Hi, I have a Turbo Vado 5.0 IGH and use Ortleib Back-Roller panniers. The panniers fit great on the top brackets, but I am having trouble getting the lower 'arm' bracket to secure to the rack. It seems the rack is bent out away from the bike frame, so that the screw on the arm cannot tighten all the way, and comes loose when riding. I can get it to work if I retighten every day, but this isn't ideal obviously. I'm going to play around with repositioning the top brackets in hopes this changes the geometry of the bottom bracket to something that works better - but I thought I'd check here to see if anyone has had success in mounting their Back-Roller panniers. Thanks!
Turbo Vado 5.0 IGH: How to secure Ortleib Back-Roller?
- Thread starter Nonlinear
- Start date
Allan47.7339
Well-Known Member
I don't have a Turbo Vado but I do use a Ortlieb on my old Turbo S. Have you tried attaching the pannier to the the lower rack rail? Reading the user manual it looks like the top rails were for other accessories and the lower rails were intended for panniers. The Ortlieb hook does not need to point to the rear. It just needs to be securely hook the rack somewhere on the oval track in any orientation.
If you look at the Specialized Tailwind pannier accessory it's shown attached to the lower rack rail.
If you look at the Specialized Tailwind pannier accessory it's shown attached to the lower rack rail.
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Thanks for your comment! Yes, I am hooked on the lower rack rail. I had been using the top Oreleib brackets in the centered (default) position, which didn't really allow for the bottom bracket to clamp onto the rack in any position. I was able to get it to clamp on at a weird angle, but it wasn't tight enough and would keep coming loose.
About 30 minutes ago though, I moved the top brackets all the way to the front of the pannier (which moves the pannier back on the bike), and it seems like this allowed me to get a different geometry where it seems like I can tighten the bottom bracket more. I'll see how it holds up over the next couple of rides, and will report back.
About 30 minutes ago though, I moved the top brackets all the way to the front of the pannier (which moves the pannier back on the bike), and it seems like this allowed me to get a different geometry where it seems like I can tighten the bottom bracket more. I'll see how it holds up over the next couple of rides, and will report back.
Allan47.7339
Well-Known Member
I have to have my panniers as far back as possible to avoid heel strike so I have the pannier brackets moved forward too. Once you have them set they are easy on and off as long as you don't mix the left and right. Even once you get them to fit correctly, you still need to check the knobs occasionally to make sure they haven't loosened. Ortlieb's are great panniers but I've gotten complacent and forgotten to make sure the hooks are fully closed on the rails when I was commuting and find one of them hanging by one hook when I stopped to check the rubbing noise.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
They are indeed but Back-Rollers and several other models have a design glitch. There are screws that attach the whole assembly to the pannier itself. These screws are secured with big plastic nuts on the very inside of the pannier. Ortlieb recommends regular tightening the screws. After I have lost the mounting screw for a couple of times (and it always happened in the middle of a long ride), I eventually secured the screws with "loctite". Wondering why Ortlieb never got that idea themselves.
Just ran across this post - I was about ready to return these panniers because I wasn‘t able to secure the bottom bracket to the rack. Moving the top brackets to the front of the pannier as you did seems to have fixed the problem. Is it still working satisfactorily for you?
I also have an Ortlieb E-Trunk bag which mounts to the top rack rail at the same time the panniers are mounted to the lower rack rail. It‘s definitely tight but it does work. Can’t really get either pannier off without taking the E-Trunk off first but that is easy enough to do.
I ended up removing the bottom clip, and passing the Ortleib screw through the bungee cord hole on the bottom of the Vado rack. It's not nearly as removeable (which is OK since I don't really need to remove my pannier). However, I also wrote to Ortleib and they told me you can remove the bottom screw and rotate the plate 90 degrees, which gives you 2mm more clearance. I tried this on the second pannier, and it held (but I only tested it for about 15 minutes). Next time I remove the more permanently attached pannier from my bike, I plan to try the 90 degree rotation method instead.
Oh, that is good information. I haven't ridden the bike yet. It looks secure now but if it loosens, I'll try rotating the plate. Thanks for the update.
I was able to attach the pannier just fine without doing the 90 degree thing, the problem is that the bottom bracket couldn't tighten properly (because the rack is too big), so it would loosen and come off. I tried dozens and dozens of times to move the bottom bracket into different positions, tighten it, and it would always come off by the end of my short commute to work. It was only until I put the bottom screw through the bungee hole that I was able to get it to hold. (and later, when I tried the 90 degree method, although I only tested that on one short ride)
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