Tech: How do I fix the red clips on Altura bicycle panniers?

[David Marsh]

Drat.

I evidently had my bicycle panniers slightly too-overloaded the other day, as first two, and now a
third, of the red clips on Altura panniers have popped out.

The red clips are what supports the pannier hooks on the rack and holds it into place.

They screw into a rather inaccessible little hole at the base of the hook, and have a spring which
provides the needed tension.

Unfortunately, the spring extends beyond the end of the screw which screws into the hole (still with
me?) and it looks like it'll be bloody fiddly to get the red clip back into place again.

I'm not sure if the spring is supposed to extend beyond the end of the screw, or whether it's
somehow 'rearranged' itself when the clip came out?

It seems that no matter how hard I push, I can't *quite* get the end of the screw to engage with the
hole (to screw it back in) because of the tension in the spring (and the end of the spring is, I
think, getting in the way)

Does anybody have any idea how I can reassemble the clips?

Alternatively, the panniers are still under guarantee, so I guess I could take them back
to the shop.

This is a bloody pain, though, as it's screwed up my plans to go cycling today..

Thanks for any advice,

David.

--
David Marsh, <reply-to-email is valid at time of writing> | Glasgow, Scotland. [en, fr, (de)] |
http://web.viewport.co.uk/ | begin usenet by learning how to post: read news:news.announce.newusers
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[David Marsh]

[Traditional interleaved quoting: please read to end for all comments]

David Marsh wrote in scot.general: about: Tech: How do I fix the red clips on Altura
bicycle panniers?

> I evidently had my bicycle panniers slightly too-overloaded the other day, as first two, and now a
> third, of the red clips on Altura panniers have popped out.

Oh bugger. Closer inspection with a bright light reveals that they haven't just popped out, they've
actually snapped off.

The screw on the red clip appears actually to be supposed to be (permanently?) screwed into a small
black riser from the hook, but it's a bit weedy: the thickness of the plastic surround is barely
wider than the screw itself (and not very long either). This riser/surround itself has snapped off
from the hook.

Hmm, that's either good sacrificial design to avoid causing greater damage to the pannier, or lousy
design that isn't strong enough for the required purpose.

Oh well, looks like a trip back to the bikeshop is in order. Unless anybody knows if dealing with
Altura direct would be easier?

Great, that's really trashed my plans for the day now.. :-(

--
David Marsh, <reply-to-email is valid at time of writing> | Glasgow, Scotland. [en, fr, (de)] |
http://web.viewport.co.uk/ | begin usenet by learning how to post: read news:news.announce.newusers
>I scorefile posters who don't quote in traditional interspersed style<