dellwilson

The weather was sullen. Not mad, exactly as that had passed. This was more like the mood of a spoiled, little girl after her tantrum has fallen on deaf ears. A gray sky blankets the earth; tucking it away from the impatient sun. I set out alone. The air is chilled and swollen with moisture. Yes, clammy. I turn out onto the first artery after a casual ride through the neighborhood. It's pulsing with traffic. After the first intersection, traffic causes me to get too close to a line of trees hanging onto the road. The trees welcome the opportunity to use my passing as an excuse to shake off the early morning rain. Now I'm wet. But my Dell Precision M4300, Land's End No Press Chinos, and Croft & Barrow Broadcloth shirt are safe and dry in my Ortlieb Back Roller Classic Panniers.

(In case you're not a rabid Seinfeld fan, that is a parody of a J. Peterman ad.)

I had previously commuted with my clothes in a leather duffel bag bungeed to the top of my rack and my computer gear in a pack on my back. Carrying clothes and lunch in the duffel was not a problem. But, I really disliked the backpack because of two reasons: 1) It was hot! My back was always soaked when I got to work or home. 2) Having my CoG that high made me feel unsteady when I stood up to sprint or climb.

So I ordered the Ortliebs from BikeBagShop.com for $139 (including shipping). All my gear is easily fitting into them. Lunch and my clothing goes into one at about 50% capacity. My computer goes into a neoprene sleeve and then into the interior side of the pannier along with some portable drives and miscellaneous computer gear. On the outside, I put my shoes with the soles facing out. This puts a layer of cushion on top of my computer in case I take some kind of light impact from the side or if the bike falls over somehow. My guess is that the second pannier is at about 75% capacity.

After my first week with the panniers, all is great! The dynamics of the bike are slightly different: when I get off the saddle to sprint or climb, any torque I put into the handlebars (like you naturally swing side-to-side when standing) causes the bars to turn due to the additional momentum on the frame. But that is easy to get used to. My heels graze them occasionally when I'm just getting on the bike, but once I'm locked onto the pedals there is no contact at all.

Here's my current setup. This is an early 90s Giant Yukon P.O.S. to which I've added: 1) Shimano M324 pedals; 2) Planet Bike Blaze and Superflash Stealth; 3) Topeak Explorer Rack; 4) Ortliebs. I ruined the rear wheel on my '83 Peugeot UO14 and I didn't want to put any more money into it, but I'm rethinking that decision. The Yukon has a lot of problems and I'm probably going to come out cheaper building the new wheel for the Peugeot.

Nobodyetal

Congrats on the panniers! I commuted with a set of Ortliebs for a little over a year and never had any problems with them.
This includes a couple laptop-in-the-downpour situations - everything in the pannier was bone dry.

Enjoy!

cyclefreaksix

Very nice!! Those are on my wish list.

whatsmyname

Noice!

SSfreak

Nice. Also on my wish list.

tarwheel 

Who makes them? I'm having a little trouble reading the logo on the sides.

benbammens

I switched from a backpack to these bags too (also white) a few months back and I couldn't be happier

No more sore shoulders or sweaty back...

There are some bad bike lanes on my way to work and I have no suspension and hard 23C tires so they get some beatings but they are holding up very well And I load them quite heavy (10kg).