There are taxes but no duties. UPS and maybe Fedex charge bogus brokerage fees but USPS (postal service) does not. Ask Wayne if he will ship via USPS.

I will probably take advantage of the store being somewhat local and buy my panniers from MEC and then bike up to the store, attach the racks on site, and test out heel clearance with the new panniers. If something doesn't work I can deal with it on the spot and choose a different rack or know I have to exchange the panniers.

As a family we have toured for the last 4 summers, we use a number of brands of panniers in common all nylon will leak sooner or later if it rains, just pack in plastic no big deal. The MEC system is solid enough for any on road or off road touring we have done. The arkel system is nice but heavy even when empty, remember you have to haul all that weight up and down the hills, the German sacs are plain and will float if the water is deep enough, but two problems, once your gear is wet its not going to dry in the bag ever, damp stuff does do moldy, get ugly. The simple welded sac design of the ortleibs is tough and long lasting but just too plain for my liking. IMHO the MEC gear is a good overall compermise. One more thing to remember is that if for any reason you do not like the stuff or it fails or you think it failed you are welcomed to return the gear to the MEC.

Hey, I can actually afford these panniers.
Will probably buy mine from MEC. I assume, unless it says 'single' all panniers are sold in pairs?

Yes.

I toured this summer with a pair of MEC World Traveller 56 L panniers. They were wonderful. I biked through a couple of days of rain and garbage bagged everything just in case. They have a few extra pockets around the bag that are handy for storing quick access pullovers or food. For a three week self-supported tour through everything from +30 and scorching sunshine to 0 C and rain, I was able to fit everything I needed. I will be picking up a small set of front panniers for a longer tour that I am planning later this year for a little extra gear that I will be taking along. The difference in weight distribution using the front panniers in addition to the rear panniers will be nice.

As for the attachment system, I haven't used anything else but I found this system very easy to use and reliable for my tour. I never had it pop-off and it was very easy to remove if I needed to. I was happy with MEC panniers and don't feel the need to spend a lot of money on an upper-tier set. MEC panniers may not be the absolute top quality but I would be willing to bet that a person that buys MEC panniers gets the most value and quality for their dollar spent.

Rather than starting a new thread I thought I would hijack this one:
While struggling to decide which pannier bags to buy, I put together a fancy excel spreadsheet listing all the options I was considering. It takes into account the model, whether it is sold in pairs, the volume in Litres, the weight in Kg, the price in CAD$, the material, the bag features, whether the bag is top or side loading, and the complete range of colours. There is a mouseover popup for each bag that shows a detailed picture. These are all in a pivot table and can be organized by any category.

At the moment I only have the MEC and Arkel bags as they are both Canadian made and priced. I am currently working on getting the Jandd bags up and I am trying to find a reasonable CAD$ price list for Ortleib and Vaude. Any others I am missing? I will make this list available as soon as it is comprehensive enough to be useful. I may add on racks as well.

Eventually I would like to create a system where you can add different combos of front panniers, rear panniers, frame packs and bar bags, and have it display the total volume, weight and cost. I'm only bothering with real touring panniers and bags, not little seat wedges or commuting panniers.

"Even if I get dinged with $20USD in shipping, plus $50CAD in duties and brokerage, I will still come in cheaper (around $295 total with taxes). But then I have to wait for it to arrive, and don't get to support a local business."

As Michel mentioned you only pay, at worst, the same two taxes you pay on the MEC stuff. Now there is a small chance you will get charged duty, because German made panniers are not covered by NAFTA, but there is also the small chance you won't pay the normal sales taxes since they often let parcels slip through, though less so than they did. You won't pay any brokerage if you get them shipped USPS.

Supporting local business is a lauditory goal, but MEC gear is only retailed in Canada, it isn't made here. It may not even be designed here, or the design cost may have long since been paid out, as in the fact they are just copying the seratus design for the new cordura panniers, there are no new canadaina mortage payments getting paid with moeny for that design process. You aren't morally responsible for paying MEC for a decision that was made on the basis of info gleaned from a touring forum, mostly supported by americans.

