General: panniers

Consensus seems to be go ortlieb.

I think a lot of it depends on the rider, and what organization system fits in with the way they work. Panniers fit into two broad categories: "A place for everything, and everything in its place" (lots of separate compartments and snapped/zippered/flapped pockets) and "Dump everything in one bag, and I'll sort it out later" (one large pouch). Ortlieb makes both types: The pocketed -Packer/-Tourer series and the pouch-style -Roller series. Most manufacturers these days lean towards pockets, so the Ortlieb Bike-Rollers are pretty much the only pouch-style ones you ever see. I see a lot of them, so something about that design must work for people.

I'm planning to switch from the pocketed OverLand Equipment panniers I ride with every day (OverLand is an old Northern California company that no longer does bike bags) to a set of Ortlieb -Rollers for two reasons.

The pocket-style panniers almost always have a flap that pulls down over the top to seal out rain and road spooge. I ride with rear panniers and a saddlebag, which recently replaced a rack bag. I find that it's very difficult to get the top pannier flap around the other bags; I can't get it high enough so that I have a clear shot at filling the pannier, and the flap just flaps back down. This is very frustrating, and I do not cope with frustration very well. This frustration is compounded by the fact that the Cordura panniers have a water-resistant inner lining: A rubberized bag that goes over the stuff coming out of the top of the pannier, and draws closed with a drawstring. I find that when I can't get the cover flap up, the top of the rubberized lining forms a shallow bowl at the top of the pannier, and I'm often loading things into the bowl rather than all the way into the pannier compartment. Given that my primary use for the panniers is grocery runs, I frequently load up a lot of stuff in the dark, only to have it spill out into the parking lot when I attempt to pull the flap over.

I realize that if I were a calmer, more organized person, I could adjust my behavior to accommodate these physical realities...or at least not go berserk when the laws of physics play out. I am not such a person.

I want to try Ortlieb rollers: One great big bag with one great big opening. You stuff everything into the same compartment, then you roll the top down like a windowshade to seal it off, and clip the rolled top to the bag to hold the roll in place. And you can extend the bag mouth away from the saddle/rack bags, so you'll have a better shot at actually getting the items loaded in. It'll mean I have to rummage around in a bag to find absolutely everything (stuff moves around in a big bag), but I do that anyway.

How well do you keep your room/house/desk/office/computer/bike swag organized? That might give you a clue as to which style better suits your temperament.

thanks for all the input so far, just to add another thought... any issues with attachment systems or water proofness on any of these suggetions? Also, Arkel bags seem expensive yet great in the departmentalization of gear, any one had road experience with the Arkel?

www.northstbags.com

I have had a couple of sets of Detours Transit tours, Timbuk 2 pannier, some perfco panniers and a couple of others, but out of all of them that I have used, my Ortliebs are the best. They have a highly adjustable attachment system, that is very secure. Not to mention they are the most waterproof out of any bags I've ridden. I have the bike packer plus model, and the matching front ones. They came with shims for the attachments if you need to make them fit on a rack that has smaller diameter tubings. I sell tons of sets of Ortlieb bags to a lot of customers at the shop I work at. These bags are so water proof that I put ice and filled them with cans of beer for one of the cruiser rides around town. No leakage whatsoever, and ice cold adult beverages. They also have a real good reflective area on them which definitely is a plus.