Carpe Velo
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Posts: 2,519
Bikes: 2000 Bianchi Veloce, '88 Schwinn Prologue, '90 Bianchi Volpe,'94 Yokota Grizzly Peak, Yokota Enterprise, '16 Diamondback Haanjo, '91 Bianchi Boardwalk, Ellsworth cruiser
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You asked about strap mounted bags. I have a Topeak DXP strap mount. It takes 30 seconds to a minute to mount it. The Topeak rail system would certainly be faster and convenient, but my bike already had a Blackburn rack and I didn't want to have to invest in Topeak's proprietary system for every bike I wanted to use it on.
The panniers on this model are huge for something like this, but Topeak hasn't too much choice in strap mount models. There have been a couple of times when I was glad I had the capacity. A group ride on a cold morning that warmed up quite a bit. I had my camera in the main compartment and my multiple layers went into the panniers as the day progressed.
If you get a rack trunk without fold out panniers, consider getting one of the wider racks meant for a MTB, so you can use both a rack trunk and some panniers together. Otherwise the panniers stick up over the top, and the trunk hangs over the sides, so you can't use both at the same time.