BIKE: Ich liebe Ortlieb! (was Bike rack bags)

[Chris McConnell]

I'll vouch for the quality of Ortlieb's products. I carry an Ortlieb messenger
bag for daily use. The construction is incredible; the main bag is a thick,
heavy vinyl, covered with heavy nylon. The inside is lined with a padded pocket
for my laptop. The material alone would be enough to keep the insides dry, but
the bag also has a long plastic bar across the top to keep the top rigid when
you fold the flap over the top. Finally, the main shoulder strap is a thick as
a seat belt and the suspension system is comfy and easy to adjust. I am so
impressed with this bag I created a "German Messenger Bags" community on Orkut
to talk about Ortlieb and other Deutsche bags.

Ortlieb also makes top-notch dry bags for paddling, so I imagine that any rain
covers they make would be off the chain.

Cheers,
-C
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chris McConnell
mcchris
http://www.infobong.com



Quoting Patrick Goetz <pgoetz>:

> Michael Zakes wrote:
> > I'll vouch for the Jandd stuff as well, I have a commuter pack with 10+
> years of use
> > and it's still running great. the only one I've ever seen come back for
> warranty was
> > owned by the most destructive forces in the world, a 14 yr old boy
> 
> It sounds like Jandd is the consensus; I have 5 Jandd bags, one which 
> I've been using every day for around 7 years, and have yet to have one 
> break.  Allegedly they come with a lifetime warranty, but I've heard 
> there are problems getting them to honor this.  All saddle bags seem to 
> be kind of expensive; Jandd is no exception.
> 
> The one thing that is not convenient about Jandd bags is that they're 
> not particulary waterproof.  If it's raining hard, all your stuff will 
> get wet.  I've taken to carrying plastic shopping bags in my Jandd bag 
> all the time and wrapping everything up in plastic bags when it starts 
> to rain.
> 
> Last time I was in Germany/Austria I noticed that everyone was using 
> saddlebags that included a nifty raincoat attachment that covered the 
> outside of the bag.  After a good deal of research, I figured out that 
> they were probably made by this company:
> 
>       http://www.ortlieb.de/
> 
> These bags truly appear to be the top of the line in bicycle saddlebags, 
> but they also cost $$$, and I'm not sure you can buy them at any bike 
> shop in town.
> 
> Finally, for commuting, these 3 would be my top choices.  (The top one 
> -- Jandd -- is the one I've been using every day for 7 years; if I ever 
> have opportunity to get a new one I'll probably splurge and get the last 
> in this list, the Ortlieb.)
> 
>    http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FCP
>    http://www.panniers.com/index.asp
>    http://www.ortlieb.de/_prod.php?lang=en&produkt=officebag
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