Yes, noglider is one of the people I trust, too. I did not mean to offend you in any way with my "school = broke" comment. I just thought you might be a 19-20-year-old college student with a job at Chipotle and here we were suggesting that you spend a week's salary on top-of-the-line panniers.

As a bike commuter and occasional bike tourist, I've been tempted by the folks here at Bike Forums in the past to look at Ortliebs. Several times, I went to a bike shop to check them out and, yes, they are made very well, but NO, they do not serve my purpose for carrying the types of items I need to carry back and forth to work. If I were touring for weeks at a time and just needed to stuff a whole bunch of clothes into a bag to keep them clean and dry, the Ortliebs might make more sense. But I need compartments for my phone, my mp3 player, my wallet, my railroad bike pass, my house keys, my office keys, my work shirt, and all sorts of stuff. I'd go CRAZY having to fish around a giant Ortlieb every time I needed to grab one of those quickly.

The construction of the Topeak bag is a little shabby. Its zippers are not of the highest quality, and the material used to make the fold-out panniers is a little thin. But the configuration of the entire system is perfect for my commute - and maybe yours. I would just avoid trying to find "the best" bag and rack and focus more on finding "the right" bag and rack for your own specific needs.