good??
thanks in advance

[PW]

The Carradice ones are excellent, my daughter has a set.

[frank]

Try the altura 26 litres . I have had them for years with no problem.




________________________
Have you the courage to live your dreams

[emergence]

i recently bought a Blackburn low-rider front rack - the sort for bikes that don't have mountings half-way up the forks - and at the same time ordered Carradice super whatsit panniers - through CTC's mail-order shop. ALAS THERE IS AN ISSUE!!! The racks have a plate at the top instead of the usual bar, and the pannier's mountings have the usual hooky 'finger' that sits on the top, and then an hooky 'thumb' that clips around the bar from below to stop it jumping off. You can see where i'm going with this - because the rack has A PLATE, the hooky thumb cannot do it's work and i've had terrible trouble ever since. First of all i hoped the weight would keep them in place - no, one jumped off into the (luckily empty) road. So then a friend gave me 2 sturdy belts to strap them on with so that even if they jumped off the rack, they couldn't start hitch-hiking at the roadside. Then you have to keep undoing a belt every time you want something.
Unfortunately it's going to have to be a bodge job - maybe drilling holes in the plate - and it's a real shame - i can't understand why they've done it. I wished i'd checked out the compatability of luggage to racks beforehand, but i assumed it was commen sense, or it would be stated in the blurb.
I looked up a review, with hindsight, about the rack - and there was a bloke having just the same problems as me! - even down to 2 small locking nuts being missing from the rack's kit - but he said the panniers, although they didn't attach as they should, had caused him no grief so far. BUT IT WILL HAPPEN! I hope you can avoid this

[Jac]

atrayner - would definitely recomend using front panniers as well as rear even for short trips - it spreads the load and makes the bike more stable.

[andrew_s]

i recently bought a Blackburn low-rider front rack - the sort for bikes that don't have mountings half-way up the forks - and at the same time ordered Carradice super whatsit panniers - through CTC's mail-order shop. ALAS THERE IS AN ISSUE!!! The racks have a plate at the top instead of the usual bar, and the pannier's mountings have the usual hooky 'finger' that sits on the top, and then an hooky 'thumb' that clips around the bar from below to stop it jumping off.

The cure is to make holes in the plate for the "thumbs" to go through.

As to why it's like that - it's because when the rack was designed, all panniers had plain hooks, with a strap or elastic attaching to the bottom of the rack to try and prevent the panniers bouncing off.

[emergence]

The cure is to make holes in the plate for the "thumbs" to go through.

yes, my good Da just did a good job of that yesterday! But it would help if incompatibity issues were in the blurb

[atrayner]

thank you all for your replies, I have managed to borrow some small front panniers which fit OK, and after wondering whether or not to bother with taking front panners at all have decided I will (thank you jac), if anything will be good for duty free purchases on the way back!!