bobin

Can someone point me to a good replacement buckle for my Back-Roller Classic Rear Panniers - the side prong has broke off on both of them. Hopefully I'd just like to replace the female end...

Altair 4

Ortlieb's website has a replacement part section: https://ortliebusa.com/product-categ...service-items/

Caretaker

Are you sure it's the 'female' buckles that are broken? If the 'side prongs' are the problem that suggests it's a 'male' problem.

djb

Doug64

Unless you do as djb did, replacing both the female and male ends; it is a good idea to use Orlieb buckles when replacing just half the buckle. I broke the male end on a North Face backpack and ordered a replacement side-lock buckle. I gave them the pack model, size ,etc. and the first buckle they sent did not fit. I called back, and they sent me out a half dozen different 1" male buckle ends, and one did fit. Great customer service. Point is: there is a lot of different styles of 1" side-lock buckles.

robert schlatte

fietsbob

As above..
Ortlieb stocks spare/replacement parts*, ask your or any of their dealers ..

they have some to thread over sewn loop ends to not have to cut the threads and re stitch it

* though over time they change what they buy , mostly from Fastex (National Molding)

REI, Seattle Fabrics, also Fastex sources ..






....

pdlamb

I replaced the male ends of four 10+ year old Sportspacker Plus with the Ortlieb replacement parts. It takes some fiddling, so choose some time like the day after Thanksgiving if it's raining and you don't want to go outside, but you don't have to cut or sew anything.

Still have four female shells left over. Those would take some sewing to replace, but the originals are still going strong.

djb

Bob and others, here is what I did

buckles had gotten shut in car doors and stepped on many times, so I had two busted male prongs on both panniers,

thought I'd have to take panniers to a shoe repair place or whatever to get the webbing cut and restitched, but then I came up with this idea--

I bought replacement buckles, both parts, comparing the width of the originals to sit on existing webbing

put replacments in a drawer somewhere, and a year later when I finally got around to doing the repair, coiuldnt find the ones I bought, so bought some more, and then after repair found the ones I first bought....

so , to avoid cutting the webbing loops, I got the idea to cut a thin cut through the plastic of the buckle to feed the webbing through it.
First time I cut it at a 90 degree angle , but then when on, when doing up teh buckle and putting pulling pressure on it, you could see the cut part forcing outward a bit, so didnt want to use that as it would break at some point.

then thought that if I cut a line at a 45 degree angle, the force going against it would force the one part against the other, negating a breaking effect.
Tried it, used a hacksaw or something for the cuts, dont remember, was years ago, and after forcing the webbing through the cut part, it worked perfectly, and the force just closes the two parts together and has worked fine for years and years, must be well over 7 or 8 years ago now, and my wife uses the panniers now sometimes and the buckles have been solid.
I guess one could put some glue or something on it, but frankly, its hidden under the webbing, so you cant even see it, and mine have survived fine.

I just eyeballed the thickness of the webbing to see what sawblade I had, and it worked fine, so no cutting and restitching of webbing required--just had to manhandle the webbing though the opening a bit, but figured the narrowest cut would be better.

I do recall that I was glad that I had numerous extra buckle pairs, as my first attempt with the 90 degree cut didnt work, but replacement buckle pairs are cheap.
I would suggest getting good ones, at an outdoor store, as perhaps some are more flimsy than others, kinda like having good YKK zippers vs cheapo ones in cheap clothes, the good ones will last a lot longer.
But no matter, I'm sure buckle pairs cost a buck or something.

Obviously did this with both ends, and both ends have been fine on the bags since I did this.
Bags were bought new in 93 or 94 and like I always say, shows that a well made product is worth it if you plan to use it or them regularly and for many years.

robert schlatte

DropBarFan

A couple of years ago I had ~3 Ortlieb male buckles break in -3° C day (perhaps a bad batch of buckles) & the Duraflex replacements have worked fine.

djb

re cold, I have commuted a fair amount in the 0c to -5c or -10c range, and havent had any problems with buckles on newer sets of panniers---but Im not out for more than an hour tops, and I am much more careful in general with the clips on my panniers than I was a long time ago.

I figure that after umpteen times of being stepped on awkwardly or roughly, caught in doors or whatever, small cracks appear and lead to them weakening.

bob, in the end, have you found an outdoor store that sells replacement pairs?

robow

You can find them at most fabric and hobby stores as well, think Hobby Lobby.

linus

How dare you judge the gender of the buckle. Also, you need to know its preferred pronouns before we have this conversation.

djb

well, bobby old boy never returned, but today, I had to laugh out loud because arriving after my commute today, one of the prongs on my maybe 6 year old ortlieb pannier bust off , it was about -8c or something.

To be fair, this is the top mid buckle on my rear rollers, the one that I attach my rackpack to, so I have reefed on this buckle a heck of a lot during my last bunch of trips using the rackpack, so its had a lot of force go into it.

anyway, will have to dig through my stuff and try to find my spares. Given the rackpack use though, it will be important to find the right ones to match up with the clips on it.
I'll take photos if I do the same "diagonal cut" technique--although I might not given the force going into it with a rack pack.