panniers???

[young Ed]

ok so im looking at getting a pair of rear panniers for long distance touring
are the 10-15 quid ones on ebay ok or should i long term get a deccent pair of ortleib are ort leib any good any other good quality makes to reccommend?

and as i do leather work should i still buy modern textile panniers or could i save up buy the leather and make some custom handmade leather panniers?
Cheers Ed

 

[mcshroom]

After discovering how quickly the weather can change (and your stuff get soaked) on tour last year, I favour waterproof panniers now (I've used non-waterproof with covers on the front and waterproof without covers on the back for a while, as in my avatar).

I use these from Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative, which are a bit cheaper than the Ortlieb offerings I don't think are particularly inferior to them. Carradice Carradry panniers are good quality as well (so are a few others)

Whatever you go for, I'd suggest looking for good fixings.

 

[MontyVeda]

ortlieb all the way IMO.

I didn't want to spend quite so much on panniers but once I'd gone through all the cheaper options, the ortliebs turned out to be a small extra investment of £10-15 extra per bag... which is worth it just for peace of mind (some of the 'not much' cheaper options reported snapped fixings).

From the fabric to the locking mech and all the little bits of plastic, they don't seem to cut any corners.