Monday 23 November 2009

New bags please!

Right. That's it. I know my panier bags are not waterproof. That's why I carefully wrapped up my clothes in a Sainsbury's bag. Clever, I know.

Had my shower. Lovely. Reach for bag. Open bag. Somehow, enormous amounts of rain have gone through my paniers, penetrated the plastic bag, and ... my shirt is soaked across my chest. My trousers are soaked across my ... well, the bits that trousers cover. I'll have to dry off au naturel. Kind of.

Anyone know any good waterproof rear paniers? (!).

My increasingly sad bags - one of them

Note - hole at bottom of bag so you can quickly lose stuff. And what was once a fiercely waterproof  bag has become more like a sponge.

PS sorry about the extended absence. It's been tough at work and busy at home. I'll try to sneak in a few more updates.

6 comments:

Natalie said...

OK, I know they're expensive but Ortliebs are the king of panniers as far as I'm concerned - even in this weather everything inside is bone dry. Plus they have lots of colour choices - I have red but am secretly cross I didn't get the yellow or orange for visibility purposes.

KarmaCycle said...

Yup, thanks Nat - I think that's probably where I'm heading ... I like the sound of a very bright pair too. I'll start sniffing around though I guess I may be best off waiting til after Christmas when all the fuss has died down a bit ...

Natalie said...

This is where I got mine. Couldn't find cheaper than £75 delivered. http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=19360&src=froogle&showBasket=true

KarmaCycle said...

Thanks Nat - that looks like a cool site, appreciated. The bags don't seem to come in the bright colours, so maybe I'll do a bit more hunting around before committing!

Paul said...

Indeed. I think you get what you pay for with panniers. When I lived in Bristol I had a mate who went on a cycle tour of Israel. Against all advice he bought some cheap bags, and they fell off on the way to Temple Meads station. Anyway like all sensible people I ignore my own advice and use cheap, leaky panniers from Decathalon - which is like the French Ikea of sport. They have a good website, but really you want those Ortliebs.

KarmaCycle said...

I love the idea of those bags not even getting to the station at Bristol! Excellent story.

I got my last pair from a truly excellent store called Mountain Equipment Co-op in Canada. But sadly, you have to be in Canada to get them! In fact, whenever I go there, I spend a ludicrous amount of time and money in that store.
www.mec.ca
Thanks Paul.