Carradice Super C Rear Pannier Review - Intro
My faithful cycle panniers (YakPak)were getting old, and after 15 years of service the bottoms were wearing through. So rather than wait for them to split (spilling potatoes and tinned pineapple all over the place) I decided to replace them.
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| A good set of rear panniers? |
The last piece of bicycle luggage I purchased was a
Super C Rack Pack which is very well made, and made in England at that, so I took the plunge and bought a set of Carradice Super C Rear Panniers.
Carradice Super C Rear Pannier Review - First Impressions
Out of the bag, the bags appear heavily made which I was pleased about. There are rivets, and aluminium stiffeners and lots of corrugated plastic stiffening boards through out. For the hooks / brackets plastic is used which I am pleased about as it is less prone to rattling.
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| Lots of Metal and Rivets make for a reassuring build. |
The fabric its self is a heavy gauge cotton webbing (described as duck canvas). It is said that it is water resistant, but this is not the same a as water proof. You can expect stuff inside these panniers to get wet. But I do not care about that, you can always put stuff in a carrier bag!
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| very well built - AND MADE IN ENGLAND! |
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| Rivets and stiffening. |
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| MORE Rivets and stiffening. |
Carradice Super C Rear Pannier Review - Fitting
The Carradice Super C Rear Panniers come with very few parts for fitting. You have to slide the hooks in to the alluminium "rail". The edges of this rail are sharp so be careful. These sharp edges are covered by clip on covers included with the panniers so don't let this put you off.
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| Ouch - Watch out for sharp edges. |
Once installed take the shims (shown below) over to your rack and see which ones fits the most snug around the tubing.
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| Choose shim to suit rack tube size. |
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| Hooks are chunky . . .which is good. |
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| Bags come with detailed fitting instructions. |
You will need to take the bags on and off the bike a few times, so you can slide the hooks backwards and forwards and to centre the bag on the rack.
Carradice Super C Rear Pannier Review - In Use
So I have used these for about a fortnight. So no real depth of insight here. The top handle is a bit "floppy" for my liking and might be better mounted next to the hooks. However I guess this would cause a heavily laden pannier to swing inwards when be carried by hand so maybe not. The top straps can be adjusted to strap on extra stuff.
I suppose I should mention that at 28 litres per pannier these are pretty big bags. They are nearly twice the size of my old bags, most panniers are around the 15 litre mark. The rear pockets are nice and big, and will take useful items such as a 2 litre water bottle, or a jumper, or a water proof top.
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| Top handle is floppy but very versatile. |
The clips for taking the bags on and off the bike are very nice. However, I would like an additional lower clip, as I have noticed a rattle when riding with panniers lightly loaded. However, this is a plastic on metal rattle so not too annoying, and I suspect this could be sorted out with a couple of zip ties.
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| Fastening system is a joy to use. |
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| Sew on some hi vis for extra visibility? |
Carradice Super C Rear Pannier Review - More Pictures
A few pictures not used so far . . . .
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| Wide Panniers - But very capacious |
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| Chunky fixings |
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| View from above |
Carradice Super C Rear Pannier Review - Conclusions
I am very pleased with these Carradice Super C Rear Pannier, they look like they will last longer than me. My only negative point is the rattly lower fixing clip, but as I said I can fix that, with some padding or zip ties.
The build quality is as high as I have seen, and I will no doubt be buying Carradice again in the future for any other bike that needs panniers.
The panniers are large, easily fitted, very well built, and well worth the outlay.
I have also read about the panniers on
Tom's Bike Trip, where he has used them for some fairly extreme touring, so they should handle a trip to the shops twice a week!
Environmental Permit Applications
Flood Risk
I am keen on the Carradice Super Cs (front and rear carriers but have not used much of their other equipment. They did give me a waxed cotton rack bag - cylindrical, when I travelled from Lands End to John O Groats but it is not quite the right size for a tent (too wide) and is difficult to mount. The Panniers by contrast are a lesson in ergonomics - lifting straight off the bike and then actually standing up in the tent or wherever. The tapered shape works really well - not interfering with your feet and packing more and more in higher up. The lengthening straps mean that you can fit in extra things e.g. food and then shrink the panniers down as you use it up.
ReplyDeleteI am on a major refurbishment of my 1990s pair. The top straps have broken (both panniers on the same trip) so I have been searching the web for the Carradice rivets. I may "redesign" the top strap design to attach to the canvas (should be strong enough) with a sliding handle as in later Carradice designs.