Cycling UK Forum

Looking into pannier sets and wondered what brands people have had good experiences with or are out there to compete with Ortlieb? Altura and Deuter crop up alot on web searches but what else is out there I could / should consider?

Carradice Super C is the only one you need to consider.

Carradice.

I suspect I may treat myself to a pair of Super-C's one day ..

EDIT :- SNAP.

For now I have a very good rack - one that Carradice supply, and my £15 SJS panniers do me for a one night camp - in combination with some Heath Robinson-ness of my own design ..

'Ere we go ...... it's hand bag wars again. Caradrice I wouldn't been seen dead riding with those. It's Vaude for ultimate quality and reliability keeping your kit and stuff dry. Ortleibs are pale imitations.

.

+1 Carradice Super C is the only one you need to consider.... had mine 25years + just repaired them with the kit from them and have never had probs with rain get through..

larry

I have a set of these. They are superb and pretty light considering.

http://bikebins.com/

A search will show plenty of threads with recommendations. Altura Arcs work for me.

I have a selection of panniers. My main set are Altura Arran 46 and they've been great and the issues that I have with them have been sorted out on newer models; the click-on system can pop-off but there is an extra safety catch now and they now come with waterproof covers (which is my other issue, they are reasonably waterproof but not perfect but an extra cover would keep off the worst). I also bought the SJS own brand ones to use as front panniers and they are too fiddly and too floppy for front pannier use. My final set are Carradice Carradura small panniers (bought for use as front panniers but not yet tried out) and they seem brilliant. The clip system (Super C) is great and they are really well made etc, come with shoulder straps and raincovers.

But if I had the money and could justify it I'd buy Super C panniers as Cotton Duck is a brilliant material.

I hope this helps

Chris

always take a look at Arkel bags (canadian)

maybe slightly heavier, and without covers are not quite waterproof but-

unlike the other 'bucket' type bags you don't get water trapped inside them as the fabric is both heavy duty but can breath
so i find that they dry out quickly and so far no water has got right through anyway

they do attach easily and without fuss and most come in choice of 3 colours black, red or blue

http://www.arkelpanniers.co.uk/
is the uk priced site but add £12 for delivery to the prices shown
the warehouse is in Germany but they do get to you v.quickly - in my experience exactly 3 days

Carradice make nice bags, but the Super Cs have now taken to coming with R&K hooks that look remarkably like the ones on the old Altura Orkneys. On which they made a basically very good bag into an unmitigated Work Of Stan that I grew to dislike so much I replaced them with Ortliebs. The kids started using my old Orkneys, and eventually got really fed up with the hooks, so I replaced them with Ortliebs again.

Not used Vau De, because my three sets of Ortliebs have never given any trouble (Rear Roller Plus, Sport Packer Plus, City Rollers).

Pete.

Edinburgh Bike do Arkels and an own brand pannier in the same sort of material as Ortliebs. I like the neat look of Ortliebs but prefer saving a few hundred grams with older Karrimor nylon panniers. The non-ebay version might be these Edin bike things:

pjclinch wrote:Carradice make nice bags, but the Super Cs have now taken to coming with R&K hooks that look remarkably like the ones on the old Altura Orkneys. On which they made a basically very good bag into an unmitigated Work Of Stan that I grew to dislike so much I replaced them with Ortliebs.

You pay extra for those alternative hooks - good to know in advance to stick with Carradice's own ...

I'm a Carradice Super C man. Last pair lasted about 16 years, including 10s of thousand kms of long haul stuff. Still using them for local stuff (day rides, shopping, etc). New ones bigger and probably better.

I like being able to repair (canvas), especially in the developing world where a shoe repairman will sew on straps, etc for a very small fee. Not 100% waterproof, but I use a liner and separate poly bags anyway. They are presumably breathable, which 100% waterproof won't be.

All that said - I like them cos they are canvas and not shiney plastic. Adds a bit of class and distinction.

I've tried a few different brands of panniers/luggage over the years but I prefer Ortlieb.

I love my Ortliebs. Completely waterproof, durable, large, have good hooks which a) are secure and b) can be adjusted without tools e.g. to go on another bike I ride or on my partner's bike. Come with long shoulder straps which you don't have to attach but which I happen to use a lot. The roll top ones can be overstuffed which I wouldn't recommend for touring but which means they can carry a LOT of shopping when they're on supermarket duty. I take mine everywhere.