Front Pannier Racks

Espresso_ · Postby **Espresso_** » Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:31 am

Ergh. Bike 24 will not ship Ortliebs to Australia. I'm pretty sure another thread on here noted that, but I was able to add to the basket and pay so I assumed no issues.

At least the rack is on it's way ...

Tim · Postby **Tim** » Wed Jun 11, 2014 9:42 am

Espresso_ wrote:Ergh. Bike 24 will not ship Ortliebs to Australia.

I noticed the other day that PBK are still selling Ortleib gear to Australian customers, I think.
I bought all my Ortleib panniers from them a couple of years ago. At the time they were the best available price aroundabouts.
No time to check prices at the moment but might be worth a look.

Wingnut · Postby **Wingnut** » Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:58 pm

On the note of geo-blocking by online sellers...I received an email a couple a days ago from Wiggle saying they will not be selling Garmin items to Australia but hope to rectify this in the near future...?

il padrone · Postby **il padrone** » Wed Jun 11, 2014 11:47 pm

Espresso_ wrote:Ergh. Bike 24 will not ship Ortliebs to Australia.

Whoaagh! Bad news day. They have been my 'go-to guys' for all things Ortlieb after Wiggle took the same approach.

I'm pretty sure that St John Street Cycles will still sell Ortlieb, but their prices and shipping are higher than from Germany. Another good source to consider is The Touring Store, a small on-line store in the US with very good sevice.

Wingnut · Postby **Wingnut** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 12:43 am

There's also...

http://www.bikebagshop.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

alfine8 · Postby **alfine8** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 5:30 pm

Is there any reason why people don't use Pushy's to buy their Ortleibs.
They are even cheaper than the German online shops, and mine arrived less than 24hours after ordering.
Maybe there is a boycott or something that I don't know about.

silentbutdeadly · Postby **silentbutdeadly** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:21 pm

alfine8 wrote:Is there any reason why people don't use Pushy's to buy their Ortleibs.
They are even cheaper than the German online shops, and mine arrived less than 24hours after ordering.
Maybe there is a boycott or something that I don't know about.

It's more about ignorance than anything else...Pushy's are cool.

Aushiker · Postby **Aushiker** » Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:58 pm

il padrone wrote:
Espresso_ wrote:Ergh. Bike 24 will not ship Ortliebs to Australia.
Whoaagh! Bad news day. They have been my 'go-to guys' for all things Ortlieb after Wiggle took the same approach.

I just did a test at http://bike24.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and there was no sign of a block ... I got to the take my credit card details point without problems. Normally Bike24.net states up front if it cannot ship to Australia (signed in).

Andrew

Espresso_ · Postby **Espresso_** » Fri Jun 13, 2014 6:02 am

Aushiker wrote:
il padrone wrote:
Espresso_ wrote:Ergh. Bike 24 will not ship Ortliebs to Australia.
Whoaagh! Bad news day. They have been my 'go-to guys' for all things Ortlieb after Wiggle took the same approach.
I just did a test at http://bike24.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and there was no sign of a block ... I got to the take my credit card details point without problems. Normally Bike24.net states up front if it cannot ship to Australia (signed in).

Andrew

Yeah that's why I was disappointed to find out well after the event that they wouldn't ship them.

It gets worse though:

------------
Thank you for order at Bike24.

Unfortunately the delivery is delayed.

Reason: Tubus Tara Lowrider - black.

As shown in our online shop there is no known delivery date for this item.

--> Please inform us how to handle the issue and contact us for further information.
------------

There were 10+ items in stock when I ordered. It took them 5 days to pick up that there was actually no stock?

E

il padrone · Postby **il padrone** » Fri Jun 13, 2014 8:03 am

I ordered an Office Bag QL3 from bike24 back in March, shipped 10/4 with no worries. This must be a very recent change.

Tim · Postby **Tim** » Fri Jun 13, 2014 9:10 am

PBK have the rack and panniers in stock.
Look to be good prices too.

silentbutdeadly wrote:It's more about ignorance than anything else...Pushy's are cool.

... and more expensive than PBK and probably most other OS suppliers.

Espresso_ · Postby **Espresso_** » Fri Jun 13, 2014 9:53 am

I've no issue with Pushys. In this instance, they don't stock Tubus racks at all, and didn't have the colour of panniers I wanted in stock. Plus the panniers in other colours were $30 more than elsewhere.

I've placed my order with PBK as advised - hoping it arrives swiftly!

E

Wingnut · Postby **Wingnut** » Fri Jun 13, 2014 10:21 am

alfine8 wrote:Is there any reason why people don't use Pushy's to buy their Ortleibs.

I might try them if I have to replace one of my Ortlieb pannier bags some time in the future...and if they have the stock?

With regard to seat bags and handlebar bags I won't use Ortlieb again, there are so many other brands that make more versatile versions...

http://www.porcelainrocket.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.revelatedesigns.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.bedrockbags.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
https://www.randijofab.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Espresso_ · Postby **Espresso_** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 6:52 pm

Just to round this out, these arrived on the 24th, so roughly 10 days after ordering. Not bad.

