Good (Single) Pannier - Direct From China (AliExpress)

[PowerMe]

I wanted a pannier bag and I wanted to find one that wouldn't be costly. The price of Ortleibs held me back. Since I purchased a rear trunk bag from AliExpress.com and that worked out quite well, back to AliExpress I went.

I found this Roswheel pannier bag. It had the basic features I wanted: waterproof, can accommodate a sizable load (20 liters), roll-down top like the Ortleibs, connector clips similar to the Ortleibs. My rear rack has thick tubes so I needed a bag that could accommodate that as well.

$40 is the price I paid, which met my budget. A lot better than paying $100+ I would have spent if I purchased near me.

There are several vendors on AliExpress that carry this exact pannier. So you'll see a variety of prices. $40 is the lowest I found at the time I ordered. The bag arrived today and I'm happy to report it fits very well on my bike! Has connectors that look just like the Ortleib ones. Didn't need to put in any adapters

Time to receive from China: I ordered on July 14 and bag arrived on my doorstep on August 4. I was willing to be patient and wait and I'm glad I did. I've ordered several items using AliExpress and there's been no problem.

Here are some pictures.

 

[Barry S]

@PowerMe What's the tube diameter of your rear rack? Any problem with heel strike? Might have to check this out for my RadRover. I've got a Topeak trunk bag with the roll up panniers, but even with the rain cover the fat tires kick up enough water to soak the underside of the panniers.

 

[PowerMe]

@Barry S Not exactly sure on ebike tube diameter, but my guess is 14 or 15mm. The pannier has a sliding hook on the bottom (just like Ortleib panniers) that allows you to angle the bag backwards if you need to in order to avoid heel strike. No problem for me with heel strike on my ebike.

 

[PowerMe]

Looks good.

I paid around $99 dollars for a pair of Ortlieb roller high visibility panniers. One thing I like about them is that, unlike some other panniers, they are truly water proof. You can douse them with a hose, nothing inside gets wet. When it’s pouring outside, I never stress about what’s in the panniers. But the main reason I bought them was for visibility because a black bike doesn’t really stand out in traffic.

One thing I don’t like about them is that there are no external pockets. A pocket is useful to store the bike display when shopping. There’s an interior pocket, but after you put in the groceries it’s difficult to reach in there. And a Yamaha powered bike doesn’t go anywhere without its display. So it’s something of a catch 22...

I’m also not a big fan of the Ortlieb fastening mechanism. The external strap which is used to ‘tighten the roll’ is fastened by a little clip, but not when the panniers are full. So the straps flap in the wind when the panniers are full. An elastic strap would have been more practical.

Being yellow, they often get dirty. Washing them by hand in the sink is a bit of a PIA because they are so waterproof.

There was a shoulder strap included but I had to buy the larger 20mm hooks, which were quite expensive. That was a bit of a ripoff IMO.

I’ve ordered some items from China either via a proxy such as Amazon or via Alibaba. The goods always arrive, although the shipment dates tend to be somewhat ‘flexible’.

Hi @JayVee

$99 for a pair of Ortlieb panniers is amazing!

I hear you on the want/need for an external pocket or 2. You could easily make your own with some PVC fabric or a piece of neoprene, cut in the shape and size of pocket you want plus 1/2" extra on all sides, then use some heavy duty glue around 1/2" of the sides and bottom edge and place the pocket on the pannier where you want it positioned and put something heavy on top of the pocket, like a large book, to flatten it down until the glue is fully dry. You'd then have a functional outside pocket. You could attach a velcro tab so you could close the top of the external pocket. Just one idea. Alternatively, if you have a soft eyeglasses case/ vertical pouch that come with some glasses, you can glue one or 2 of those on the outside, using heavy duty glue, and that would give you a pocket that could hold your display unit

As for the yellow material getting dirty, try spraying some cooking spray -or- perhaps some WD40 on the outside of the panniers and spread it around with a soft cloth for even coverage. It should help repel dirt or at least make it easier to wash away.

My pannier came with a shoulder strap as well. I haven't attached it yet. As I just got the bag I haven't actually used it to carry anything yet, I just mounted it on the bike. Also, this pannier comes with 3 different size shims to put in the 2 top connectors if your rack has a smaller tube diameter, again, same as the Ortlieb panniers include.

 

[PowerMe]

Since my pannier doesn't have any pockets, not even inside, I created my own inside pocket using part of a mousepad I had laying around and some Liquid Fusion Glue

The pink dotted line shows the perimeter where I applied the glue. This picture shows the inside of my pannier bag, with the neoprene 'pocket' glued into place.

Will be able to hold a few small items, such as my ID, my display unit, or my phone.