Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
I'm investing in my first pair of decent front panniers to last me a long time and I'm a bit stuck. So far I have been riding with Back Roller Classics in yellow on the back and am happy with Ortliebs though have considered other brands and models too for the front but it looks like it will be Ortlieb all the way.
In fact I have already received a pair of black Front Roller City and they are sitting untouched in my house but I'm having second thoughts. Issues are weight, volume, visibility.. The lower weight and the price drew me to choose Cities. A pair of front cities is a whopping 380g lighter than a pair of classics, perhaps half of which can be explained by the absence of shoulder straps and pockets, the other half I'm not sure about - they are probably the same bag just with different fittings attached!? But the cities don't come in yellow, and I thought black would be best as it looks decent and low key not tacky like worn yellow but now I am thinking I want yellow, which is only available in classic, in order to be more visible. On the other hand, the only difference with the colours is the side visibility. From the back and front all ortlieb panniers look black in daylight - and the reflective panels are nice but if you're doing 95% of your riding in daylight that's where you should be concentrating your efforts on improving visibility (I am of the school that 0.0000001% less chance of an accident is worth it). Therefore if I want to be really visible, I should be putting all-yellow rain covers on my waterproof ortliebs! So their actual colour doesn't matter, yet I'd rather have fewer exterior items like covers to have to fidget with so perhaps the side colour of the pannier does matter. And so on..
Anyone ever tried putting a yellow rain cover on a dark Ortlieb? What about a dark rain cover on a bright Ortlieb to make yourself more low key? Or even reversible rain covers, high viz one side and camouflage the other (yes they exist - check Jandd)? Are rain covers a faff?
Also has anyone tried both City and Classic panniers (in either rear or front versions) to compare their actual capacities? I know both the front rollers have 25L stated, but I have heard that the Cities need to be rolled down properly 4 times before the fasteners which go down the side can lock, whereas the Classics can be rolled as few times as you like and the buckle still closed, so the Classics have a higher effective capacity. However, on the Cities sitting here in front of me, it appears I can still roll them just once or twice, and the fasteners still lock, so I don't get it, maybe they have made an incremental improvement?
Any other advantage to classics vs city than might be worth paying for ($$ and the 380g weight) ?
In fact I have already received a pair of black Front Roller City and they are sitting untouched in my house but I'm having second thoughts. Issues are weight, volume, visibility.. The lower weight and the price drew me to choose Cities. A pair of front cities is a whopping 380g lighter than a pair of classics, perhaps half of which can be explained by the absence of shoulder straps and pockets, the other half I'm not sure about - they are probably the same bag just with different fittings attached!? But the cities don't come in yellow, and I thought black would be best as it looks decent and low key not tacky like worn yellow but now I am thinking I want yellow, which is only available in classic, in order to be more visible. On the other hand, the only difference with the colours is the side visibility. From the back and front all ortlieb panniers look black in daylight - and the reflective panels are nice but if you're doing 95% of your riding in daylight that's where you should be concentrating your efforts on improving visibility (I am of the school that 0.0000001% less chance of an accident is worth it). Therefore if I want to be really visible, I should be putting all-yellow rain covers on my waterproof ortliebs! So their actual colour doesn't matter, yet I'd rather have fewer exterior items like covers to have to fidget with so perhaps the side colour of the pannier does matter. And so on..
Anyone ever tried putting a yellow rain cover on a dark Ortlieb? What about a dark rain cover on a bright Ortlieb to make yourself more low key? Or even reversible rain covers, high viz one side and camouflage the other (yes they exist - check Jandd)? Are rain covers a faff?
Also has anyone tried both City and Classic panniers (in either rear or front versions) to compare their actual capacities? I know both the front rollers have 25L stated, but I have heard that the Cities need to be rolled down properly 4 times before the fasteners which go down the side can lock, whereas the Classics can be rolled as few times as you like and the buckle still closed, so the Classics have a higher effective capacity. However, on the Cities sitting here in front of me, it appears I can still roll them just once or twice, and the fasteners still lock, so I don't get it, maybe they have made an incremental improvement?
Any other advantage to classics vs city than might be worth paying for ($$ and the 380g weight) ?
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
I had a pair of City front bags which i used for one credit card tour over 3 weeks. I got home and sold them on.
The side catches are difficult to use, the weight saving is minimal, the Classics are much, much better.
The side catches are difficult to use, the weight saving is minimal, the Classics are much, much better.
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
Thanks, yeah I see that the side catches will be a bit more difficult to shut than the Classic closure.
Decided to go with the Classics in yellow.
Decided to go with the Classics in yellow.
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Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
22camels wrote:Decided to go with the Classics in yellow.
That'd be my choice, if I wanted visibility - there's so no point in putting a rain cover on an Ortlieb - they do the job so well themselves!. And you'd miss the pockets in the Classics, too - a pair of Classics give you 2 A4 size and 2 smaller zipped pockets, between them. Perfect for documents and small items, which would otherwise end up skulking around the bottom of the others...
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
22camels wrote: Decided to go with the Classics in yellow.
As you can see by my avatar pic i did the yellow first time round too!
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
I've got the City front panniers and have been very happy with them. I can fit all my camping gear bar the tent in them, plus inner tubes, pump, various other bits and locks. I can't comment on the Classics as I've not used them. I don't find the side catches difficult to use, but I tend not to need to access them much when I'm on the bike.
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
Another thumbs-down for the City. Got a pair for my kids to use as school-bags, and they just couldn't close them properly/easily, and I found them pretty fiddly TBH. Sold them on and replaced them with Sport-Packers, which have been in daily use since.
I really like Orts for the ease-of-use mounting and dismounting and the overall quality, but the closures on the City panniers are a blot on their copy-book IMHO. The Rollers and Packers are first rate, the City range aren't.
Pete.
I really like Orts for the ease-of-use mounting and dismounting and the overall quality, but the closures on the City panniers are a blot on their copy-book IMHO. The Rollers and Packers are first rate, the City range aren't.
Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
I have city rollers and have never had any issues closing them up, they are just fastex buckles after all?!
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
garibeet wrote:I have city rollers and have never had any issues closing them up, they are just fastex buckles after all?!
but try opening them after ten hours in the saddle when you can barely grip the bars let alone a fiddly catch!
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
How do you know I haven't?!
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
garibeet wrote:How do you know I haven't?!
have you?
The issue isn't the clip per se, its the fact its flush with the bag so you can't grip it easily with tired/large/gloved/less strong fingers
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
So hard to believe? I have even used them on my fatback for snowpack touring, no problems with silk gloves/liners on. Maybe I'm just lucky.
Re: Ortlieb panniers: front roller city vs classic
garibeet wrote:So hard to believe? I have even used them on my fatback for snowpack touring, no problems with silk gloves/liners on. Maybe I'm just lucky.
Maybe the issue is that after using the classics with their easy use the city set up is fiddly. We've had customers in store who really struggle with the city closure system so its not just me! From memory the Vaude bags that use a similar arrangement don't have the catch quite as flush to the bag making it easier to grasp - Ortlieb don't always get it right - just most of the time!
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!