Originally Posted by
sloar
Thanks for all the replies. Just ordered the Roller classics front and rear from REI. Also a front Tubus Lowrider from Modernbike. Looking forward to putting them to use.
Some years REI has a sale price on Ortliebs in March. My local REI has told me that they will refund the difference if you buy something and it goes on sale very soon afterwards, but I do not recall the time period, and you have to ask wtihin that time period.
The lower hooks on Ortlieb panniers are not designed to handle the larger diameter of Tubus Tara front racks. Some have said, no big deal and use them anyway. Others have ordered different hooks. I made some different hooks out of some aluminum bar that I stretched inner tube rubber over the aluminum. So, when you get them, ... ...
If your rack is black, I bought some black fingernail polish at Dollar Tree, use that to touch up any wear spots on my black racks. Tubus also provides some adhesive backed plastic that you can use to protect the paint at wear spots.
I think it best to use blue (removable) thread locker on rack bolts to make sure they do not vibrate loose. Several brands, the last time I bought any, this is what I bought:
https://www.truevalue.com/6-ml-remov...hread-locker-1