shibbyman23

ORCA 45 Waterproof Rear Panniers From Arkel

Somewhat similar to the Ortlieb Back Roller Plus Waterproof Rear Panniers except that the Arkel's have 5L more volume.
With the current exchange rate they are a steal at $158 USD per pair, free shipping included.

djb

neat, and without the internal doohickey they mention, they weigh only 120g more than Ortlieb Roller Classics (1900 vs 2020g)

I'm still partial to the Ortlieb mounting system, but Arkel stuff is well made.

In the video my guess that this was filmed last fall near the Vermont border, looks a lot like an area I bike in sometimes where friends live.

Its great that there are more waterproof options for panniers now, and at diff prices too.

ps, just saw they have 35l front panniers also, nice combo.

Bicycle365

Love the design and Arkels are very well made. The thing that would keep me from these is it looks like at this time they are only available in "camouflage" pavement grey/blk.

fietsbob

They want some of Ortliebs customers .. get a Market share %.. Ill see who bought any on the OR coast Season maybe..

Light color side Panels let you see inside the bags Too.

nun

Looks like Arkel has seen the light. Their classic panniers were so heavy and over built, it's nice to see them moving forward and producing some simple and lighter weight products.

Vintage_Cyclist

Looks similar to their Dolphin series of waterproof panniers, which have been out for awhile.

Erick L

They aren't much lighter than the classics. You might be thinking of the GT series. They've had simpler and lighter panniers for decades and some ultralights since a year or two.

3speed

They look pretty nice, and I bet they are, but 5lbs? Yeesh. Even the smaller 35l are over 4lbs. My 35l are a little under 3lbs and I'm thinking of finding something lighter. I'm not looking to carry 10lbs for front/rear just in bag weight...

shibbyman23

To be fair they have 5L extra which adds weight. Also 45L is big enough for some so that they only have to use rear panniers. All of my kit could fit into a 45L pair of rear panniers if I put my sleeping bag between my handle bars.

Arkadee

Don't mean to hijack but this is the most relevant active thread so.....

Sierra Trading Post has the Back Roller Classic and Bike Packer Classic on line right now for $163 and $177 respectively. Sign up for their mailing list and you will get an additional 30% off coupon on a regular basis.

Boudicca

I wonder what these offer over the Dolphins, which I have and like.

djb

Seem to be slightly lighter probably due to just being one compartment (with slim map or whatever pocket). Hard to tell if material is same.

Diggie

I'm trying to decide myself between the Dolphins and Orcas. It appears the big difference besides size is the Orcas are welded seams instead of sewn and taped seams. The dolphins also have options with a front and side pocket area which according to Arkel difficult to include on a welded seam bag.

Vintage_Cyclist

I use the Dolphin 32 bags in front and my 30+ year old Cannondale Overlander bags in the back. On the Dolphins, the 2 mesh pockets (front and back) on each bag are great for extra water bottles, etc.; the side sleeve pocket is basically a large, flat pocket that's open at the top.

nun

Yeah I was thinking of the enormous touring "classic" series. I looked at the weight and the Orcas aren't as light as I expected. The drylites are interesting though

Arkel - Dry-Lites - Ultralite Saddle bags - ONLY 454gr!!

shibbyman23

LOL thanks for the heads up! Best deal I've ever seen on a pair of panniers. Trading in my Dolphin 32's for those. They are the 2014 model but still for that price I'm not complaining

vikingdude

The camlock design is very solid. Checked out some Arkels at my LBS yesterday. very high quality.

Capt Overpacker

Hello,

I received my Orca set tonight. These are my very first panniers. Sure, the weight is a little more than competitors. But I'm still happy. The quality is excellent. Also, the internal stiffener (which is removable) also serves to enable the bags to stand up when empty. That's not a requirement. But it's an apparent "easy button" for a newbie like me. I'll take the setup for a test ride and do some fine-adjustments when the weather clears a little.

This is inaccurate, unfortunately. They are $199.95 USD as well as $199.95 CAD. That's because of a combination of import duties and Arkel's US employees/facility. Regardless, the price included "free" two-day shipping. I ordered late Sunday evening and my large box with full Orca set and AC LowRider rack was dropped off around 2pm today.

