gna

I found some Voyageur Panniers locally. I'm guessing they were sold with Schwinn Voyageurs?



They look like Cannondale Panniers from the '80s. No rips or tears, and all zippers work fine. The two were snapped together, and there was even a strap in one of the pockets. $5
The seller also had some "front bags," as he put them. He said I could have them. There were a couple of handlebar bags, but at the bottom of the pile were two Eclipse panniers snapped together:



The handles are broken, they smell a bit of mildew, and they use the oddball Eclipse mounting, but I think I can save them with new straps and hooks (and some soap). I gave the guy $2 for them.
Some nice '80s panniers for my Raleigh Wyoming.

clubman 

They are dead ringers for the C-dales, which I bought new in '92. They were a nice size as well.

bikemig 

They made Eclipse panniers with hooks and a strap. I have a set of smaller Eclipses like that in red that I use as commuter bags.

Pompiere

Voyageur was Schwinn's brand for all their touring accessories back then. My wife has a Voyageur rack on one of her bikes, I have a Voyageur wedge bag, Voyageur commuting panniers, and I have seen Voyageur water bottles and other stuff. They also used Paramount branding on some of their accessories, maybe aimed toward the road racing crowd? We have a mountain bike that came with a Paramount bottle cage, most likely because the color matched.


Ross Mt. Hood w/ Paramount bottle cage

tcs

Eclipse rack and Eclipse adapters on Blackburn rack for Eclipse proprietary mounting:



Somewhere out there I got some front lowriders with Eclipse mounts.

Calsun

I have never succeeded in killing all the mildew spores and if these bags are kept in your home it will contaminate everything else in the area. I have had to throw many bags and belts and shoes into the garbage.

gna

I'll keep them in the garage. Will cold weather do them in?

The Golden Boy 

I used to be obsessed with Cannondale panniers and bags.

This is a Trestle handlebar bag, a Toot seat bag, Caboose rack bag, Overland rear panniers and Shuttle front panniers

720 W/ Bags by 1969TGB, on Flickr



My favorite Cannondale bag story is from a long time ago- I searched out a bag on CL- turned out it was in Chicago- but the guy offered to ship. He said he lost the foam stiffener- but I didn't care. Fast forward a year or two or so and a few thousand miles- I get an email out of nowhere- it's the guy who sold me the bag- he found the stiffener in the garage and just sent it to me. That was totally awesome. Then sometime later- a guy on BF was relating a similar story- and it turns out it was the same dude. That was awesome.

gna

A few months back, I was looking for panniers on CL. A listing popped up for a Cannondale touring bike, with a complete set of C-Dale panniers--front, back, rack bag, handlebar bag--for $250. Everything looked well-cared for, and the bike was even my size. The problem? It was 3 hours away, so it would have to be a weekend I was free. The ad was gone by the time that weekend rolled around...

MeadMan2

Minnesota winter weather hasn't done in my Kirklands that have been stored in the garage.

gna

Meant the mildew...

Pompiere

I have revived some really sad looking bags and made them look like new by washing them in a front-load washing machine. First, remove as much of the hardware and stiffeners as possible. If the straps are separate, put them in a mesh bag. Wash on gentle, then hang to dry. If the stiffeners are sewn in, you need to make sure they are plastic or foam. If they are cardboard or Masonite, you will have to either cut something apart to remove them or just spot clean. If the bag has foam stiffeners, let them hang for at least a week to completely dry out.


I have had this Cannondale bag for almost 40 years.

gna

Maybe it’s not mildew, but they do smell musty. No front load machine, but I do have a laundry tub. I soaked them in hot water and some color-safe bleach, then washed and rinsed with hot water. They’re hanging on a line in the sun.

Before washing, I went through them and found springs and spacers as well as cards and letters inside, in a slide-in pocket next to the stiffener. They are from July ‘84, to a Steve and Jenny Anderson on their “Odyssey.” Nearly 40 years ago…

Pompiere

The springs and spacers look like the inserts to change a Zefal Pump from Schreder to Presta valves, parts 4, 5, and 6 in the picture.

drpaddle

I love Eclipse bags and still have a couple sets I bought new. Here's a 650b conversion I made a couple years ago for a tour in the Selkirk range sporting my bags from much earlier. Love the mounting with extrusions on top and o-rings on bottom because it kept the bags from wiggling as much as the hook mounts.

Chuckk

Over the last 30 years I've always picked up good condition packs at garage sales.
I think they either get used once, or used until they fall apart.

seedsbelize2

Her's my pair of Cannondale panniers. The difference was not do pronounced when I bought them, used. My single tour required only the one bag.


Edit: Twice I tried to edit out that typo, but the window contained only the pic

gna

I went to my local bike recycler, and they had these bar bags and Novara front panniers:

The panniers look like they've never been used. I've given up on my wife, but maybe I can talk my daughter into touring with me...

Velo Mule

While I am stretching things a bit because this is not a pannier, I think it is interesting. I got this in the '70's from a family friend who's husband was a cameraman for ABC sports. I am surprised that of all things, they made a handlebar bag with ABC's Wide World of Sports patch on it. I cannot find the manufacturer, but I didn't look too hard either. I put this on my bike the way I think it is intended to go on, but it would sag too much to be useful.

Roger M

I just did an overnight camping trip with my old Cannondale panniers. The work just fine, but I'll probably upgrade to modern bags for any future camping trips.

randyjawa 

Just for laughs. For twenty bucks, this Peugeot came home with me during a weekend "yard sale". Can't remember what happened to the bike or the bags. I do remember NOT liking the hard case bags at all...