Ortlieb Panniers

The much awaited Ortlieb Backroller Classic panniers arrived yesterday. Bought from Starkenn online stores, they cost me Rs 10,200 for the pair. Together they have 40 litres of space. I got it in colour black. I had wanted them in yellow but they didn't have that colour in stock. The other option was red but I declined that. 

My first reaction was - these are heavy. These are big. I have still not done anything but just had a basic look at one of them. I went by their reputation for being very good, durable and waterproof. I can test these only over a period of time. 

As of now these are the most expensive ornaments I bought for my bike. This will be surpassed by something else that I am getting tonight. A Tubus Logo Classic rack from Happy Earth, through Ritabrata of Stay Tuned :-)

I will possibly need another front handlebar bag. Ortlieb has a 15-litre one at Rs 7.5k. Let me see. 

July 20, 2020

Since starting daily commute to office on my LHT, I have started using the pannier. I keep my lunch boxes and other office stuff in it. I have a small tool bag with my tube replacement kit, the Lezyne pump and a spare tube. I have kept the other bag stuffed with woollens so that it does not gather those creases. 

I am yet to test the water proofness of the panniers. There have been only minor drizzles during my office commute so far. I got seriously drenched only once for a few minutes. The bag held up pretty well. Not a drop inside. So there is no reason to doubt its water repelling power, given also that every single user swears by them. I find it a little heavy and wonder if they aren't going to be too much to carry in a mountain trip. 

The system to take it off the rack is very nice and convenient. Given that I have serious OCD I frequently used to check if the pannier was still there. Nowadays I use the strap to keep it strapped to the rack as an extra bit of peace of mind.