Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

The City version of those panniers are a bit simpler and a bit lighter.

Thoughts on this? Looks like good value for £600

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/verenti-substance-cx11-sora-2014/

I just stumbled across Crosso panniers. The Twist looks similar to the Ortlieb Plus but look to be £53 a pair including postage.

I've got a Soma too, so also looking for something nice.

1150g for a pair, quite light, which is a bonus.

The Ortieb Plus is 1.5kg.

My reservations are in the fastenings, which are robust but a bit old-fashioned in that they use an elastic hook at the bottom. A lot of detail in this review.

Don't mind the elastic, except:

Minimum distance between bottom eyelet and rack top tube – 24cm

Just checked this on the Soma, 20cm. Maybe you could modify the hook or something. I dunno, but they look a good alternative.

Quick functional question, I'm swapping out my flat bars for On-One Midge, with bar end shifters and DiaCompe 287V levers. These will be operating v brakes, but what kind of brake cable do I need, road or MTB?

Road by the looks of them

Road, otherwise it'll be very tricky installing MTB cable end in an enclosed space.

Cheers lads, road cables ordered.

That system is tougher than the ortlieb one, you cant beat metal hooks and a bungee aside from the Arkel system which is a metal rail as opposed to plastic. From what I've been told doing research for my range, plastic rail systems (most common these days) break, the old metal hook and bungee doesnt but the fit isn't as good.

I always favour the old metal and bungee system, they're extraordinary simple and easy to fix with anything you can find on the roadside, they're also a lots more secure as the elastic prevent the panniers from bouncing, which is usually what cause wear and tear in the long term.

Modern system are a little more convenience but required special part (shim to ensure the Ortlieb fit snugly) to make the most of it, and even when you set it up well, it's hard to make it 100% rattle free.

Yeah there's no tension on the modern systems, just retention on the hooks.

Shameless plug, just made a thread about the klickfix bag i just put out, might be of interest to you guys, can do full size randos too. http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/258709/

I've been using those system now, as it's much more reliable and stronger without adding additional weight like the Carradice, Ortlieb etc.

The biggest drawback of the old system is that the whole bag will sag over time if it's not overbuild (Carradice sag noticeably despite being lighter), Ortlieb are much more robust, but they're extraordinary heavy as if you've already loaded it up, it need to be set higher to allow a greater surface area to keep it's shape.

My only disadvantage of that newer system is that I have to bend the hook at both end a little more to prevent the bag from jumping out when going through towpath, it can also be remedy by setting it a little nose up than flat.

Is your a roll top design?

@edscoble I hadn't realised quite how much heavier the Ortlieb plus are!

Whats the waterproofing like on the Carradice super c front panniers?

Very good, using the old fashion material of duck cotton mean that it's much more tightly woven and are extremely water resistant, it can be further improved by waxing it on top, it's also very repairable and you can put some swimming credential patches on it for additional rad point.

The Ortlieb despite being heavier is very likely to be completely waterproof, especially the roll top design.

you can put some swimming credential patches on it for additional rad point.

Would rep etc.

The City version is rated the same water/dustproofness and around 1.2kg, similar to the Carradice. They've just removed all the extra straps and stuff off them.

Yeah they're a roll top, fairly minimal.

As much as I respect Carradice, and understand the aesthetic advantages of cotton duck, from a design point of view it's an incredibly outdated material. 1000d PU Nylon is far superior in every aspect, which is good because that's why it was designed (synthetic canvas)

Another good part is that 1000d doesnt stretch as much as shouldn't be as prone to sag, also you can design in a shape thats less prone to sag too (tapered down from the front to bottom).

Aesthetic advantages of cotton also include looking good 20+ years after the oil-based material has shredded. That stuff is initially much stronger and more waterproof than Carradice cotton, but it doesn't seem to last.

It will outlast the cotton duck stuff if it's genuine top of spec fabric, which it never is with mass produced bags.

The age related wear and tear is nice on the eye though that's for sure.

Pay to play I guess...

Makes you all warm and fuzzy inside...

so that's what the comically short surly headtubes are for!
Mounting a second stem to fix a bag to it.

Don't think it's a second stem, but one of those Thorn hipster low stack integrated handlebar;

Would love to see a build with that thing being used as a stem/bar.