soft bags versus hard bags

[Vik Banerjee]

I use Ortlieb PVC panniers on my bicycles and KLR - the oldest set is 15yrs+ old and going strong with regular use. If you like soft bags, but don't want to replace them often Ortlieb are worth a look. http://www.ortliebusa.com/cartgenie/prodList.asp?scat=12 100% waterproof as well. When I sold my '97 KLR I let the Touratech hard boxes/Givi tail box and racks go, but I kept my Ortlieb saddle bags and Aerostich tank panniers. The Ortliebs looks new and the tank panniers [made from cordura] show some wear, but still have a few years of life in them. I'd be stoked if Ortlieb made some tank panniers in PVC so I'd have a set that lasted as long as the saddle bags. I've been checking the Giant Loop products out....they look nice as well: http://www.giantloopmoto.com/ I can see the use for lockable luggage though for commuting in cities. I think a locking tail box that would hold your helmet and tools would be useful which you could supplement with soft bags for extra capacity. safe riding, Vik Banerjee threeohm@... www.thelazyrando.com

On 2011-07-17, at 5:12 AM, Stephen H. Reichman, Sr. wrote: > > The down side of soft bags for me is; I commute daily all weather (minus > snow/ice days) and I have a good set of tools, first aid kit, extra tubes, > etc. in case of breakdowns (which has saved me a lot of grief when my tire > went flat recently) so my bags are not stuffed tight but they have a lot of > contents. That wears on them and over the three years and over 30,000 miles > I've gone through three sets of saddle bags (higher capacity Cortech > Tri-Saddle bags (2 sets) and Firstgear Silverstones (1 set)) as well as two > Kawi Tailbags. I liked them all and they served me well but the constant > expense was killing me. The bike is garage kept but parked outside at work > and the bags get sun baked, fade, dry out and the seams will start to wear > and rip. Plus the rain covers do not fully protect from the rain. If you > side stand the bike, The low side collects the rainwater and bags still get > wet and I had to dry out everything when I got home. If you center stand it > water still gets in under the cinching of the covers. This compounded my > frustration with softbags. So I've gone through over $750 in soft bags in > three years. Maybe that was OK and the "cost of doing business". I did drop > the bike twice and the softbags gave the soft landing (drop from losing > balance while moving the bike into position to ride). > Respects, > > Steve > > > > 2008 E8F > > SE Penna > > AMA Member > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]