ive decided on soft panniers for the ten
ive had them a few weeks now and tested them out off road

they are very light and take a lot of stuff
they have great stuffability and the simple fold over closure helps with this ..

each pannier has five quick realease fixing points but three released to remove ..
they have plastic stiffeners you secure youself with screws and clamps .. so the panniers keep a shape when empty or half full ..
they are backed with a stiff but soft anti slip pad and grip the handrails and exhaust sheild well

by accident the tool tube set up on my ten is perfect for these panniers as the panniers sit on them and by total fluke the panniers have a handy velco strap that can sucure the bottom of the pannier to the tube prevent jolting up and down
i was dead jammy here as i wasnt thinking of the panniers at all when the tubes went on ..he he

they may be even a little too secure in a spill if you know what i mean
the fabric seems very tough and patchable though

they would be diffucult with a aftermarket can i think because of the heat and position but work realy well with the stock exhausts
they have been very secure on rough ground and dont jump up and down sag or rub as yet anyway ..
ive usedthem in the rain powerwashed them and they are 100 percent leak free so far

they take very little time to fit on and off with the quick release strap system ..

im sure everyones aware of the pros and cons ..but if your in the market for soft gear they seem to fit the bill

they seem well made and thought out im very pleased with them so far
and for soft panniers not many if any downsides .. except perhaps the price ..

id say a pretty good good soft option ...135quid on ebay


By minkyhead at 2011-02-03

By minkyhead at 2011-02-03

By minkyhead at 2011-02-03


By minkyhead at 2011-02-03
By minkyhead at 2011-02-03
By minkyhead at 2011-02-03

By minkyhead at 2011-02-03

i have a set of these for sale if anyone wants them .only thing with mine is i cut the velcro strap off .so i could use them on my push bike .easly fixed thow . Only selling because i have some ali pannier now . Make me an offer before they go on eday

Good write up one question though.

How does the quick release work, and what is left on the bike for re-atattching the bags?

I use oxford sports panniers that I've had since year dot, and going throo the "need new ones / NO spend the money on beer" process.

hi the straps on the side of the bags
you just pinch the sides of the buckle you can see in the pic

one around the back of the rack
one to the frame [i have no pillion pegs ] either

the velcro one at the bottom peels off ...

the two saddle straps over the seat i just leave connected to lift off
there is nothing left on the bike they com off as is

once you have figured where to fit everything its pretty quick to bang em back on


By minkyhead at 2011-02-04

I could be wrong, but I think NickW had these on last year while we were in Portugal. The straps (where they met the bag) were suffering after a few falls.

Nick - are these the same as yours ? or am I talking b o l l o c k s ??

__________________
>-------<

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

yes i think thats possible i think emergency bungess are the order of the day ,,

the bags will be servicable i think as long as the saddle straps remain intact ..topple offs should be ok but i suppose like all soft luggage its vunerable to te obvious

my problem is having trapped the back of me right leg under hepco boxes once before in a deep rut i dont want to try it again
fortunatly it was only in keilder ..
i sold them [the panniers ..not me legs ]
trhat was 6 years ago it really put me off hard luggage ..ive never used it since

i was unlucky i suppose but it hurt .. if i was on my own i would have been in big trouble as i really couldnt free me leg i was lucky not to break it ..i dont know but me leg dragged back and the box trapped it under my heel and dragged it in good and proper

the wolfman stuff looks really good but i dont want racks on

im now working on the basis rather have a broken bag than a broken leg

i would say for taking your camping gear from a to b they are ideal .. but you could be lucky or unlucky from there on in

well they have done the job real well

heres a update ..the bags have done over 6k attached to the bike and around 2000 off road or on bumpy tracks

was kinda forced into using them ... bloody camping grr

but the ortilebs did there job brilliantly ...rain .. loads of big downpours ..rough rough roads and tracks always leaving the contents bone dry ..simple to open and stuff ..hard to fault them
they have been attached to the bike on all sorts of trails before morroco to practice and try out with weight ..taken a couple of slow speed tumbles
and proven themselves for over 4500 miles on a big trip
part of the succsess was managing to suport them with tool tubes which also made a handy lashing point which has no doubt helped ... all straps and lashing points are 100 percent intact ..i have been impressed with their performance ..cou[pled with a huge saving in weight

obviously if a pillion was to be carried they would be a good option ..

on tyhe flip side i would say the teneres tucked exhausts lend themselves to these bags very well
a wider bike with a high exhaust may present more of a challenge to these or other makes ..without a rack fitted orbetter still a light frame welded up

but for me they did a great job .. at no time did the ever buck slip become insecure or let water in

ive finished with camping for good .. so i may end up with just a big rack and a one dry bag [ortileb of course ]

if your anti ally cans off road like me .. or just simply on a budget ,or a one off trip ..they are well worth alook

but if you take care on how you attach them ...they are a realy effective carrier


By minkyhead at 2011-03-23


By minkyhead at 2011-05-13


By minkyhead at 2011-05-13

By minkyhead at 2011-05-13


By minkyhead at 2011-05-13

Anybody got any of these for sale ?

I've got a brand new unused set of these if your still looking for a set