Ortlieb is an industry standard brand when it comes to bike touring. They make some quality leading products. For my first year of bike touring I made the mistake in not taking the plunge and investing in some of their quality panniers.
Instead spending like $30 on a set of crappy rear panniers from eBay. They were not even waterproof, and they didn’t even last me more then a couple days on my first ever tour. It was a disaster, enough to stop me to want to tour in the moment. I had to use most of my zip-ties to ‘sow’ the panniers back together as they tore right on the mounting points. I made it 230 km into my first ever tour as I had to pull the pin and call it a lose and failed attempt to circumnavigate around the state of Victoria, Australia.
It was more a miserable experience then the relaxed and fun adventure I was hoping it to be. The second day it poured and all my dry gear got saturated. I was touring on my road bike with a pannier setup. You can check out this post if you want to learn how to tour on a road bike that may not accommodate the appropriate mounting points for racks. But I had a cheap and poor quality seatpost rack mount for my crappy panniers. And it barely held up.
But at the end of the day this touring setup did work, but I do not recommend it if you want a quality touring setup. So two years later I found the Ortlieb Back-roller Classic Panniers. And wow they had changed the game for me!
What makes them so good you ask? Well let me get into the details!
The quick lock mounting system snaps on and off effortlessly. Allowing you to take them off in a flash to take them with you into a library or store if you are worried about theft. Personally when touring and the panniers a loaded, i don’t worry about this. normally I store my most important items that I don’t want getting stolen in the opposite side to the traffic and just take in that one pannier to work in a cafe. As it has my laptop and all film equipment and all that. The panniers come with a shoulder strap which also makes carting these panniers around much easier.
They are made of high quality and durable PVC in Germany which has a 100% waterproof rating, you can even submerse them under water if you really want. If you buy them from REI you can get a lifetime warranty on them.
The overall pannier design is well thought out and works flawlessly. The hook that attaches to the front face of the rack is adjustable to get the perfect fit to match your rack setup. Also the folding closure system helps make these bags super waterproof. The organisation on the inside of the panniers provide a compartment pocket at the back allowing you to slide in laptops and books, with a separated mesh zip pocket for storing your passport.
After to 10,000 + km I have been touring with these panniers I have found it really hard to point out anything that is a Con or wrong with these panniers. If I was to mention anything it would be the lack of storage pockets on the outside of the panniers. But the 20L each pannier is plenty enough for all your touring gear.
The mere fact that you can just wear these things down to the ground, due to the abuse and demands of bike touring. They still continue to provide for many more tours in future, it is money well spent in my opinion.
There is a few things that you should keep in mind when buying these panniers. From my many years of experience with these panniers I have noticed a few things that occur after years of wear and tear.
Things to Consider about the Ortlieb Back-Roller Classics
Even when well secured, they do rattle around a little when riding really gnarly singletrack and off-road touring environments. Given that they are actually not designed for this, and are more suited to road touring, it is fine. but the one hook attachment that mounts onto the face of the rack would be more secure with a extra hook.
From general wear and tear overtime you can expect to get small holes in the PVC. To prevent this as best as possible, I would suggest to avoid rubbing against objects when you ride past them. With some tight sections I have had these brush against walls, rails and tree branches. Over time time it has resulted in marks and some holes. Which does not effect the overall waterproofing of the panniers.
You can also expect the rubber inner pieces on the rack clips to get lost. After many times of clipping these panniers on and off, I lost 3 out of 4 of them. I never bothered to buy replacement pieces. instead I added some rubber hoes material around the mount point on the rack rails making them fit more snug. And now there is no need to worry about loosing these pieces.
Before fixing the racks with hose material, and with those pieces missing on the standard rack setup, they would move around and sometimes unclip on the hook that is located at the front face of the rear rack.
Also the on the mounting system, along the top rail, the fastenings hooks can become hard to loosen to shift across if you want to change your pannier fit to the rack. Due to many tours of use, they get dirt in there making it difficult to move. Not a major issue.
If you are looking to add some extra security to your panniers when you leave your bike for some time. You can get a pannier locking system to insure that your panniers don’t get stolen, if that is something you are worried about.
But overall these panniers have been great, much better compared to my cheap eBay panniers. I should have just invested up front for these Ortliebs in the beginning to save the hassle. They are a little on the expensive side, if you want to keep it on a budget. You might have to find some other bike touring pannier options.
But from my experience these Ortlieb Back roller Classic Panniers are the top pick for me and I will never go back. The cost for these will pay itself back through all the years of use you will get out of them. Can not recommend them highly enough!
Different Ortlieb Back-Roller Pannier Options
Ortlieb Back-Roller Classic
Ortlieb
Back-Roller Classic QL2.1 Panniers (Pair)
$189.95 (Get 20% Off)
Ortlieb Back-Roller Plus
Ortlieb
Back-Roller Plus QL2.1 Panniers (Pair)
$224.95 (Get 20% Off)
Ortlieb Back-Roller Pro Classic
Ortlieb
Back-Roller PRO Classic QL2.1 Panniers (Pair)
$239.95 (Get 20% Off)
Ortlieb Back-Roller PRO Plus
Ortlieb
Back-Roller PRO Plus QL2.1 Panniers (Pair)
$269.95 (Get 20% Off)
Features and Specs
- QL2.1 mounting System
- Roll’n’Snap Closure
- 3D-welding
- Reflectors
- integrated inner pocket
- Sides of PS 490 nylon material, front and back of PD 620
- Volume 40 L (20 L each)
- Weight 67oz (1.9kg)
- IP (?) d6/w4
- Tear-R.(?) 1600/2250
- Abrasion-R.(?) 5100/6600
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