Which panniers should I purchase

tassietrail

Hi everyone,
I am interested in buying some panniers for a bike trip on my mountain bike and was hoping someone could please advise me on the most approprate ones. We are planning to travel in Tasmania on the tassietrail and we will need to carry a tent and sleeping bag. The panniers I have looked at are the axiom champlain 65 litre ones for 129.95aud dollars. Also Deuter pack 1 panniers for 134.95. Also I will need to purchase a pannier bike rack. I really don't want to carry front panniers. Is anyone able to advise me on these panniers and rack or other brands. Thanks Tassietrail.

geoffs

We use Ortleib. 100% waterproof and they wont bounce off. They will be the last set of panniers (barring accidents) that you will need to buy.
Its a great feeling to having ridden through torrential rain and water up to 30cms deep to get to the destination and everthing is dry.
Summit gear and Bunyip are good if you dont mind them being not waterproof and they are made in Australia.

You dont need 65l panniers if there are 2 or more of you as it will only encourage you to overpack.
We use the Backroller Plus (40l), Sportpacker Plus (30l) and the Ultimate 3 Med handlebar bag. This is on a tandem for the two of riding self supported with all our camping and cooking gear.

For a pannier rack we are using Tubus Cargo and Tara. My last rack which is on the old tandem is one that I had made for me out of SSteel 16yrs ago. I has done umpteem 1000's of kms touring in Europe, Canada and Australia.
The lifetime warrantee on aluminium racks means sfa when you are in the middle of nowhere and it breaks from fatigue or the unexpected.
We had a teenager on a school excursion collide with us when we were on the Otago rail trail in NZ. One of the bolts sheared and the rack was bent up a bit but we were able to carry on.
Prepare for the worst and everything else is a breeze.

Cheers

Geoff

tassietrail

Thanks Geoff , I really appreciate your advice. Thanks mate. Cheers Tassietrail.

till!

Another vote for the ortlieb/tubus combo, although you may have a hard time turing up the tubus racks in aus - the aus distro hasnt had stock for *months*.

Ive imported ortlieb gear before, and this seller had good prices and shipping; wayne at TheTouringStore.com

till

Sequoia

We got the Deuter - a year ago it was a good compromise between price and quality as we didn't have the $$$.
But as a Melbournian that commutes in rain too often, my next pair of panniers will be the Ortlieb. The Deuter is ok and it's water resistant, but not waterproof and as petty as it sounds, it can be annoying to carry a bag cover in your bag coz it might rain, and than when it starts raining you have to put it on, and sometimes you still get water into your bag coz it's just a cover so it's not perfect and water can still get in.
For the price you can get the Ortlieb now (saw the Ortlieb Bike Roller Classic at my LBS for $235) I reckon it's worth it to put the extra $$ for better quality waterproof panniers if you don't live or travel in a dry place. I've got the Topeak rack and happy with it. Before had a Tioga one and didn't like it much.