How easy is it to fit panniers?

[thirdcrank]

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=41654&p=334153#p334153

That thread, which won't be there forever because it's a sale, has a very clear pic of the back of a Carradice Super C showing the hooks at the top, the rail they can slide along for adjustment, and the lower bar to prevent the pannier swaying. Other systems are different in detail, but that's the general principle.

[7_lives_left]

Slightly off topic...

I was at my favourite bike shop in Oxford last year looking to buy some panniers. The salesman showed me a Caradice pannier as shown in TC's link above, but he rather sheepishly said that they only had one of them . He went on to explain that it was symmetrical so you could fit it on either the right or the left hand side .

I'm not making any of this up.

[Punk_shore]

thirdcrank seems to think that all instructions have been tested on people who already know how to do something. In my *limited* experience, that is not necessarily the case.
Sometimes a designer has to work through his/ her own instructions before a *original* product has even been made. Writing/ drawing instructions to suit an existing product is a different skill *akin to reverse engineering*.
Just try following the instructions for flat-pack furniture...

[thegirlfrommarz]

Thanks so much for all your help! I will be buying some panniers to go on the existing rack and having a go at fitting them myself. I'll let you know how I get on...

[thirdcrank]

Third crank seems to think...

Perhaps I should dust down the irony symbol.

Heavy iron(y)

anvil.jpg (1.95 KiB) Viewed 520 times

Poor instructions are one of my many hobby horses. It's my impression that most instructions are not tested at all, but written by somebody who - even if English is their first language, "could have tried better" at skule - so when they made their deserved breakthrough in electronics / computing / whatever, they had to get their own back on ennybody wot culd rite there own name, but as often as not, English is not their first language, so, what emerges is gibberish.
-----------------------------------------------
Edit to add.

This is a paragraph from the instructions received with ladder safety feet.

Mark for the holes in the tube, with the centre of the hole up 15 mm from the lower edge of the tube. Make sure that the two holes are exactly opposite each other. Use a 3,5mm drill.

I can sort of get the gist of that but having drilled the holes, then what? The instructions are provided in English, Italien and French but this paragraph is missing from the French version. (In any event, the holes were there, and I worked out - without instructions - what to do with them.)

The instructions for the top standoff were much worse, but I cannot be bothered to dig them out and transcribe them to demonstrate a point.)

[Edwards]

Italien

Yep they write the instructions.

So be warned about instructions. Designer draw to communicate

[thirdcrank]

When I'm bashing away on here, I don't always bother to do much checking, especially when my tea is nearly ready. I'm sure that it would be possible to pick plenty of holes in my grammar and spelling. That doesn't detract one iota IMO from what I am saying, which is that clear instructions are a vital part of a product. They often fall well below that standard.

I'm not a professional instruction writer, but if I do offer instructions on here, for example, I do so in the knowledge that others may correct me, and in the hope that they will do so if I am wrong. On a couple of occasions people have approached me by PM for technical advice, and although I have always done my best to help, I make the point that the open forum is best because that allows others to add their knowledge.

[Edwards]

TC I was not trying to correct you on spelling. I thought it was a deliberate play on words so to speak. I took it as a joke implying that designers are not of this world.
Sorry to have caused any offence.

[thirdcrank]

No offence taken and likewise, I'm sorry if my tetchy reply sounded as though I had. (Anybody who likes to hand it out, has to be prepared to receive as well.) The ladder one is a particularly sore point for me - not literally, I might add - I didn't fall off. I shelled out quite a bit of £££ for some telescopic ladders, one reason being that I wanted to be able to paint the sides of a stairwell and this particular ladder can be fitted with separately extending feet - shown in the adverts as resting on adjacent steps, with one foot extended, the other raised. This is physically impossible on normal steps because the ladder is too wide and a re-examination of the advert shows that the ladder was turned at 45 deg to fit the feet on adjacent steps. The rest is a long story, even compared with my norm, a Scandinavian saga in fact, but the sales bod at the Swedish firm's UK distributor explained that he had taken up the question of poor instructions with head office, but in the end, they had the final say. Not yet.

[Punk_shore]

A compomise thirdcrank:
perhaps fitting panniers is a two-person job, so far as checking heel clearance is concerned.

[Punk_shore]

[quote="Punk_shore"]*akin to reverse engineering*.
Just trying the quote facility, so that I can get thirdcrank's Forum name right.

[thirdcrank]

A compomise thirdcrank:
perhaps fitting panniers is a two-person job, so far as checking heel clearance is concerned.

I'll raise my hand, blush , and say I'm confused.

To recap, I posted a link to the Ortleib pannier fitting instructions, with a comment about how "easy" they showed it to be. In the ensuing repartee, I was far away, or at least on the other current thread bemoaning poor instructions for SKS mudguards, which is why I had an irrelevant rant about Swedish ladder feet.

I've never needed an assistant to tell me if my own feet are fouling panniers. Am I missing the blooming obvious?

[Punk_shore]

I've never needed an assistant to tell me if my own feet are fouling panniers.

No thirdcrank, you're just good at doing your own trial-&-error test work. Not everyone can do this.