I dunno man. I’ve ridden several sets of Ortliebs into the ground over the years and the ONLY part of those bags that I haven’t managed to break are the spring loaded hooks. I actually reused a set off a pannier that was falling apart for the bottom of my rando bag!
My concerns are very hypothetical. I have seen photos of broken ortleib fasteners, usually in the context of 10,000 mile tours on rock roads in Asia, though.
original Ortlieb QL1 is rock solid
the later tool-free adjustments allow them to adjust themselves
I’ve had issues especially with the elliptical-track bottom hooks
You tipped me off to this trick, and my shitty $3 Jandd panniers have been humming along like troopers since.
I’m probably in the vast minority here, but I’ve actually broken the ortlieb hooks before. The bottom part that acts as the latch. To be fair, this was completely my fault. (I was running them on a mountain bike and I dropped it pretty badly.)
Another thing I did with my ancient lone peaks was reposition the bungie higher so I have to pull the pannier pretty hard to get the top hooks on. It’s a very simple system, but dang if it doesn’t work really well.
The bungie doesn’t degrade over time? They fall apart hanging on a hook in my garage, I can’t imagine what daily road salt slush baths would do to them.
Not sure if the bungee systems are all the same but I recently replaced the bungees on my Swift Industries panniers and it was incredibly easy. There is a loop of webbing on either side of the hooks and I just slipped the new bungee thru and made a simple knot that prevented it from slipping back thru.
I’ve become a pretty big fan of the bungee + hook + Arkel cam-lock pannier hardware for bumpy riding. Not the lightest weight option but the Arkel hooks don’t rattle like Ortlieb hooks
I got some arkel panniers. Can confirm they don’t rattle loose on bumpy terrain. Also tested on little jumps and '5 foot drops.
Motion to change “jumps” to 5’ drops
2nd
The bungies on my 80s-era lone peaks are still good, but they get 10-15 days of use per year, max.
They don’t make them like they used to.
Artisinal bespoke bungies anyone?
[quote=Face]They don’t make them like they used to.
Artisinal bespoke bungies anyone?[/quote]
sadly, already exist http://store.velo-orange.com/index.php/accessories/racks-decaleurs/constructeur-bungee.html
Those are pretty nice looWHAT THE HELL $10.50 FOR A BUNGEE?
But they come from France.
I don’t fuck with bungees like that. Exposed rubber and big metal ends. No thank you, not around spinning wheels.