Author Topic: Floral / flower pattern panniers  (Read 2742 times)

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Floral / flower pattern panniers
« on: 04 November, 2018, 07:49:56 am »
The Current Mrs R would like a pair of funky floral / flower patterned panniers for her much loved Victoria Pendleton bike. There are a variety of suitable looking panniers available online but does anyone have actual experience of flowery panniers?  I’m particularly interested in the quality of the fixings which attach the panniers to the rack.

Thanks in advance.

Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #1 on: 04 November, 2018, 11:13:00 am »
I have a Basil Mirte Shopping bag which I used to use for interviews. It is only supported by the top hooks, so it can be a bit bouncy, but it works pretty well. It ha a fairly open zip, so is not good in a downpour. I like it for fairly light stuff. I wouldn't use it for carrying jars or tins in any quantity. If I'm carrying any weight I use the Rear baskets, which are amazing and stay on even when descending a bumpy hill at speed.

Basil also make some double bike bags which are well thought of (lots of the cargo bikers seem to like them) and sturdier, but I haven't tried them.
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #2 on: 04 November, 2018, 01:53:14 pm »
Gravity-powered pannier fixings are a work of Stan.  It's not about losing your shopping, it's about something getting caught in and locking up your wheel when you don't expect it.  (DAHIKT)

(The Basil basket gets a partial reprieve on the grounds that the hooks are appropriately deep, and as a rigid object it's much less likely to get caught in anything.)

There's always the option of retrofitting some decent Ortlieb or Rixen & Kaul fixings to an otherwise suitable pannier, but that gets expensive.

Sadly I don't have any experience of floral panniers.  At the very least I'd need an n+1 to get away with that sort of thing.

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #3 on: 04 November, 2018, 02:08:52 pm »
Some of the Ortlieb Back Roller Designs panniers look quite nice. Though none of the current designs are particularly floral or brightly coloured.
Unless a tree is close enough?


Or just get some plain Ortliebs, and stick stickers on them.

Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #4 on: 04 November, 2018, 02:16:14 pm »
That's a good idea.

The problem with flowery panniers things designed for "girls" is that they seem to be designed to transport bunches of flowers or a little knitting on a sunny day and are generally not great.
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #5 on: 04 November, 2018, 02:30:54 pm »
New Looxs are a Dutch firm offering a huge range of bags, some of which are available in the UK.

Dutch cycle paths and tracks are usually smooth enough for lower hooks to be unnecessary, apparently, so many bags come without these.

http://www.newlooxs.nl/en/producten/overzicht/

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #6 on: 04 November, 2018, 02:49:30 pm »
Dutch cycle paths and tracks are usually smooth enough for lower hooks to be unnecessary, apparently, so many bags come without these.

IME the usual issue with Dutch paths is higher frequency vibration of the type that rattles nuts loose, rather than unshipping loads.  That's as a Brit on a German tourer with air in my tyres, I assume the authentic Dutch clunker running at 15PSI (or the metric equivalent) smooths that out quite nicely, or has at least shed all its loose nuts years ago and is making do with structural corrosion.

Personally I'm of the opinion that while low-faff luggage can make a good deal of sense, I'd still rather it was attached securely to the bike.  Baskets fixed properly in place beat panniers held on by gravity and the absence of potholes.  It's hard to beat the Ortlieb system for convenience and robust attachment, other than by one of the proprietary locking systems (R&K, Racktime, Topeak).

Torslanda

  • Professional Gobshite
  • Just a tart for retro kit . . .
    • John's Bikes
Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #7 on: 04 November, 2018, 04:11:13 pm »
I have a pair of New Looxs panniers with a floral design in the shop.

Will message you a couple of pics if you like.
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.

quixoticgeek

  • Mostly Harmless
Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #8 on: 04 November, 2018, 09:48:01 pm »
Dutch cycle paths and tracks are usually smooth enough for lower hooks to be unnecessary, apparently, so many bags come without these.

IME the usual issue with Dutch paths is higher frequency vibration of the type that rattles nuts loose, rather than unshipping loads.  That's as a Brit on a German tourer with air in my tyres, I assume the authentic Dutch clunker running at 15PSI (or the metric equivalent) smooths that out quite nicely, or has at least shed all its loose nuts years ago and is making do with structural corrosion.

