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Oh the excitement. 20 litres or so, waterproof and tough enough for commuting use. If they have a sleeve for hold a laptop safely then all the better but it’s by no means essential. My first thought was the Decathlon 500 ones that seem pretty good in the flesh, but before I buy I wondered if there was anything else I should be looking at.
Ortlieb
Ortlieb are tough as old boots, and it's what I use, but they're like the Brookes Saddle of panniers. They must have some competition in the 21st Century?
Part of their reliability is the simplicity though. And those Decathlon ones don't look a far cry away.
Ortlieb
Ortlieb
Ortlieb (see all previous discussions on this topic). Other panniers are available, but if you just want something that works, Ortlieb won't let you down.
Ortlieb
Downtown if you fancy laptop carriage and off the bike use. The QR3 is a nice system but a little limiting for multi-bike use and general shopping duties. I like mine.
Mine? Ortleib classic rear and Vango for the front (same roll-top style as the Orts).
All in matching red.
£75
Based Rochester, Kent
My Ortlieb roll-tops are great.
I've been commuting daily with Vaude for 4 years, carrying a 15" laptop, clothes, and lunch, they've been faultless, would recommend them 1000%.
Trebord, if lunge doesn’t want them, I’d be interested ?
Ortleibs reputation is justified. I particularly like the mountings as they are very easy to remove from the bike - but that does make them very easy to steal and they tend to rattle
I also have carradice waterproof panniers. A much more fiddly mounting system but as a result more secure and much harder to steal - so if you are going to leave the panniers on the bike I would go carradice
Ortleib are also heavy
Ortlieb
Best ones I ever had were actually macpac. But they were stolen and they don’t seem to make them anymore. So....Ortlieb. Had the pair I have for 18 years and still going strong. Although a little hole in the bottom that leaks when it’s really rainy
Ortlieb. Bombproof and will last for ever. Not cheap but longer term superb value for money.
Ortlieb being bombproof makes them very heavy. There are lighter waterproof roll tops out there. They may not last as long, but in cycle touring weight is everything.
They may not last as long, but in cycle touring weight is everything
And yet most of the cycle tourers I've seen have been using Ortlieb. The weight of my empty panniers is insignificant compared to what they weigh when full.
I was actually in Decathlon today and had a look at the panniers. Similar to Ortlieb but definitely not the same quality. They looked decent enough, and I'm tempted for general shopping and stuff, but the material is quite a bit thinner, and there's a bit less to the catch mechanism. Quite lightweight though.
Ortlieb Front City Rollers served me well. Can be had for £55 for a pair. No internal pockets/separators, but have the required 20L volume
Not sure I agree with ‘weight’ is everything for cycle touring. I would 100% favour strength and reliability. Guess it depends what kind of touring you are doing. But most long distance tourers in my experience tend to favour steel bikes, more spokes, dynamos etc which all add weight but also make sure you don’t get stuck in the middle of nowhere with a knackered bike and no light...
Just for diversity's sake, Crosso (available through Cyclesense); they are on par with Ortlieb quality-wise, but unfortunately also price-wise.
For panniers I'd go with Ortlieb but for your specific needs what about the Carradice SQR range? The Slim is wide enough for a small laptop - https://www.carradice.co.uk/bags/saddle-packs-sqr-bags/super-c-sqr-slim
Once you've fitted the bracket to the seatpost it's dead easy to mount/unmount the bag itself. I've used the SQR Tour for commuting and for week long credit card tours of the Western Isles.
The Ortlieb 'Plus' are a lot lighter than the standard.
Still have a bloody great bolt sticking into the luggage space, but mine have lasted 10 years so far.
Before that I had Carradice and will probably go back once (if?) these have worn out.
Again, if you want tough and reliably waterproof, it's Ortlieb.
Ortlieb here.
The Upso panniers made from lorry tarps look good too.
I use a Topeak pack real for my daily commuting use
Also a carradice SQR slim for random things, usually on my Brompton seat post
Have ortlieb plus back rollers too. Excellent, though rarely use them