jambon

Hi all ,

With much fiddling Ive managed to mount a Tubus Tara on my touring Bike . I also ordered a cheaper set of ortlieb style knock offs , these outer edge pannier bags ;

Outeredge Bike Bags | Storage | Free Delivery | Tredz Bikes

Unfortunately and much to my dissapointment these bags don't sit very well on the Tara . The mounting hooks are too big so that there is a lot of play between the bags and the rack . The bags slide up and down along the rack when riding and I can imagine them easily coming off on a descent over rough terrain .

Also with the fork dimensions on my bike the lower "door handle " fitting part of the pannier bag is useless as it has no place to gain purchase on the rack .

I have thickened out the contact points between the hook and the rack with electrical tape . This secures the panniers much better but it is now difficult to lift them off the rack and everytime I do so some of the electrical tape comes with them .

Its crossed my mind that these bags may not be suitable for front panniers .

Any Ideas ?

saddlesores

try something more durable than electrical tape.
how about 2" strips thin vinyl tubing or inner tube,
held on with some thick zipties.

may have to drill out one of the mounting bolts
on the door handle to reposition it.

or could send them back and get ortliebs.
or could get a different style front rack.

djb

Mr Ham, the link to the panniers doesnt show the mounting mechanism at all, so while I'd like to give some suggestions, a photo of the rear of your bag would be a big help.

BigAura

+1.

Slit the tubing. Cut the tubing length so it can't slide. Electrical tape to secure around the rack's steel tubing.

jambon

jambon

pictures above

hilltowner

I have a Tara and use Deuter bags with it. Though Deuter closed out the line of bike bags they used Ortlieb quick release hooks for the top attachment point and a facsimile of the "door handle" style hook you mention at the bottom.

When I first mounted the bags I thought I would have problems similar to yours but Ortlieb/Deuter provided spacers to fill the gap between the hook openings and the Tara horizontal tube. You can purchase those spacers from Ortlieb but they are proprietary to the Ortlieb hooks so unless you want to play around with shaping them to fit inside the hooks you have and then securing them with glue or something similar they probably aren't that useful to your situation.

The door handle posed a problem at first but I discovered if it was configured to extend away from, and not across, its mounting bar it caught on the curve of the Tara just perfectly. I think you'll need to fiddle around with yours to see if there is any angle you can set it at to catch a portion of the Tara rack. If you can't, perhaps some elastic cord from the bottom of the rack could be kept securely on the handle if it was oriented vertically.

Hope you can figure something out.

djb

Thanks for photos, had replied earlier but lost what I wrote. Essentially that yes, using tape or some attached tubing to get the rack rod diameter thicker is the easiest way to remove any play. As the last fellow pointed out, you'll have to play with the tab thing at bottom to get it to hold properly.
Basically tab stopping pannier from moving in one direction, and then properly positioning the upper things so that one of them butts up against part of the rack stopping it from moving in the other direction.
Apply tab to lower part of rack first, then angled approach of the top bits, so it doesn't move one way or the other.
I'm sure you'll get it. Just muck around adjusting things.

seeker333

Ortlieb City bags are fairly inexpensive ordered from a German IBS. About 150-160 euros for F&R pairs before shipping. Classic Rollers about 50 more than City.

Not to pick on you OP, but this is why you don't mess around with cheap bags (good advice for the lurkers out there). Us poor folks can't afford to buy TWO sets of panniers - get good ones the first time, less costly in the long run, and you can sell them easier if you don't need them later.

veganbikes

+1 Getting a good set of panniers the first time around is always the way to go. I figure my Arkels will probably last at least 40+ years and while they took some saving up I might really only be paying $8 a year or so if I broke it down like that. For Ortleibs you would be spending a lot less and they would be fully waterproof (with less organizational space) and likely still last quite a long time.

I would rather spend a big chunk in the short term than an even bigger chunk in the long term even if broken up into different payments. Buying quality gear can mean good warranties if you need them but more importantly better wear and tear so you won't need the warranties. When I am on the road I don't want to worry about failures or something falling off or whathaveyou I want everything to work well.

If I was truly looking to save, had some cheap-o panniers but needed a solid mount I would go out and buy mounts from Ortlieb or Arkel and just mount them on to my existing panniers or dry bags and use a little silicon seam sealer all over (which I did for my front panniers). At least then I would have their same mounting and could just buy new bags when my low costs fall apart.

djb

I can see both sides of this argument--to begin with, many of us who have been using panniers from long pre internet started out with cordura style panniers that didnt cost too much in the late eighties sometime. They worked well enough, as did the mediumly priced aluminum racks that I have used since then, and still use.
For someone starting out, reasonably priced, well enough made stuff is fine. You will have just as much fun and beyond buying really badly made things, they will last long enough.

It does bug me that internet forums seem to go on about the best stuff, and for someone new to the game, and wiht limited funds, there are lots of good options out there, and especially way more options of panniers from back when I started.

Of course though, buying better made things is often more economical in the long run, and as was stated, will work better too. So it comes down to how much you can afford. For someone not sure if they will like biking with panniers, or who might not commute often, its not always necessary to buy the best.

To me, there is no clear answer here, other than using common sense and not buying poorly made things, which is usually apparent when you physically compare different panniers for example, the stitching, the mounting system, etc, stuff that is generally apparent to someone using common sense and looking at different things in different stores.

T Stew

I got Carradice panniers that I thought were very reasonably priced (from overseas) compared to something like Ortlieb, and their attachment system is great, and includes multiple adapters for different sized rails. I also used Tubus front lowrider, but the Nova model. It fits the bags great.

Yeah it's easy for some folks to say to spend on the better stuff. In almost everything in life you get what you pay for. But not all of us have the money. You know what is even more worth paying money for upfront? Your house. You'll save a buttload of money in the long run, tens or even hundred thousand dollars. But even with such HUGE amounts at stake, hardly anyone can afford to buy a decent house with cash up front. It's all relative, everyone's situation is different. A few years ago I would have said your crazy to spend 'hundreds' of dollars on a bike. Now I spend that much just on racks and bags to put on the bike.

jambon

On reading the advice above (thanks for it ) I see that Ortliebs would have been the way to go .

The bodges that Ive had to to keep these panniers from jostling around mean that they are very difficult to take on or off the rack .

I'm going to cut my losses and sell them and try find some second hand ortlieb front rollers . i assume that they will clip on just fine . Investing in good stuff that will last years and years seems sensible .

Seems like panniers are not something to cut corners on . Lesson learned.

treebound 

This is what I'm seriously considering since the several sets of panniers I have didn't sell, so I might as well upgrade a set of them. Looks like about $50 per pair.

arkel Cam-Lock Hook Kit

veganbikes

They make a super solid mounting system. Ortlieb isn't bad but I think Arkel is superior for mounting.

saddlesores

if you think they're good panniers other than the mounting system,
look into other racks. will they fit your rear rack?

why not contact the seller.....which racks do they recommend.
asking is free.

same seller has half a dozen possible front racks 16-22 pounds.