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Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 4 Feb 2003
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ali pannier systems-how wide is yours?
Hi,
loking at the various ali pannier systems,
how wide ,..box-box are the various systems?

bryan
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  #2  
Old 5 Feb 2003
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kind of depends on the bike, mate, as that goes between the boxes ;-) In germany, 1 metre is max allowable. I reckon 90cm is a good max, but wish I could get them down to 80cm
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Old 5 Feb 2003
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Mine are 3 feet wide.

http://tinyurl.com/5cl3

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Old 5 Feb 2003
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for the imperially deprived 3 feet = 91.5cm.

Mine are 32.5 inches = 82.5 cm at the widest point. BUT they're custom made. Haven't seen any narrower.

The narrower the better, without a doubt. Some say that as long as they're narrower than the bars it's ok, but the wider they are the worse the handling too. And bars can turn to get through a narrow spot, panniers can't. Also, removable easily is useful for really difficult spots, both to reduce weight and, for instance, to go through a doorway into a hotel room.

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Old 7 Feb 2003
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Bryan,

We've been in touch over our panniers. We had frames custom made by Ernie at Overland Solutions and we asked him to make it all as narrow as possible. He did a great job and the left-hand pannier was no wider than the bars, but the right-hand pannier was about 3cm wider then the bars due to the drive shaft.

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Old 15 Feb 2003
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I made my own panniers and supporting rack. I was shooting for the 32 inches or so that the handlebars measure, but ended up 1 inch wider. This is fairly tucked in with an aftermarket exhaust that allows for a bit more clearence on the left side - I was able to get the same width both sides. Mine are square, so a bit of loss in volume over Grant's, which conform to the space allowed more efficiently. 40 litres per side, wouldn't want them much smaller, but this is fine for solo. A solid rack is really critical (and sub frame!), more so then saving a few inches in width I'd say.

OK small correction: after making the above statements, I thought I'd better make sure! the handlebar width is actually 33 inches, or 34-35 if you factor in that the brake and clutch levers stick out a bit extra - to that is your 'minimum' clearence distance, although practically you can get through narrower spaces like doors (important) by twisting the bars. my panniers mounted come out to about 34 1/2 inches, or 88 cm.

[This message has been edited by Timo (edited 16 February 2003).]
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