Got some £10 panniers off the classifiedes to see if they were any better than a backpack on the commute. Answer; a resounding yes! Appart from the bizzarely light feeling steering, and having to change my timing for pumping/rolling over bridges etc as the bikes COG is now over the back wheel, but I can live with that in return for a dry, sweat free, back (previous rucksack was a berghaus one so as dry as they come)!

So looking at more expensive panniers as these will be lucky to last the week without falling apart. Judeging by the last 24 hours I need at least 35-40 litres of stowage space, office clothes in one 20 litre pocket, lock, gym kit and casual clothes in the other.

Things I need;

Removable and caryable, preferably as 2 seperate briefcase sized bags.

Waterproof

30+ litres of storage (some stuff like locks, puncture kit, could be bungied on top or in a seperate saddle bag)

Flat(ish) tops so that a tent, aric, sleeping bag etc could be bungied over the top.

Could probably budget £60-£100, is it possible to get soemthing for that? Some seem to be a fortune, £100+ for each side!

I have 2 pairs (front and rear) of very nice Ortlieb panniers in red.Used once for LE2JOG.

I won't use them again.

They will "tick all your boxes"

A good price if you're interested.
Mail in my profile if you want to chat about it.

Chris

MKCHRIS has a good offer there – you will be unlikely to beat it. Ortleib have a great reputation although the bags are rather heavy

MKChris, YHM (from my work e-amil)

Weight isn't a huge issue as long as it's usefull weight, I can make it up all the hills round here in the middle ring (39-27) with the current panniers, can't imagine another kilo will make a difference, especialy if I get into a habbit of leaving a set of clothes at work.

I've got the Ortlieb Back Roller plus, which are tough, easy to use, simple to attach to a Blackburn Rack (come with a fitting kit that adapts to different gauge racks). Wanted something functional that that would last. They have been superb – a very easy to use, no faff product.

Partners' daughter has the Edinburgh Bike Shop 'Revolution' equivalent, which seem almost as good (not quite as simple to use but very well made) for about £40.00 less.

Both sets work very well indeed, but I went for the Ortliebs because they have a really good reputation and I couln't find many reviews for the EBC ones.
I wanted to look at Carradice stuff as well, but couldn't find anywhere that stocks it. Factory is quite near to me, should have popped round to look, but LBS had the Ortliebs in stock.

MKCHRIS has a good offer there – you will be unlikely to beat it. Ortleib have a great reputation although the bags are rather heavy

+1

TJ is right. I have the Ortlieb Back Roller Classics and they are ace.

i got some "creek2peak" ones from jejames in the sale and they've been very good. Proper quick release fixings. they are on a tortec velocity rack which is very sturdy and i think this makes a big difference to how the bike feels.

Previously i had a cr@ppy rack and some 15 quid LIDL panniers and the bike felt terrible. Any slight movement set amplified by the panniers wobbling and made the whole bike feel unstable.

+1 for Ortleibs I use one for my commute and both together for light touring

1 word Ortleib. End of!!!!!

Agree with all the above, but I've had a set of £20 Halfords specials for the last ten or so years and they've seen me round Scotland twice, the full length of the Pyrenees for a month, round Cornwall, Wales and Ireland all for two – three week tours.

Still going strong. They are a bit fiddly compared to better panniers but once locked on, there's no movement. For waterproofing, I use a couple of cut down, heavy duty bin liners and replace them after each trip.

no idea where my panniers came from, suspect madison as the guy was seeling a similarly un-used madison rack.

Current setup:
Claud Buttler touring bike (the lilac one that was someone on here's dads about a year ago)
Topeak alloy rack (very light and stiff)
SKS chromoplastics (the narrowest size)
Conti GP4season 700*28c
And the wheel's swaped out for some exage (still 6-speed) on chunkier wolber rims to save the very nice ones that came with it.

The mudguards and panniers almost make commuting by bike a pleasure despite the home counties traffic!

cant go wrong with ortleibs – plenty of space for camping/cooking gear/clothes etc, they keep everything dry even in soaked conditions and are sturdy on the rack. worth paying more for imo

just avoid Hamax ones, got some to fit woth my childseat and the mountings lasted a month before they broke off (meant i list a laptop for a bit).

Probably fine for on road stuff, but anything rough and they disintegrate.

You need 3 lots of clothing for a day at work (smart, casual, gym kit)? You don't have any form of locker / cupboard / large drawer?

Can't go wrong with ortliebs in my experience.

I'd recommend bungeeing your lock to the top of your rack though, much more convenient.

You don't have any form of locker / cupboard / large drawer?

Imagine working for a big American corparation who likes to portray itself a sa wonderfull place to work but who's idea of employee consultation is to issue a stock response of "there are no plans to change the current arrangements" so no cycle2work, no changing facilities (there is a mythical cyclists shower on the 2nd floor somewhere, but even security are doubtfull of it's existance and 1 shower wouldnt go far between 2500 people), no lockers, no drying room.

Which might go some way to explaining why they've been able to turn 2 out of the three bike cages into storage area's, some might think it was almost convenient for facilities management to discourage cycling…….

I've got Altura Dryline – they seem nice quality but they are a little heavy.

Hi. I'm looking for some panniers and bags at the minute if anyone has some quality equipment going spare? Theres are thread under my name in classifieds or mail my address in profile.

Sorry for hacking in thisisnotaspoon.