Upon completion of a three month bicycle tour from St Louis, MO to Seaside, OR
Curtis,
The bags were great. I had two prototypes of a Route Seven Large and a Route Seven Medium from last year's tour, as well as a prototype of a more recent Route Seven. From day 1 I put these bags to the test. The first week alone we rode through downed trees and floodwater. The bags also suffered countless brushes with gravel, dirt, hurricane-strength storms, mud, pavement and truck beds. Aside from one rip in the liner of the red prototype, these bags held up against any and all water (that rip occurred due to a construction flaw which was fixed before the bag entered production).
Grace had 4 Arkel panniers, which as I recall had zippers down the sides so she could quickly get at stuff packed at the bottom. I didn't mind that my panniers didn't have this feature, especially since zippers aren't completely waterproof and I would often stuff gear inside, which would have strained any side zippers.
Spencer - Curtis' Brother, Web Developer and Product Tester - Portland OR
To see photos of the trip, and read more...click here
When you order your new bike pannier or convertible backpack pannier you’ll need to select the hook size that best fits your bike’s cargo rack. These hooks—two near the top of the pannier—slot over the horizontal tube(s) of the cargo rack and then a bottom hook on a bungee holds tension for a secure fit.
While it’s a simple system, one of the most common questions we get is: what’s the right hook size for my bike? Click to read more.
