ARGH, my panniers wrecked my practice tour
 

I was out on a practice tour, and lost a rear and front pannier. Not from a wreck but loaded them one the bike and the rivets popped on the rear (a set of REI's best), so it won't stay on the rack. The front pannier, a set of Blackburns and busted the cinch clip thingy. This is really frustrating.

You can magyver these to work. Stop by your local hardware and pick up some stainless steel fender washers, small bolts, and nylon inserted lock nuts and you can fix the rei panniers. Also, some magyvering on your part can come up with a MUCH better retaining system.
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You could also get a couple of bungee cords and bungee cord those bad boys on the rack so they don't come off AT ALL. I had to do that for one tour (5 weeks), and it never failed me.

Koffee

You can purchase some replacement clips from ortlieb and bolt them on. they are great. and they secure really well also.

i would take them back.....then buy the parts everyone mentioned just in case.

Arkel also sells a retro fit kit. They are around $10.

EDIT: I was wrong about the price, they are $22, which is 10 Latvian Lats. Whoops.

I liek this idea, as the Arkels look like a sweet set of panniers. More than I can afford, and more than I need. Still liked what I saw. The other option is to use the set I commuted with all winter. I don't trust them with the amount of stuff I was loading though.

I retro-fitted an ancient Bushwacker pannier I had laying around, which I now use to hold my lock while commuting. The mounting system is excellent.

Don't be fooled by people telling you that it is difficult to mount and unmount. I have an Arkel Bug which I mount and unmount at a minimum of six times a day. It takes all of about five seconds.

They are also very strong and durable. I've been hit by cars twice this month with no harm to my panniers.

http://www.arkel-od.com/panniers/acc...asp?fl=1&site=

BTW I was wrong about the price, they are $22, which is 10 Latvian Lats. Whoops.

Riveting on some proper pannier fittings is a good move. Modern quick-release, locking fittings will not bounce off or break.
Rixen and Kaul are used by lots of manufacturers. They take about 2 seconds, compared to the five seconds of aArkel :) They slide onto an extruded Al rail that you rivet to the top of your bags. For heavy loads you can use extra hooks on the rail.
After 5 years, the rivets of my Carradice started to pull out so I took them to a leather-worker at the local market and he tapped in some new rivets on the spot.
The stiffening material of carradice is corrugated plastic (as used in For Sale signs). If your bags use heavy board you could take the opportuninty to make your bags stronger, stiffer and ligher.

I also recommend a retrofit hook system, if you are otherwise happy with the bags (and/or can't return them). I've used the "older" arkel hook kits to retro fit onto some older Jandd bags-Arkels hook system worked awesome. There "newer" version seems even better (easier to adjust&such).

REI doesn't make "the best" of anything. If you bought them there, return them...mabye you can exchange them for a set of Ortleibs (I think REI sells them) for just a little bit more change.

Cheap panniers with weak attachment systems are just that, WEAK. Get rid of them, save yourself future headaches.

REI is good about returning things that don't work. I bought my Ortlieb set from them so I know they have them. They can special order what they don't stock.

Here's a link for the Ortlieb Hooks I believe they will work great.

http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/...st.asp?scat=21