I used these for a month away in France, as opposed to taking my (more bulky) official BMW pannier bags.
In a word, excellent.
Lighter than the BMW offering, they compress easier and are a bit more forgiving. As the panniers themselves are pretty much entirely waterproof, you do not need to add too much by way of additional protection. That being said, I did put my MacBook Air into a waterproof bag, as much out of habit (and to keep it separate) as anything else. Each bag is well designed, including:
1. Decent, double ended zips, that open and close in both directions
2. Two zipped side pouches of decent sizes
3. A mesh general pocket in each ‘lid’
4. A hook to hang keys from
5. The ability to open the bag from the ‘lid’ or ‘bottom’ side
6. Good shoulder straps
7. Robust enough to dump on the ground
8. Properly shaped, so they fit well into the pannier space
One tip: If you have a keyless bike, do not hang your spare key on the hook in the bag. The key will be close enough to be read by the antenna, meaning the bike will start (and the panniers open) when unattended. Of course the chances of someone actually fiddling with the bike whilst you are away are pretty low. But hey, be careful.... it’s a long walk home. This is not a problem if the spare you take is the plastic one, as the range is not sufficient. But you won’t be able to open your central locking panniers to get the plastic key out, if you had lockdd your panniers and then list your main key.
PS You do take a spare key, don’t you? Best tip: If there are two of you, swap spare keys. The chances are, if you lose one set, the other will still be available. Both lose them? Hey-ho.
In a word, excellent.
Lighter than the BMW offering, they compress easier and are a bit more forgiving. As the panniers themselves are pretty much entirely waterproof, you do not need to add too much by way of additional protection. That being said, I did put my MacBook Air into a waterproof bag, as much out of habit (and to keep it separate) as anything else. Each bag is well designed, including:
1. Decent, double ended zips, that open and close in both directions
2. Two zipped side pouches of decent sizes
3. A mesh general pocket in each ‘lid’
4. A hook to hang keys from
5. The ability to open the bag from the ‘lid’ or ‘bottom’ side
6. Good shoulder straps
7. Robust enough to dump on the ground
8. Properly shaped, so they fit well into the pannier space
One tip: If you have a keyless bike, do not hang your spare key on the hook in the bag. The key will be close enough to be read by the antenna, meaning the bike will start (and the panniers open) when unattended. Of course the chances of someone actually fiddling with the bike whilst you are away are pretty low. But hey, be careful.... it’s a long walk home. This is not a problem if the spare you take is the plastic one, as the range is not sufficient. But you won’t be able to open your central locking panniers to get the plastic key out, if you had lockdd your panniers and then list your main key.
PS You do take a spare key, don’t you? Best tip: If there are two of you, swap spare keys. The chances are, if you lose one set, the other will still be available. Both lose them? Hey-ho.
