I’ve been thinking about the Oregon Coast recently and everything that might entail. Rain? Certainly. But then again, we’ve had plenty of that here recently.
I’m not really worried about keeping myself dry, passing showers aren’t a problem, heavy rain is another matter. Of course in a heavy rain one pretty much comes to grips with the act that one is going to get wet, but keeping one’s stuff dry is another matter.
Indeed simply hauling one’s stuff is a different matter. The Oregon trip, unlike RAGBRAI, isn’t going to be supported. I’m going to have to haul whatever it is I want on the ride with me on my bike and, as a of few days ago I didn’t really have the tools for the job.
Now I do.
There seems to be a bit of debate about waterproof panniers versus panniers that “breathe.” In one wet stuff is going to stay wet, in the other it might dry, at least a bit. I can’t say much either way as I’ve not had the opportunity to try both. My experience on RAGBRAI, replete with lots of humidity if not actual precipitation, was that wet stuff never dried anyway. The best thing to do was sequester it from everything else one wanted to keep dry – big freezer bags worked well.
Then there’s the ‘no pockets’ versus ‘lots of pockets’ debate. I tend to prefer fewer pockets because, frankly, I can never remember which pocket I put something in. I’d rather just rummage around in a big old sack. But that’s me. Your mileage will vary.
What’s the point of all this? I bought myself new panniers for the holidays.
I’d decided I was going to go with Ortlieb panniers if possible. They have a great reputation, are waterproof, and are for the most part, just a big bag. I also like their mounting system. I checked a few online places (no, no one in Honolulu seems to sell ’em so I’m not dissing local business) and found I could get bright yellow ‘Rollers’ from REI for a decent price, Ortliebs aren’t cheap. But, as I do tend to do a bit of research, I kept at it.
Next I discovered that there are both old and new mounting systems and that the new one is definitely preferable if you are at all concerned about heel strikes. My feet are pretty big so I thought maybe I should look into Ortliebs using the QL2 system (there is a QL3 out there – but you can do your own research).
That led me to TheTouringStore.com and Wayne. Wayne, judging by his business webpage, seemed to know a lot about Ortliebs. He does. I called him as he suggests and we had a long chat about what would work best for me. I gave it some thought overnight and pulled the trigger the next day on a four piece matched set of ‘Packers.’ Actually it’s really a combination of the Bike Packer Plus and the Sport Packer Plus panniers. I got a great price because of their holiday sale (available through Dec 22).
Anyway I’ve had ’em for a bit now, and while I haven’t had the opportunity to use all four panniers at once, I have used one front pannier several times and one rear pannier a few times. They are indeed waterproof which is a very good thing given the rain we’ve had here. I’ve gotten wet, my stuff has not.
In addition I’m real happy with the bright yellow color. I’m definitely a show off, especially in the evening. Both Wayne and I agreed that yellow is far more visible than red or some of the other available colors. Ask him about it when you give him a call.
The upshot is I’m very pleased with my purchase and can wholeheartedly recommend TheTouringStore.com. In fact with my next paycheck I may be picking up a couple of other things from them.
Aloha!
Slower, cheaper, less useful…