gordyt

Hello All,

Just thought I would share this with you...

My wife and I bike-commute with Trek 7500 hybrids and we wanted to get panniers for them.

For my bikie I ordered the Samurai model. My wife liked the look of the GT-30 model.

I placed the order on 3/9/03 and it was delivered today (3/14/03). The quality of the bags seem to be very good and the mounting is easy and secure.

So if you are looking for panniers I do highly recommend the products from this company.

Regards,

--gordon

Rich Clark

I think highly of Arkel as well. I've been using their small panniers and their briefcase pannier (which is also my everyday briefcase) constantly with nothing but good results. Excellent quality.

RichC

bikeman

Thanks for sharing the URL. I was just looking around for commuter specific bags since I'm about to take on a 30 mile round-trip commute as soon as I iron out a few details here at my new job. The Samurai seem to be exactly what I've been looking for.

Good commuting to you.

LET

Another happy customer of Arkel here. I've purchased their T-42's for the rear, GT-30's for the front, and a large handlebar bag along with the appropriate rain covers, straps et.al. It's not the least expensive but superior to anything else I've come across. Their telephone support has been outstanding too. A great company with some really nice people!

bentbaggerlen

We used to use a trailer when touring, along with a small pair of panniers. I ordered a pair of Arkels TT-84s. No need for the trailer now!
Arkel bags are top notch as well as the service.

Guest

The one voice of dissent-

Sorry. I got the Arkels for my tour last summer, and I had a difficult time with keeping them on my bike. After a few days, I noticed that when I would hit bigger bumps, the bags would fall off. I would have to quickly pull over and run back to get my bags before they got run over in traffic. I ended up bungee cording the bags to the racks once I'd secured the bags on the racks.

I do believe the design of the bags are pretty good, however my experience with Arkel was not satisfactory enough to recommend it. I'm going with the Ortliebs for my next tour.

Koffee

Rich Clark

Since that hasn't happened to me after many thousands of miles -- and since the idea of losing my Arkel Briefcase with my laptop in it is very disturbing -- I wonder (a) which Arkels you had and (b) what make and model rack they were attached to.

RichC

Merriwether

I've got the front and rear set of the GT panniers. I love 'em. One of my favorite bike accessories. The well-designed pockets significantly increase my quality of life out on the road. The fabric is strong, the zippers are beefy, and the mounting hardware is see-cure. Or so I think.

In response to the claim above, that the bags were falling off of the rack, I'll assume that the hardware was being used right, but that it wasn't in the right position for your rack. Perhaps your rack has thinner-- or thicker-- tubing than typical.

But the Arkel bags are very easy to alter. Notice that the locking clamp is just a metal wing that pivots on a bolt. With two wrenches and two minutes of free time, you can unscrew the bolt, and remove the clamp. Then take a drill, and make a new hole wherever you need the clamp to be. Replace the bolt and wing. There, you're set. Now you've got rock solid mounting, good for years of bumpy rides, simple and secure.

Guest

<sigh>

All that just to make a bag fit.... I don't have a drill- it seems like a lot of work just to secure the bags. I got some two bit bags from Performance that didn't fall off at all. My rack is the Jandd Expedition rack. I don't think that's an unusual or uncommon rack. It was just unfortunate that I ended up with a bag that kept falling off. Since I got the bag the day before I left for my trip, I wasn't able to see if the bags would perform at all- my bike was in the shop and I didn't pick it up until I was on my way to the airport. It was a shock when those bags fell on day one when I hit a bump in the road- plus a disappointment.

I have the bags in storage, but I will need to pull them out for a demonstration for touring. When I get them over here, I'll let you know what kind of bags they are.

The Chicago Bike Show is next weekend, and last year, the Arkel people were there, so I will bring the bags to them and ask them to take a look at the bags for me. I'll have my rack on, so they can demo the bags for me and see if there was something wrong or if I just mounted them funny.

Koffee

Rich Clark

The Jandd Expedition is an excellent rack, and it seems unlikely it was a positioning issue -- there are two stops on the rails that would keep the Arkel retaining system secure:


However, the Jandd doesn't seem to have a secure place for the bottom hook, so I wonder if that could be a problem -- that the bottom hook slid off the bottom rail, removing tension from the retaining system. Other racks have a place for the hook, such as the Blackburn:


However, if the asymmetrical retaining clamp were rotated the "easy" way, I suppose it's possible it could rotate by itself and allow the hooks enough play to bounce up.




