WTF Ortlieb?!

[miss_chance]

I did not go ass over tea-kettle in traffic today.
No thanks to my fucking Ortlieb panniers. Cyclists: do you have Ortliebs? Does this shit happen to you?

Use your clever sleuthing and acute mechanical mind: Can you see what's wrong with this picture?

Comments

[srl]

Eek, that's scary. Glad you're okay.

I own Ortlieb panniers with the same attachment system. I've found that setting mine so that one of the clips latches into the double-width top rail (where that support strut comes up and meets the rack, in the middle) stabilizes the front-to-back slide. (Which means using the little inserts that fit into the top clips, in a way that makes the panniers side-specific.) I place my bags farther forward so that they don't have as much risk of wobbling laterally into the wheel at the back. (Looking at the still-attached pannier, I'd guess that sliding the pannier forward on the top-clips-- as far as you can without heel-striking-- would be a good idea.) Also, I set the bottom hooks horizontally, rather than at an angle.

Remind me sometime, and I'll show you how mine are attached.

[miss_chance]

Hmm... can you tell from this photo whether my rack has the double-width part you're talking about? Not that it matters much on this rack, it got so bent up the last several times this has happened that I'm going to swap on a new rack. Maybe that will stabilize it. I'll look and see if I have the inserts you're talking about.

As for the bottom bits, well the angle in this photo is just after they were yanked out of place, but again they had been set in a way to deal with this rack geometry and i often thought that if I had a more square rack there would be more room.

Are you saying you think sliding front to back is giving it the room to pop out? makes sense. I'd love to be able to make these work for me; they are kind of great when they're not trying to kill me.

[srl]

We have almost the same model of rack. Look at the axle. Follow the rack strut that extends vertically from the axle. See how it goes under the deck after running together with the top rail for about 1.5 inches? That's what I meant by double-width. When you attach the top-hook there, the bag can't slide farther back.

If your bags didn't come with these inserts, which keep the top-hooks from wobbling around on rack tubing of different diameters, they should have--- and I'd bet that not using the inserts would contribute to the lateral wobbles shown here. For the setup I'm describing, you'll use an insert on the rear of the two top-hooks, and not on the front top-hook.

(For extra protection, attach the lower hooks horizontally, so that the hooks open towards the back of the bike; that means the bags can never slide back. But slide the whole pannier forward on its hooks, and/or carry your heaviest items towards the front of the panniers.)

[melebeth]

I'm glad you're not dead!

[lillibet]

This.

[muffyjo]

Looks like the auto-stop feature! It's usually extra, but for you...

I'm so sorry about that. What a scare! But yes, it absolutely looks like it needs modification of a more secure kind.

[ceo]

I can't see the picture.

[beah]

Whoa. I'm glad you're okay!