Espresso_ · Postby **Espresso_** » Thu Jul 24, 2014 11:00 pm

Here's a photo of the Tubus rack on my Soma. Fitting was actually really easy on top of the mudguards (SKS longboards - they're long!).

The rack is super solid and fits perfectly using the supplied spacers etc.

Thanks for all the help on this thread.

E

Espresso_ · Postby **Espresso_** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 2:25 pm

Here's a better photo of the racks themselves.

No issue mounting them alone (ie the disc brakes were not a problem, just needed to use some of the included spacers) but the mudguards would only mount by not using the SKS quick-release thingy on one of the mudguard stays to get them to mount on top of the rack. As you can see, due to the angles involved I've mounted the rack and the mudguards on the same lower eyelet - the upper eyelet is not used at all.

I've since removed the rack for general city riding, and the mudguards just mount up fine.

E

il padrone · Postby **il padrone** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 2:36 pm

My racks stay on the bike, full-time. They really weigh so little it's no bother, and I've never had any damage to them.

Espresso_ · Postby **Espresso_** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 8:30 pm

il padrone wrote:My racks stay on the bike, full-time. They really weigh so little it's no bother, and I've never had any damage to them.

I'm no weight weenie but the rack alone is 500g - that's not insignificant. Having said that, I can see the appeal of leaving it on.

It's mostly for aesthetics that I've removed it.

Doesn't she look pretty?

Leaf T · Postby **Leaf T** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:09 pm

Hey nice bike! Is that the new version of SKS chromoplastics? I saw them on Jenson today while looking into Surly chainrings. At first I thought they looked pretty ugly but seeing them mounted I really like them. They must provide a lot of protection to the drivetrain.

Espresso_ · Postby **Espresso_** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:12 pm

Andy wrote:Hey nice bike! Is that the new version of SKS chromoplastics? I saw them on Jenson today while looking into Surly chainrings. At first I thought they looked pretty ugly but seeing them mounted I really like them. They must provide a lot of protection to the drivetrain.

These mudguards are SKS longboards (700c). They are longer (and in my case wider) than Chromoplastics, which I've also had on other bikes. They've even longer still when fitted over my 650b tyres; a little too long in fact. I'm planning to switch out the long front flap for a shorter item.

Most of the look of mudguards is the way they are fitted. I'm anal about the closeness to the tyre and even distance to the tyre throughout. I fit mudguards myself, despite how fiddly a job it is, because I don't trust people "on the clock" to do as good a job.

E

il padrone · Postby **il padrone** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:52 pm

If you plan to do much touring on any gravel roads I'd be a lot less anal about your mudguard closeness. Any small stones and stcks picked up by a wet tyre risk jamming in the mudguard and eventually you'll get the annoyance of.....

Espresso_ · Postby **Espresso_** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:59 pm

No doubt - I experienced as much on one of the roads you sent me down! Pain in the ass, ended up picking up a sheet of wire fence left by 4WDers hiding under a few cms of muddy water.

Scratched paint, sheet of wire jammed between chain stay and crank. Not pleasant.

The ultra low flap (basically a scoop) is probably not helping.

il padrone · Postby **il padrone** » Sat Aug 02, 2014 10:50 pm

Espresso_ wrote:No doubt - I experienced as much on one of the roads you sent me down! Pain in the ass, ended up picking up a sheet of wire fence left by 4WDers hiding under a few cms of muddy water.

Scratched paint, sheet of wire jammed between chain stay and crank. Not pleasant.

The ultra low flap (basically a scoop) is probably not helping.

Yep, not really going to help.

If you go really bush on dirt roads and tracks you can get this sort of thing (red clay outback tracks.... like glue)

TouringPhil · Postby **TouringPhil** » Tue Aug 05, 2014 2:42 pm

OneMan Mountain has a new designed Front Lowrider rack that I was lucky enough to have received one of the very few that was sent out to Australia.

Espresso_ · Postby **Espresso_** » Fri Aug 29, 2014 11:53 pm

Espresso_ wrote:Just to round this out, these arrived on the 24th, so roughly 10 days after ordering. Not bad.

After all this, more bad news. The bags arrived defective, which isn't what I've been led to believe is normal for Ortlieb given the positive reviews here and elsewhere. The seams were not taped fully shut as you can see in the image below (that's my thumb poking through).

Returning the bags to PBK was not straightforward. The returns process was normal enough, and I received the refund in a couple of weeks. However, they initially refused to pay more than 15% of the cost of the item towards the return shipping to the UK (roughly $20). If you've ever done this, you'll know shipping is not cheap (around $90 for airmail, or $50 for a 3-month seamail wait). [The local Ortlieb dealer would not engage with a sale from a UK-based retailer, fine for anywhere in Aus and Asia though.]

Anyway, after some wrangling they've agreed to pay the full costs of shipping.

Despite the quality issues with the first set, I'm sticking with Ortlieb and getting the Sport Packer Plus versions this time (not the roll-top version) on the basis of advice from Aushiker and others on here.

I might even buy them from Pushy's ...

E