cup

I seen these hard panniers on sale at Bike Nashbar:

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?sku=21698

Does anybody have any experience with these, good or bad?

NoReg

I agther that priceis per one?

They are realtively enormous, 3200 cubic inches a pair for a rear set only. You would be in the neighbourhood of 2 ft. wide OAW. I like solid panniers, even made a set once. I like the better slipstream, waterproofness, etc... Hard item to pack for air travel. Heel clearance? I'd like to try them. They are shown with just the one mounted, which would be ok in the city but on the road one needs to ballance the load, and two of them might be too much.

When I made my rear set for my mom, they were integrated with the rack, which I think adds of weight efficiency.

robow

Is that weight of 2000 g or 4 1/2 lbs for one or both?

cup

That is for one.

cup

Heel clearance is my biggest concern. $40 each with a coupon, I'm going to try them.

n4zou

Make your own from plastic laundry detergent or cat litter buckets.




https://www.k3pgp.org/bikerack.htm

l3ica

Nashbar lists the external dimensions as 15 inches wide..not too bad.
For that price, I am really considering purchasing one of these and pairing it with an arkel gt-18 (also sold in single units), for the rear. I am a little bit concerned with whether or not they are completely waterproof, or if some water gets in through the hinges..and if the attach mechanism is any good. I would really like to hear from someone who has experience with these before getting them...

Niles H.

I was wondering about these things too. It does seem that, if there were some gaps or leaks, the water problem could probably be solved with some kind of sealant. Some of the silicone sealants used on bathtubs and aquariums are extremely effective and long lasting. And I think there are sealants especially designed for ABS.

The attachment points are a potential problem. They get a lot of stress. Unless they are designed properly, there is likely to be cracking and failure. ABS isn't particularly good in this regard. Other manufacturers who have tried it (for the backplates in soft-shelled panniers) have switched to other materials after discovering the cracking problems.

That said, I don't think it would be too difficult to reinforce the area.

The manufacturers may have found a way to prevent these problems themselves; I don't know.... I wonder if these sorts of problems are covered by warranty?

ceridwen

I'm almost sure I saw someone in one of the other sections of the forum review these but search seems to only be picking up threads with posts in the last 24 hours and I can't remember which part they were in. Anyone else remember that thread?

Google to the rescue, it was in commuting:
https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting/360445-mini-review-nashbar-city-box-panniers.html

robow

What I want to know is do you get more "style points" for using kitty litter containers or laundry detergent buckets ?

Niles H.

Kitty litter containers.

With the labels still intact, and clearcoated.

gregw

+1 on the UV resistant clearcoat, especially if the brand is "Gritty Kitty" Stimpy.

n4zou

This style is called Grunge.
Leave them just as they are, labels and all. Make sure to remove them before washing the bike so there always dirty. Store them out in the sun between tours so UV fades them. Keep an extra set of buckets so you can replace them when damaged beyond the point of repair with duct tape.
https://www2.yk.psu.edu/~jmj3/grunge.htm