I hope you get to show it to the Arkel people; I'd be interested in what they say.

RichC

Merriwether

Koffee, I'm not quite clear on whether you're able to lock the locking wing on the bag against the rack. Are you? And the problem is that the wing turns when you ride and the bag falls off? Or aren't you able to lock the wing at all to begin with?

If you are able to lock the wing, you might try simply tightening the bolt head holding the wing against the bag. With more friction, the wing won't turn when you hit bumps.

If you're not able to lock the wing, you might try first pushing the bag horizontally against the rack, after the bag is on the rack and the upper hooks and the bungy are in place. The bag will sag a bit outward, normally, so pushing it as flush against the rack as you can may allow you to turn the wing more easily. It may also allow you to use the longer side of the wing, where you might have been able to use only the shorter side before. If you find that pushing the bag against the rack allows you to use the longer side of the wing, where you couldn't use the longer side before, then your bag will stay secure on the rack.

If you can't lock the wing, whether you push the bag against the rack or not, you'll have to move it. Well, you or Arkel or someone will have to. It's a bit of pain to borrow a drill, perhaps, but you'll have to spend time anyway with the Arkel guys at the bike show.

I've been very happy with the Arkel hardware, myself. It's solid as a rock (though sometimes I have to push the bag against the rack to swing the locking wing into place). I've never had a wing unlock when I rode, much less a bag fall off. The hardware's simple, too, so the bag is very easy to get on and off. If repairs are necessary, they're about as simple to make as they can be. In fact, I've like the Arkel hardware so much I bought it separately and upgraded some old bags with it.

Good luck with this...

gordyt

Hey while we are on this subject, I would like to pose a question...my setup (as I mentioned before) is the Samurai bags mounted to a Blackburn TR-1 rack. It is a very secure mounting -- no chance of slipping off. But I notice that my heels can rub against the forward-lower edge of the bags if my feet are horizontal.

OK, aside from keeping my toes pointed down while pedalling... Is there some way to move the bags a little further back? There is room on the top of the rack to slide the mounting hooks back a couple of inches, but I need to figure out something for the bottom hook, because it is at the bottom where the problem lies.

I'm thinking maybe I can somehow attach a piece of metal to the bottom of the rack on both sides that extends back a few inches and thus provide a new place for the bottom clip on the bags to hook. I'm just not quite sure how to do that in a secure (and not ugly) fashion.

Alternatively, I would not be adverse to getting a different rack, but it would have to be one that does let me attach the panniers further aft of their current position.

Any suggestions?

--gordon

RainmanP

Koffee, I second what Rich says. When I first mounted my Arkel Utility Basket Pannier, I rotated the retainer clamp the "easy" way, ie using the short side, as the picture Rich posted shows. This seemed OK, but the bags seemed to rattle it bit. I rotated the retaining clamp to use the longer side, which requires a bit of force, but it locks the bag in place as intended. I can't imagine it ever coming loose accidentally. I can assure you this, Arkel seems like the type of company that will make it right whatever it takes. I love the Arkel suspension system for security and ease of use.

Gordy, the nice thing about the Arkel system is that it seems a bit flexible about forward/back positioning even if the bungees seem to want the bag in a certain place. I don't think you should need to modify your rack. In my case the limiting factor is how the rack is constructed. If the bag will mount where you want it but seems to want to gradually move forward as you ride maybe a small stainless steel hose clamp on the rack will act as a stop without interfering with anything else. Probably cost a couple of bucks for two and go on in about 30 seconds each. I can get my huge UBP far enough back to clear my size 12s. Care in packing and use of the compression system can help, too. Avoid putting anything in the lower forward part of the bag that causes the bag to "pooch" out forward. Just some ideas.
Regards,
Raymond

DnvrFox

Ditto for their Junior. My wife and I both have them and they are great. Easily removable, secure and well made.

gordyt

Raymond, thanks for the tip. I'll give that a try tomorrow. I did find that if I since in the sides enough they do clear my heels, but then I can't pack much stuff in them. I think I probably have some small hose clamps laying around in one of the coffee cans full of small parts out in the garage that will do nicely!

--g