Bicycle Panniers-Ortlieb vs Arkel

If you are going to tour on a bicycle you must have panniers or some means to carry your gear.   In this article I review what I consider the two best bicycle pannier companies on the market today.  I used Arkel GT54’s on the rear and GT18’s on the front of my Surly Long Haul Trucker for the past 5 years.  Information and specs on these panniers are here.  The GT54 bags are perfect for overnighters or round the world tours.  I like the pockets on the top and outside of the bags so you don’t have to open the bag and dig around inside for small items that you want easy access to.  (Think snacks, sunscreen, toothbrush.)  Arkel has an inside waterproof liner that rolls up inside the panniers out of the way.  The paniers themselves are not waterproof.  You have to unroll the yellow liner inside and put your gear inside the zip up liners.  Arkel also provides for separate purchase, waterproof covers that fit over the outside of the panniers with built in adjustable bungee cords and have a mesh elastic pouch on the outside.  Very handy so you don’t have to remove the cover to get to something on the inside.  The top zip pocket of each pannier provides storage of the waterproof covers.  Arkel panniers are well built, heavy duty nylon zippers and velcro fasteners secure all the pockets.  The GT54’s also come with a long pouch suitable for a bedroll that fastens on the rear of the right side pannier via heavy velcro.  I carried large bulky items in the rear panniers and smaller heavy items in the front to balance the load properly.  I typically carry about 60-70 pounds of gear including my food and water for normal tours.  I was loaded to over 100 pounds on the Southern Tier riding across the desert east of San Diego due to carrying 8 litres of water.  I carry about 55% on the rear and 45% on the front.  I found this works best.   Be careful to balance the load between the left and right side especially on the front or you will induce wobble in the front forks.  I used the Surly front and rear racks and the Arkel panniers worked perfectly with this setup.  Arkel panniers fasten to the bicycle rack with sturdy brackets that easily lift off with a simple pull of the release handle.  These panniers are heavier than Ortliebs due to the all the pockets, the heavy duty brackets and the overall design of the bag.  Here is a pic showing the bags on my Surly during rain in the Texas Hill Country.

I’m now using the Ortlieb Back-Roller Plus panniers in the rear and Front-Roller Plus in the front.  You can review the Ortlieb website here for complete specs.  During some recent tours I rode with numerous cyclist using the Ortlieb setup along with the Tubus racks and I’m convinced this setup is better for me.  The Tubus racks are much lighter than the Surly racks but very strong, and the Ortlieb panniers are much lighter than the Arkel.  The difference in the rack is the Surly front rack has a large flat platform for gear and the Tubus does not.  I have never heard of either the Surly or Tubus racks cracking or breaking and I have seen many of these fully loaded setups on the road.  Ortlieb uses a very sturdy waterproof fabric with roll top closure and no outside pockets.  The roll top design completely seals the bag from water, many other waterproof bags on the market use this same design for kayaking, camping gear or boating.  With the Arkel panniers I always had to stop and put on the yellow outside covers to keep my gear in the outside pockets dry.  No need with the Ortliebs, they are always waterproof.  The Ortliebs remove quickly with the carry handle and come with a shoulder strap.  They also have a reflective triangle on the rear of each bag.

Both the Arkel and the Ortlieb are great panniers that will serve you well no matter how you choose to tour.  I personally favor the lightweight waterproof design of the Ortliebs.  Weight is not the main consideration in selecting the best panniers for touring.  Saving a few ounces on a 100 pound fully loaded touring bike is simply not that important.  What is important is that your panniers work as designed with no problems.  The Arkel and the Ortlieb are the best available in my opinion and you cannot go wrong with either.  Here are some photos or the Ortliebs on my Co-Motion Divide.