So I picked up this set of Jandd Mountain Panniers that I THINK I'm happy with. They took me about half an hour to install so that I'm comfortable they will stay on the rack. However, I typically REMOVE my panniers when I leave the bike for an extended period, and these don't seem to want to come off.

Is there a trick to loosening the bottom hooks so that they give up the death grip and let me have my bags?

We have a whole slew of Jandd panniers here. 3 full sets of 4 panniers each. We use them a lot. They last forever.

Do yours have a plastic piece of hardware that the strap runs through to tighten it? If you lift the plastic piece it should loosen the strap.

Ok I found a picture:



It's the tension lock that I am referring to.
The strap that goes through it should have velcro on the end to hold it down. You'll have to undo the velcro to lift the tension lock piece.

>>>You'll have to undo the velcro to lift the tension lock piece<<<<

I sort of found that piece by accident and got as far as releasing the velcro. After that, I can't get my hands in the tight space between the pannier and the spokes, though, so loosening the tension lock piece is nearly impossible.

They can be a bear depending on your rack set-up. Ironically JandD racks put the release buckle and velcro right in line with a vertical support making it especially difficult. My solution was to never remove that set of panniers while on tour Best advice is to work with it and figure out the little moves that release the buckle, it's a pain but I love the panniers.

I think I'm just going to rethink how I use my panniers. Perhaps I'll put all my valuables (phone, wallet, etc) in a small zipper case and just take THAT with me when I leave the bike.