Advice - Panniers and Rack

scotty72

Hi

Have started to commute my way to work.

Decided that my backpack has to go (esp. once it warms up no amount of deodourant will counter that much sweat on my back).

Can anyone let me know what I should be looking for. Have been looking around and these things can get awefully pricey ($400 or $500 for a pair of bags).

I am not planning on a world cycle tour (just yet).

I need something that is fairly simple.

- Rack that is sturdy
- Simple panniers( I don't need thousands of compartments) to hold change of clothes and a couple of books plus spare tube etc. So I'm guessing even a small pair of panniers would be more than enough.
- Water proof (resistant)
- Not going to bash my ankles etc

Can anyone suggest a good combo of price / quality and where to buy?

Also, anything else this pannier new-bee should look out for

Thanks

gclark8

Scotty,

More infor needed, what bike?? V-Brakes??

I got a ripper rack for my Felt from TBE in Belmont for about $55, it has more robust mounts than most of the Giant and Tioga ones. Special shaped bars to go inside the v-brakes and onto the frame. Wish I had a digi camera..

I would recomend this one over any I have seen for a V-brake bike. TBE imports it themselves.

Paniers, got some Michelin ones for $65, like hat boxes.

__________________
Cheers,
George.

scotty72

a roughly 9 y.o Giant yukon with the older standard centre pull cantilever brakes.

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gclark8

You may be better with a rack that attaches to the seat post clamp bolt. They are cheaper, $20-35 in most LBS.

__________________
Cheers,
George.

geoffs

Hi Scotty

Over the years i've owned and used the following panniers
Karrimoor
Canondale
Serratus
Summit Gear
And now Ortleib. I wouldn't even contemplate the thought of using anything else. Vaude are similar but the hook clip mechanism is prone to breaking.
When you get caught in the rain on what was a sunny day you dont want to scurrying around trying to get some platic bags to protect your stuff.
I bought mine from the US at a much cheaper price than I could buy them in Sydney for. Ashfield cycles which is my LBS were doing a good price though.
They come with a strap that makes them very easy to carry or even a backpack addon.
I use steel pannier racks but we tour sometimes off the beaten track where I dont want to suffer gear failure. Around town a Blackburn is fine. Ashfield have a Minoura steel rack for $60? but it weighs a ton. Could be a good training aid though or a weapon though.
We commute up to 240k a week and ride 300 + weather permitting and have done about 30,000km of touring.

Cheers

Geoff

scotty72

You mentioned the rack price


but the Ortleib bags you recommend, what am I looking at for those?

(shudders with fear)

Scotty

geoffs

It took a bit but I just found the prices that put in an excel sheet when I was doing all my cost comparisons. Here are the prices:

1 pr Back-Roller Plus
Ashfield Cycles 310
Peter White Cycles USD 140 AUD 186.67
REI USD 140 AUD 186.67
Cheeky Monkey 325

1 pr Sport-Packer Plus
Ashfield Cycles 299
Peter White Cycles USD 175 AUD 233.33
REI USD 180 AUD 240
Cheeky Monkey 350


Tubus Logo rack 205 110 146.67 146 205
Ashfield Cycles 205
Peter White Cycles USD 110 AUD 146
REI USD 110 AUD 146
Cheeky Monkey 205

I ended up getting them much cheaper but I picked them up in the US on the way to France.

When I drop my wife off she walks the rest of the way to work carrying a backroller plus. Much easier to carry than the Summit GEar panniers that we also have and will most probably sell.

Cheers

Geoff

Cheers

Geoff

scotty72

if you wanna sell those panniers, I might be interested.


Like I said before, sturdy and water - proof are my main concerns. Not likely to use them as a back pack

if you want, give me description of which particular summitgear ones they are and how much your looking to sell them for

thanks

Scotty

Dancier

If you are only looking at taking a small amount of gear to work then you might be better off with trunk bag.


http://www.topeak.com/products/bag_trunk_lead.html

I have just set up a road bike with this option. I have panniers and still use then when I need to cart a fair bit of gear but for small amounts this is the way to go.

Daniel

scotty72

ok thanks

I'm going to go down the the LBS today to snoop around

I'm lucky there are three of them about 3 mins ride away (within a min of each other)

artemidorus

Many bikes have braze-ons for racks and don't need adapters to fit seat post clamp bolts, brake bosses etc. Look for two little braze-ons or bolts on the seat stays above the brake bosses.
Similarly, you should have some threaded holes near the rear drop outs.
If you have all these fittings, then attaching most racks is sweet simplicity.
Blackburn touring racks have served me well over many years and kilometres and with many kilos loaded. Even the Blackburn MTB racks are pretty sturdy. I've just looked them up online and the EX-1 hasn't changed since I bought one in '92.
Let me add a caveat: if you have, or will have, small children within the next few years, then you will find that none of the kiddy seats fit a blackburn rack. There is a rack very similar to the EX-1 that comes with a number of the seats that you can buy; alternatively, you can buy them as separate items for about $60. They seem very solid. I'll try to remember to have a look at my MTB tonight and let you know the brand. That particular rack comes with a wide range of brackets included to allow fitting to just about any conventional frame geometry.
Buy Ortlieb panniers; you won't regret it. All my friends swear by them, although I've never used them (my Wilderness Equipment ones aren't dead yet!) My next panniers will be Ortlieb.

Blundenb

I've had the one set of Summit Gear panniers for the daily commute for years - happily riding in sun, rain, wind and whatever else the weather brings. They are roomy for work clothes, shoes and lunch - with a zip pocket for wallet, keys, phone etc. Nice to support an Aust company. Never had any problems with water getting inside or anything breaking. Easy to adjust. They now get attached to a basic aluminium rack that comes with kids bike seats, although the previous el-cheapo Al rack did the jobs for lots of years with no problem. Easy to attach to the rack lugs. For a straight forward commute with a fairly light load (relative to touring say), this simple setup has lasted me ages with never a problem. I wouldn't recommending paying for anything much better than this unless you are going touring or are really cool.

cheers
Bruce

artemidorus

Do you use internal waterproofing?

Blundenb

Never, although its got a synthetic draw string "inside top" under the fold over, clip down "outside top" . Occasionally a bit of spray on waterproofing stuff that's for synthethic bushwalking boots. Even more occasionally it get a wash/scrub with soapy water. Maybe road grime is a good waterproofing agent?