Decided to buy Carradice. Any Views?
They went bust but at least part of the company is up & running again - I have a pair of their Goretex lined walking shoes. The old green "Silvaguard" panniers were brilliant, we're still using a pair of Iberians & a pair of the smaller sized front/rear dual purpose ones. The barbag's not quite dead but the old wire puzzle won't fit the bars/stem on my new tourer. Not bad to say we bought the lot in 1979!
If at first you don't succeed - cheat!!
I have a pair of karrimor Iberians and a pair of karrimor Universal panniers, all in Red, plus a black Karrimor pannier that converts into a rucksack, the latter recently acquired a few months ago at the Bristol CTC auction.
I soon discovered it is best to put a bin liner inside each pannier before packing though to make them fully waterproof
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I soon discovered it is best to put a bin liner inside each pannier before packing though to make them fully waterproof
.I bought a pair of Iberians years ago second-hand (I seem to remember off the C+ forum). After years of commuting they're still as good as ever, and I'm thinking about getting a pair of the smaller ones too. I used to wrap my clothes/papers in a strong plastic bag, but have not got a dry sack from the camping shop which is very useful. IMHO the Karrimors don't have the 'street cred' of the Carradice, but they're just as good.
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Advena ego sum in Terra
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stof
thomsonts14nd wrote: I don't trust the plastic membrane on the Ortliebs, surely this has to suffer from the sun and i've seen aging bags cracking...
Yes. I regularly use a pair of front roller plus panniers from Ortlieb and they're as leaky as a sieve these days. They're about 5-6 years old I would guess, and certainly not used every day during that period. The rolling/unrolling seems to have destroyed the waterproof membrane near the top, and using them to carry tools/cutlery etc has damages it in the bottom of the bag. With duck cotton there seems to be less need to take great care and my experience is that it it surprisingly waterproof, though I always use rubble bags just in case.
One of my Iberian panniers has extra internal proofing, courtesy of a tub of margarine that leaked when the contents melted on a camping trip !
Last edited by Tandemist on 14 Jul 2007, 1:20am, edited 1 time in total.
My wife and I have both had a set of Super C panniers for 15 tears and there's nothing wrong with them, apart from the odd penicillin culture if left in the shed damp. I also have some 80s vintage Karrimor cotton duck panniers that are still going strong on my father in law's bike, as well as various Carradice saddlebags.
The one moan is that the company discontinued it's splendid wire puzzle handlebar bag. The replacement style always squeaked, though that was an older design than their current version.
We pack contents in colour coded bags anyway so the last word in water proofing wouldn't matter. Can't off hand remember any water ingress anyway.
The one moan is that the company discontinued it's splendid wire puzzle handlebar bag. The replacement style always squeaked, though that was an older design than their current version.
We pack contents in colour coded bags anyway so the last word in water proofing wouldn't matter. Can't off hand remember any water ingress anyway.
Panniers
PW wrote:They went bust but at least part of the company is up & running again
I use Karrimor "disclok" system on all my bikes (with possible exception of the Brompton and the Windcheetah, which have their own custom panniers), but the top-rail hooks have an annoying habit of breaking. If Karrimor are going again, can I get some replacement pannier hooks? If so, where?
"Little Green Men Are Everywhere... ...But Mostly On Traffic Lights."
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montmorency
- Posts: 271
- Joined: 31 May 2007, 11:00pm
- Location: Oxfordshire
stof wrote:thomsonts14nd wrote: I don't trust the plastic membrane on the Ortliebs, surely this has to suffer from the sun and i've seen aging bags cracking...
Yes. I regularly use a pair of front roller plus panniers from Ortlieb and they're as leaky as a sieve these days. They're about 5-6 years old I would guess, and certainly not used every day during that period. The rolling/unrolling seems to have destroyed the waterproof membrane near the top, and using them to carry tools/cutlery etc has damages it in the bottom of the bag. With duck cotton there seems to be less need to take great care and my experience is that it it surprisingly waterproof, though I always use rubble bags just in case.
In Ortlieb's defence, I would say that my rear rollers, which I thought might be leaking, are almost certainly still ok. I think it was down to my sloppy closing technique after all, and there is no visible sign of membrane damage. Fingers crossed, of course. They are at least 6 years old, and probably 7 or maybe 8, and used a lot.
I have not used the front rollers though.
Regards,
M.