MEC PF-43 Cordura Panniers

There isn't a whole lot you can say about panniers (pronounced pan-yays). They are meant to hold stuff, and most of them do. The MEC PF-43 panniers hold stuff pretty well, so I guess they work in that regard, and they only cost $70. I have no way of checking their actual volume, but I assume it is 43 liters (per pair). I don't know if this includes the back pockets or not. There is enough room for summer touring and camping if you can pack really light. I can fit all of my stuff into these bags with a bit of space for groceries. In a pinch, you can always bungee more stuff on top of them or throw on a handlebar bag. I have taken these panniers across the US three times now, for a grand total of roughly 5 months of touring and whatever day to day use I put them through. They are still my only pair of bags.

So given that these panniers meet the basic requirements, what about the details? First, these bags are really durable. They have survived being sideswiped by a car (crumpled my rear wheel but the bags saved my frame). Several other accidents have scraped them along pavement, I throw them around a lot, and they still survive. You can tell mine are used, but there is no significant functional wear. All of the buckles and things still work, nothing is ripped. They seem totally bombproof.

The rack attaching mechanism works pretty well. I have never had the bags fall off or worried about them falling off. It's just a hook on an bungee that grabs the bottom of the rack near the rear axle and then 2 plastic latches that clamp onto the top of your rack. I can put them on pretty easily with one hand on the bike, and one hand on the bag. Sometimes it's a struggle to take them off though. Also, the handles at the top can start rubbing on your tire if you don't tuck them out of the way. I've been using these guys on a cheap med frame road bike, and I have to slide them back pretty far to avoid heel strike. So if you are on a small frame with short wheelbase or you have really big feet, you might want to carry smaller rear bags and add front bags to your setup.

The bags are water resistant but not waterproof. That means that you really need to have some waterproof covers to go with them if you plan to ride in the rain. If there is water on the ground, your tires will be kicking up a spray straight into the bags. The cordura still gets soaked through unless the waterproof treatment is brand new. There is also some kind of plastic coating on the inside which helps protect the contents. I still put my clothes and important stuff into a plastic shopping bag. I've tried using MEC rain covers, but these are open towards the inside, and they pick up all of the spray off of the wheels. Water ends up pooling in the bottom of the rain covers.

The pockets are adequate for most things. You've got the two big main pockets, and then two small zip pockets at the back, and two flat zip pockets inside the lid. I find that this is a pretty good setup for getting at what you want quickly whenever you stop. More pockets would be overkill.

Off of the bike, these bags are not much fun to carry around by hand. The handles dig into your palms and the hooks scrape your legs. I spent 3 days lugging them through San Francisco after my bicycle was stolen and was ready to punt them down the hills by the time I left. Maybe with a small commuting load it wouldn't be so bad.

To sum up, these bags are cheap and durable. They don't have any major flaws. Their only real weakness is waterproofosity. My recommendation is to save your money on panniers, and spend it on some nice lightweight camping gear or a nicer bike.