Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
Dudley Manlove
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by Dudley Manlove »

andrew_s wrote:Ortlieb reckon that the Plus material is tougher than the Classic - similar tear resistance (in between the two different Classic fabrics), and does quite a lot better on the abrasion resistance test.
This article on crazyguyonabike gives a good rundown on the differences by a fabric technologist, and Plus comes out best there too.

Either are plenty durable enough, and it's easy to permanantly repair minor damage with Ortleib's kits, generic products like TearAid or Tenacious Tape, or glueless puncture patches such as Park.


Interesting. I guess I just assumed as they're more rigid, they're tougher. And yes to the Park patches, that's what I've used to repair mine.
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Heltor Chasca
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by Heltor Chasca »

+1 For Classics. I use mine to transport chicken food, cider, you name it...hc
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Sweep
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by Sweep »

Interesting thread as I'm thinking of getting some Back Rollers - already have Bike Packers - very neat but the lack of flexibility in stuffing in that bit extra at the top can be a problem.

On a sort of related point before I go ahead and buy, what colour would folk suggest for visibility/safety?

Red seems to be the natural choice, but others may have different opinions ....
Sweep
cjs
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by cjs »

Sweep wrote:Interesting thread as I'm thinking of getting some Back Rollers - already have Bike Packers - very neat but the lack of flexibility in stuffing in that bit extra at the top can be a problem.....


I would be the opposite here...had the Classics for around 15 well used years (now relegated to occasional use around town) and back-packer pluses [BPP] for over a year with around 2000 odd miles on tour comfort camping so far.

Despite Ortlieb specs there is considerably much room inside the BPP than the rollers if you choose to use it and IMO BPP are a lot more flexible in that you have the choice of using the considerable space under the lid but not actually inside the bag if the top drawstrings are pulled.

I use the lid space to pop in daily purchases, coats etc and keep them separate from the main compartments. If its looking showery at the start of a day I load my waterproofs under one lid for quick withdrawal and return. Perfect for when they may be damp when put away....

In my view Rollers for simplicity and BPP's for versatility - either way both are superb in strength and design.
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Gearoidmuar
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by Gearoidmuar »

I've done maybe 50 tours with my 18 years old Backroller Classics. Have yet to replace a part. Still watertight.
PH
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by PH »

I like the classic rollers, though nobody could say which was best, only best for them.
I use a front pair on the back, I prefer the narrower 30L size, I also use a saddlebag and barbag for everything that I might need between one campsite and the next, because of this I don't miss the panniers having no outer pockets.
OnYourRight
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by OnYourRight »

PH: you say 30 litres, but the Ortlieb website says the Front-Roller Classic panniers have a capacity of 25 litres per pair. Are yours a little bigger?

What saddlebag do you use? I’m interested in this idea – small front panniers at the back combined (only when needed) with my Carradice Lowsaddle Longflap saddlebag – but I wonder how they’d work together. I’d probably favour the Front-Roller City panniers, since they’re cheaper and simpler, but I’m wondering if 25 litres is really enough. It seems to me like it would be, but nearly everyone uses something bigger.
PH
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by PH »

OnYourRight wrote:PH: you say 30 litres, but the Ortlieb website says the Front-Roller Classic panniers have a capacity of 25 litres per pair. Are yours a little bigger?

What saddlebag do you use? I’m interested in this idea – small front panniers at the back combined (only when needed) with my Carradice Lowsaddle Longflap saddlebag – but I wonder how they’d work together. I’d probably favour the Front-Roller City panniers, since they’re cheaper and simpler, but I’m wondering if 25 litres is really enough. It seems to me like it would be, but nearly everyone uses something bigger.


25 - 30 litres, you could be right, though it varies depending how tight you roll down the top.
I use the panniers
Nelson Longflap, only needing the extra flap if I've overdone the shopping
8L Vaude barbag
Tent is outside the bags

That's plenty for me, though I don't do much cooking and wear clothes on the bike that I'm also comfy in off. I'm a 3 season camper, I'd want a lot of extra kit for winters.
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MrsHJ
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by MrsHJ »

I, um, bought bright green ones. Think they are the back roller classics. Maybe I was not at my most analytic once I'd seen the colour.

They are ok the the rolling the top closed is a bit of a PITA ( and someone in here warned me about that in advance too).
The other thing that I don't particularly like is that the bottom section seems to be quite narrow compared to previous bags to I end up with quite a tall bag when packed whereas I would prefer a lower, wider load. It would be an advantage for those who've had problems with their heels clipping the panniers on different designs- not a problem on this one.

The other thing I didn't like was my family giving me all their stuff to carry, even the bigger tent would only fit MY bike, but that's another story.
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Cowsham
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by Cowsham »

Well I've swithered for months about which rear panniers to buy to replace my old cheap as chips Basil panniers but just got to the point where I thought " NO STOP Fannyin around, get the benchmark and be done with it " so I've just gone and bought a set of Ortlieb Back Roller 40L bags (20L x 2 ).
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Jdsk
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by Jdsk »

Cowsham wrote: 11 Feb 2024, 5:07pm Well I've swithered for months about which rear panniers to buy to replace my old cheap as chips Basil panniers but just got to the point where I thought " NO STOP Fannyin around, get the benchmark and be done with it " so I've just gone and bought a set of Ortlieb Back Roller 40L bags (20L x 2 ).
Good choice. They'll be fine.

Have fun

Jonathan
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Cowsham
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by Cowsham »

Jdsk wrote: 11 Feb 2024, 5:08pm
Cowsham wrote: 11 Feb 2024, 5:07pm Well I've swithered for months about which rear panniers to buy to replace my old cheap as chips Basil panniers but just got to the point where I thought " NO STOP Fannyin around, get the benchmark and be done with it " so I've just gone and bought a set of Ortlieb Back Roller 40L bags (20L x 2 ).
Good choice. They'll be fine.

Have fun

Jonathan
Thanks Jon -- Vaude was the other possible ( hence this particular old thread ) but someone somewhere mentioned the hard back rattles against the rack -- deal breaker for me I can't have a rattly anything on a bicycle.
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jrs665
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by jrs665 »

Got the Ortlieb 70l Back roller XL Plus. They fit in a cycle lane being narrower than my trike; have netting on the outside for wet clothes, water bottles, waterproofs etc.

Can fit a 4 season tent, 4 season sleeping bag and inflatable 4 season sleeping mat in one without much trouble.
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Cowsham
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by Cowsham »

jrs665 wrote: 13 Feb 2024, 8:46pm Got the Ortlieb 70l Back roller XL Plus. They fit in a cycle lane being narrower than my trike; have netting on the outside for wet clothes, water bottles, waterproofs etc.

Can fit a 4 season tent, 4 season sleeping bag and inflatable 4 season sleeping mat in one without much trouble.
Looked briefly at these too and they seem like some bit of kit but I'll have the two smaller front panniers now as well -- my old Basil ones were always a bit on the small side -- I think they only are about 15 Ltr each.
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jrs665
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Re: Best Ortlieb Rear Panniers for touring?

Post by jrs665 »

It boils down to whether you like to comparmentalise with multiple smaller panniers or just bung everything in big ones.

For my touring bicycle , have a pair of 24l vaud panniers and a 24l orlieb rack-pack bag ontop.
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