I buy lots of bike stuff from the US. Get it shipped USPS - US Postal Service (not FEDEX or UPS) and you'll only pay GST + $5 handling fee. I have ordered Ortlieb products several time from Wayne at www.thetouringstore.com and never paid any other duties. I am all over supporting Canadian businesses first if possible, but for the specialty gear I want that is often not possible or far too expensive.

As far as I am concerned Wayne, Peter White, Harris Cyclery, Wall Bike and such are part of my virtual community and I will happily support them.

Uh, well I've pretty much decided to buy the MEC world Tour panniers anyways. You can't beat the value. I was more doing this to kill time at work. I just wanted a Canadian price list of Ortleib so that I could add it to my list. I now have all the bags I care about from MEC, Arkel and Jandd, but I'm missing the big ortleib. I may get around to doing Vaude and Nashbar if the inspiration (read boredom) hits.

I can't seem to upload excel files to the BF server so I'll have to wait until I get home and put it on some webspace.

Yeah upload it if you can. I'm shopping for panniers and would love to see a comparison of a few.

Here is the excel file I was talking about. There are a few mistakes but nothing serious. I will probably add ortleib.

La Cordée lists Ortlieb in Canada.

I had Axiom Panniers (Pegasus). They weren't the most convenient but excellent for the price. Perfectly good panniers, solid.

Hrm, can anyone else get that file? I don't know if the system here is trouncing it as it arrives or if there's a problem with the file.

I'd like some feedback on the Axiom gear as well. Erick, what wasn't convienient about them?

I have a pair of Arkel XM45s for the rear and a pair of Axiom La Salles for the front and for occasional around town use. The Arkels are great. I think the mounting system is almost failsafe. The Axioms are what they are: inexpesive basic bags. I think the mounting system is a bit weak and I debate retrofitting them with the Arkel system or just getting a set of the XM28s. The Axioms are a bit leaky around the seams. For me this is more an issue for around town use than for touring. One thing that bugs me is the little flap that is supposed to cover the zipper on the side pocket. With anything in the pocket and the zip closed the flap wants to pull back, exposing the zipper its supposed to protect.

Mine were similar to the current Cartier, except a bit larger. The quality was there, but details weren't so well thought out. For exemple, the rear pocket zipper was on the wheel side, making it difficult to reach. Both pockets were too small. The mounting system was not so quick.

Now I use Arkel T-42, which have the same basic main bag, rear, top and mesh pockets, except the main bag opens with a zipper. The back plate is stiffer, mount quicker, zippers are stronger, pockets are large and easy to reach in. The Arkels cost a lot more though. Top-loading panniers like Axiom are cheaper to make, and the other details make for the rest.

I wouldn't hesitate to tour with Axiom. I'd look at the MEC too.

Thanks fellas. That info's a good help. :)

I fixed the link. Sorry, I was up late last night and typed in a non-existent URL

Thanks Eric L. It's great that you guys are willing to share your experience. Would like to see this thread continue with other stories.

I just rec'd two shipments today - one from Wayne at the touring store (tubus rack & ortlieb bar bag) and a selle anatomica saddle. Both coming from the US to Canada. They both just showed up at the post office for me - no GST, no duties, no handling fee - sweet.

I have the 56 L World Tour panniers and I LOVE them. I've used them for a couple of tours last summer + grocery shopping during the year. They have been the most durable and cleverly designed panniers at that price range.

Here's a link: http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...=1169188864993

Also, to add weight to what Velonomad said. I bought a pair of Vaude panniers and within one tour (a short weekend tour) they broke!! So, all I can say is STAY AWAY from Vaude.

I don't think I have seen those World travelers at the local MEC. I really need some new front paniers that actually hold some volume. I see they have a 40 litre front set in that design. My current set of four paniers is the size of the World Traveler rears. Not too chuffed with the hook design.

I wish they sold some more vibrant colours, wet red or blue, might as well be camo. Buy black and I can test out my theory about not being so obvious the drivers lean into you.

I was thinking buying black! I'll let you know how it goes!

The red is pretty vibrant when in the store; I'm sure it would stick out nicely in sunlight or under headlights.

Go with God my son! As bright as the LEDs and reflective tapes are these days I suppose black would be OK anyway.