Lovegasoline

I have a pair of Front Roller Plus (aka Sport Roller) and Back Roller Plus. I've so far used them extensively for running errands and shopping. I have a Trek 520 (circa 2010) with the stock rear rack (no front rack) and typically ride with one rear pannier. If you're looking for scrunching down, it doesn't really do that and as mentioned upthread the plastic stiffener board inside will limit how far it can be rolled down. However, you may be able to rig a homemade compression strap setup to flatten and compress an empty bag. At the other end of the spectrum I often overstuff the pannier beyond full capacity so the closure straps cannot be connected and it works brilliantly (esp. for food shopping).

One problem I've encountered is when my rear pannier is empty and I place my very heavy (8lb) chain in it, occasionally if I’m riding very aggressively, the bottom rear corner of the pannier will flex and rotate/swing into the spokes. It happens because the pannier is empty/floppy except for a very heavy weight in the bottom, so I think the thin interior plastic stiffener plate flexes to and fro with the forces of aggressive riding, and if it flexes too much the bag makes spoke contact. This has occured a few times ... no permanent damage but the plastic plate in the bag will get tweaked a little. It occurs due to the design of the rack’s struts (only two rack struts located rather close together and the rearmost one at a diagonal) and how I have the pannier hook located (the hook location is the best overall placement for placing and removing the panniers).

I plan on upgrading to Tubus front and rear racks. The Tubus rear rack has struts placed wider apart to offer a broader contact surface to support the back face of the pannier. My current rack’s rearmost strut pretty much crosses the pannier diagonally, so with an empty pannier and heavy weight in the bottom, the pannier flexes along that diagonal. If there’s other stuff in the pannier along with the lock to bulk up the pannier it reduces the flexing. Bear in mind that mine are the 'Plus' versions of the panniers, which feature a thinner/lighter Polyurethane fabric and not the 'Classic' version made from thicker/heavier PVC fabric, the latter of which I have no experience using ... I'm not sure if the slightly thicker/stiffer fabric* of the Classic would make any difference in this scenario.

This is not at all an Ortlieb complaint, rather it's a cheap poorly designed rack for my purposes.
I love these panniers. The only thing I'd improve on the Ortlieb's is a better handle to carry it like an attaché case for when I'm walking around (I leave the shoulder straps at home).


*As an aside ... I'm not a materials expert and the following is not my analysis, but I recall when researching Ortlieb fabric repair options I came upon a discussion of the two types of Ortlieb materials and the fabric industry from which they're sourced. In addition to puncture, tear, and abrasion discussion points it claimed that from a longevity view the Classic material was inferior as the PVC material typically degrades faster from UVB exposure and slowly hardens from loss of plasticizers which can eventually result in cracks developing (another example that was given was PVC car dashboards in the sun cracking with age). I'm confident both versions of pannier fabric will serve most bike tourers well for many years. Bear in mind the Classic version may(?) become a little stiffer over the years as it ages which could impact the form of the bag when unloaded/partially loaded ... and that could be either a good or bad thing depending on how you prefer the pannier to behave.