Far too accurate...

And I think 1bar is what you're looking for..

See rattling nuts thread...

Quote

Personally I'm of the opinion that while low-faff luggage can make a good deal of sense, I'd still rather it was attached securely to the bike.  Baskets fixed properly in place beat panniers held on by gravity and the absence of potholes.  It's hard to beat the Ortlieb system for convenience and robust attachment, other than by one of the proprietary locking systems (R&K, Racktime, Topeak).

There are many a Dutch bike with permanently attached panniers on the back in a selection of garish colours. Tho I think some are attached by rust, some are strapped, some are clipped. I've not seen any unship from the bike when in use, but I've not got a massive user pool to draw on. I run an Ortlieb bikepacking setup on the back...

I'd recommend the ortliebs + stickers approach personally...

J
--
Beer, bikes, and backpacking
http://b.42q.eu/

Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #9 on: 04 November, 2018, 10:48:13 pm »
I used to use (non-flowery) Basil pannier all the time- the fixing isn't any problem. The only pannier that's leapt for freedom was a Lezyne- which was much better than the Basil- except for the fixings.

No1Daughter has and loves this: http://amzn.eu/d/12K10Ug.

She's only shopping for a single white female in her twenties- so that's umpteen bottles of rosé, avocados and a bag of salad.
[Other stereotypes are available]
There's a kind of lock-in lever. I'll see if I can find a picture. The fixings on mine also could be hidden behind a zip on cover so they didn't catch on your skirt off the bike.

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #10 on: 05 November, 2018, 09:00:41 am »
Great info, thanks very much. Keep it coming!

Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #11 on: 05 November, 2018, 09:24:47 am »
.....There's a kind of lock-in lever......

this is commonly the case.  This means that the panniers are not likely to jump off as you pootle about. The same scheme wouldn't be favourite for long distance touring (the bags are not always fixed in any way at the bottom) but it does for nipping down the shops.

One point to note is that some of these panniers are large, square, and have internal stiffeners fitted, with compartments for pens and other bits and pieces, i.e. they will double up as a school bag or similar.  However their large squareness has a downside; it means that on some bikes one's heels tend to clout the bags unless the bike has long chainstays and/or the rack is set well back.

cheers

Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #12 on: 05 November, 2018, 05:33:07 pm »
I have a Basil Mirte Shopping bag which I used to use for interviews. It is only supported by the top hooks, so it can be a bit bouncy, but it works pretty well. It ha a fairly open zip, so is not good in a downpour. I like it for fairly light stuff. I wouldn't use it for carrying jars or tins in any quantity. If I'm carrying any weight I use the Rear baskets, which are amazing and stay on even when descending a bumpy hill at speed.

Basil also make some double bike bags which are well thought of (lots of the cargo bikers seem to like them) and sturdier, but I haven't tried them.

BTW my wife also has some Basil bags and loves them! The ones she has are not like camping/touring panniers, but more like large shopping bags with carrying handles and a zipped top. Despite only being supported by the top hooks I can vouch for her transporting heavy bags of compost in them without issue.

In heavy rain she uses a rain cover, but I don't think one is supplied with the bag, think she uses covers pinched from other bags .
Old enough to know better, but young enough to do it anyway

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #13 on: 06 November, 2018, 03:35:02 pm »
Thank you for all your help.  ONE of THESE in jade has just been purchased (that's my Christmas shopping under way  ::-)  ) as it was deemed to go nicely with Vicky Pendelton's colour scheme.  I'd never heard of the Basil brand before asking my question so once again yacf has come up trumps, thanks muchly  :-*

Torslanda

  • Professional Gobshite
  • Just a tart for retro kit . . .
    • John's Bikes
Re: Floral / flower pattern panniers
« Reply #14 on: 06 November, 2018, 07:33:01 pm »
Quote
I'd never heard of the Basil brand before asking my question...

Um... Er... Oh! Bugger!  ;D
VELOMANCER

Well that's the more blunt way of putting it but as usual he's dead right.