Scott

3speed

I have a set of dry-lights. They're nice. The only thing I would say is that they're aren't Quite 100% waterproof. A little bit of water always seemed to get into the top of my panniers due to the fact that they latch at the top. Water can run down the rolled up part and a little somehow makes it's way inside. I'm buying a length of strap to route under the pannier and latches to make them latch down, at the sides of the pannier, rather than the top. That should solve the problem. Otherwise they're well made and very light weight.

djb

interesting idea of a strap to go under, at first thought I figure you would need something to hold the strap in place underneath or it would could slip and release the tension.
I havent rode with mine much in the rain, but did ride for about 7 hours in pouring rain once and didnt have any issues (was rather impressed when I got home and looked inside and found not a drop) but 1-- I didnt have a lot of stuff in them so was able to roll the tops a fair amount, and 2- I had a large dry bag strapped to the top of the rack, so this did cover them to a certain extent (although it really was coming down like cats and dogs for a long long time).

3speed

The amount of stuff does seem to be a factor for sure. It was worst on the side that my sleeping bag was in. The bag completely filled that pannier. The other side, which tended to have an extra roll or two at the top, didn't have water nearly as often. The sleeping bag side was somewhat often. This was on a tour that ended up with probably 12 days of rain, often raining for a good portion or several times per day. If you weren't on a really rainy tour, I wouldn't worry about them at all. Even then my stuff never really got wet. There was just a little water that would get in at the top. If I had had clothes or something at the top of that bag, they would have gotten a little damp. My bag has a water resistant shell, so the water didn't soak into it anyway.

nicolaim

I used two pairs of Arkel Dry-Lites on the GDMBR. They were 100% waterproof, even during some extreme downpours. When opening the rolled part after rain a tiny amount of water sometimes ran inside, but not enough to be a problem. Perhaps you didn't fold the roll-top enough times before buckling?

Biketouringhobo

I am getting the Arkel Orca 45 rear panniers this summer
and I have the Arkel Orca 35 front panniers

fietsbob

Bungee cord and hook mounting is not my Idea of Best, but it's not patented, so used a lot.

seeker333

LONG BUT WORTH READING IF YOU ARE SHOPPING FOR BAGS.

Since someone saw fit to resurrect a 9 month old thread, I will take this opportunity to point out that the Ortlieb Back Roller (Classic or Plus) panniers are capable of being loaded significantly beyond the stated 40l capacity, that relative newcomer Ortlieb City Roller bags are a sweet pannier value, and how Arkel Orca bags are notably heavy and expensive.

Ortlieb Back Roller Classic (OBRC) panniers are 60cm in height total, laid empty on a flat surface. OBRC panniers achieve 40l in volume when the material is rolled several times down to a height of 42cm. It is possible to overload to a maximum of 52cm in height while still maintaining a two-fold closure, which is more than adequate for complete waterproofing to rain. This increases total volume to at least 52/42 over the specified 40l, approximately 50l. This volume estimate is actually underrated due the geometry of the lower section of OBRC. Both front and rear panniers have overload capability, but Ortlieb does not mention this fact anywhere - you have to own/use them to know this.

Ortlieb sells a budget version of their Roller Classic panniers, the Roller City. City are basically the same as Classic (both nominal 40l volume for a pair), minus the aforementioned "overload" capability, which explains why all of the specified dimensions are identical except for weight. City bags eliminate the additional material required for overload, resulting in 760g lower weight for a F&R set (2730g vs 3490g). City panniers typically sell for almost HALF the price as their Classic big brother. I just priced a set of F&R bags at modernbike.com (consistent low price on Ortlieb) at $206 vs $380.

In conclusion, if you are satisfied with the nominal volume capacity of Ortlieb Roller Classic front and rear pannier pairs (25/40l respectively), you can reduce pannier weight by 22% and pannier cost by 45% and still have the quality and reliability of the ubiquitous Ortlieb Roller Classic by choosing the relatively unknown economy version, the Ortlieb Roller City bags.

Ortlieb Roller City bags are lighter, less expensive and probably at least as good as Arkel Orca bags, which weigh 4410g for a F&R set and cost $410, making them the heaviest and most expensive set of panniers in this comparative post.