Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,207
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
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Rear panniers range anywhere from about 30 liters to over 50 for the pair, in the low 40s is a common average. Do you have any idea on how much volume you would need? Some people pack much lighter than others.
Have you decided on waterproof versus non-waterproof? (I consider coated nylon to be non-waterproof.)
And how important is it for you to have external pockets?
When you are looking at panniers, the attachment hardware that holds the pannier to the rack is not trivial. A friend of mine bought some nice big panniers for a great price, then figured out that the hooks that were riveted onto them were not in the right place for his rack so he had to drill out some rivets and move the hooks. Fortunately, he had the tools and knowledge on how to do that. The better panniers have hooks that can be shifted in position quite easily with minimal effort.
There are many choices to consider. I think you should consider some of these other issues first, and then once you know what you want, then decide if you would rather look for a bargain or new.