# Thinking about a set of panniers - Seattle Sports Titan



## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Has anyone used the Seattle Sports Titan pannier? REI has them for $60 for the pair on their outlet site.

I'd be riding to school and back, about a half hour each way with some pretty major climbing and descending. So I'm interested in the security of the bag, how difficult it is to get on and off, and the internal organization. I also need to have some control over where on the rack it sits. The bike is an old Sport/Touring model and I'm a little concerned about heel strike.

If there are any other bags at this pricepoint that people like, I'm open to suggestion. It needs to be water proof, preferably without an extra cover, and fit a stack of books that's 5" thick, with the largest one being my ring binder at 10.5" by 11.5".


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

So I decided to go for it.

On the bike...


20110113144646 by Andrew183, on Flickr

The back of the pannier, which I couldn't find anything about online...


20110113145546 by Andrew183, on Flickr

I've only done one commute with it so far. Actually, today's commute was not one that would have shown these to best advantage - I rode to school, but I had some extra stuff with me for another errand. So instead of riding from point A to B, and then home a couple hours later, I had one of the many destination days that I consider to be the killer app for messenger bags. It only has the large inside pocket and one outside pocket, which was a minor disappointment. I put all the repair stuff I usually have in one of my Timbuk2's internal pockets in a little stuff sack and my pens and pencils and things in a zip loc bag. I think that will be enough organization for me.

I was pretty happy with the pannier, even with all the stopping places and taking it on and off the bike. It comes off with a firm upward pull - no messing around with getting catches and hooks open first. And it was pretty stable on the bike. It didn't slide forward and hit my heel, and I didn't hear it.

If anyone bumps into this thread in a few months because they're consider the pannier, ask me how it's doing. It seems well constructed, but time will tell.


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

Looks nice!

What's the weight of the bags? And do you know the volume?


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## BrianMc (Jan 5, 2010)

$30 the pair, and they look pretty decent!

Keep us posted on how they work for you, please.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

http://www.seattlesportsco.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=758&idcategory=91#details

Link to the specs.

They don't mention this, but the bag tapers to an 8" width at the bottom. That's slightly irritating for me because it doesn't fit my binder as well, but I'm sure it helps with heel strike. I think the height they give may be a little conservative - since it's a rolltop, there's some wiggle room. I don't have a scale that's accurate for the kind of weight these panniers are. Certainly not much compared to a lock or a text book.


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Doing a followup post on this thread, in the spirit of the other one about panniers.

First, the bad: The edges of the fabric, like around the zippers, started having some loose threads. That stopped, again, though, and they ended up with a pretty clean appearance. The water-resistant zipper doesn't stand up to a real storm. Probably no surprise to anyone. It's fine in a light drizzle. The stitching holding the handles on started to come away from the bag. I carry them by the compression strap that goes over the top now, and that's worked fine. The clippy things for stabilizing the bags against my rack rotated back to the flat position. I'm too lazy to check, but I suspect the plastic is shaped in a way to encourage that, so I was probably misusing them a little by putting them at an angle. No internal pockets, so if you need more organization, you need to figure out something yourself. I put my tools in a little stuff sack; otherwise I was happy.

The good: these things were very stable. I sometimes ride pretty hard, including bad pavement and dropping curbs, and they stayed on. With the compression straps tightened, I didn't feel anything flying around back there either, so that's good. After the first couple times, it's very easy to take the bags on and off my rack. The main pocket is very, very water proof. I don't know if I could actually dunk these bags in my bath tub, but it's a rolltop design, like a drybag, and highly effective.

Bottom line: Most days, I used a single pannier. Now and then I added the second. They served me very well for my commutes all quarter. I'm going to switch back to my messenger bag this quarter, at least for now, because I'm going somewhere a lot closer, without a climb, and with a lot more walking between buildings during the day. Hopefully I'll be carrying less weight.

I think a shoulder strap would be a really good addition to these bags, but it would also add complication. So hard to know if it would really be a good addition.


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## cda 455 (Aug 9, 2010)

AndrwSwitch said:


> Doing a followup post on this thread, in the spirit of the other one about panniers.
> 
> First, the bad: The edges of the fabric, like around the zippers, started having some loose threads. That stopped, again, though, and they ended up with a pretty clean appearance. The water-resistant zipper doesn't stand up to a real storm. Probably no surprise to anyone. It's fine in a light drizzle. The stitching holding the handles on started to come away from the bag. I carry them by the compression strap that goes over the top now, and that's worked fine. The clippy things for stabilizing the bags against my rack rotated back to the flat position. I'm too lazy to check, but I suspect the plastic is shaped in a way to encourage that, so I was probably misusing them a little by putting them at an angle. No internal pockets, so if you need more organization, you need to figure out something yourself. I put my tools in a little stuff sack; otherwise I was happy.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the update.

It looks like you get what you pay for. I plan on adding a pannier and was wondering if buying more expensive bags are justified. It appears so.


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## pecsokak (Sep 23, 2010)

any other updates on these panniers? I am considering getting them for touring purposes.

how do you think they would work in the front as well? amazon has them for ~45 bucks right now


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## AndrwSwitch (Nov 8, 2007)

Nope. I haven't been using them much lately. I finished taking classes at the school I was riding to, which was on top of a big hill, and I'm now attending a closer school where I have a locker. My roommate liked them better than a set of Novara panniers she bought. They haven't fallen apart, but I really just used them from 1/13 through 3/21, aside from the occasional day when I plan to carry a lot of stuff or something particularly heavy.

In terms of size, I think they're about on par with front panniers. I've never used panniers on the front, so that's really all I can say. I don't even know if the attachment system is right.


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