Folded Or Welded Panniers

[aussie]

So the last couple of days I have been out getting quotes to manufacture the panniers and prices have fallen about where I’d expected them to be…….Now I just have to decide which style to use and that is where the dilemma starts……..

Firstly There is 2 ways of building the panniers 1 is lots of pieces welded together OR Less pieces and many more folds…….

Now I know that a fold is less susceptible to stress fractures than a weld and from what I understand, if you sand of the hard skin from an alloy weld this weakens the joint further…..Now I’m sure it’s not if it’s weaker but more susceptible to stress cracks…..When I have seen welds fail it’s not the actual weld that’s failed but the join between the weld and parent material….

SO I am left with the following dilemma…….

• CON…..Have the pannier manufactured in a smaller shop in the piece by piece fashion with lots of welds and increases the possibility of one of the welds failing……
• CON…. And the panniers look very boxy!!!
• PRO…. The guys manufacturing the panniers are very flexible,
• PRO….They have PASSION for the product they are making…. And the panniers can be tacked together and checked for alignment and adjusted as required……
• PRO…. Cheaper
OR
• CON…. Once the panniers are bent up THAT’S it. shape and dimensions are fixed….
• CON…. Large manufactures don’t have a large care factor… they just want to get the job done in the quickest and easiest fashion as possible (The small guys were all over the bike looking at all the bits and asking questions….whereas the larger guys stood back, had a quick look inside and said that will be about £XXX to £XXX)
• CON... £200 to £300 more expensive
• PRO….Having the panniers manufactured in a large engineering firm capable of making the required bends…So less chance of bends fracturing due to vibration stress……
• PRO ……should look less boxy having softer corners…..

Now I’m aware that I won’t be stressing the panniers as much as the full off road guys, as I don’t plan on spending as much time time off road guys and when I will be off road, I’ll be going much slower….And I don’t plan on dropping the bike all the time….

So which would you choose????? Does the advantages of bent corners out weight the negatives of welded corners?????

[Threewheelbonnie]

You have a pretty comprehensive list there with two points missing IMH ( and allegedly engineering qualified) O.

I assume your fabricators are all following the same spec? Any minor difference between sheet gauge will make your theory meaningless. Left to their own devices sheet metal bashers typically want to build Dreadnoughts or racing spec single use.

Do you trust your fabricators? Muppetry will cause problems in either case. Welding is usually more black art than science until you meet the likes of Toyota.

Personally I think you need to buy a set of soft bags, cut the packing list and just go ride, but if this is your thing try and remember the soft stuff skills as well as the design calcs.

All engineering is compromise, if you give me a lever long enough, sure, i can move the world, but no *****r will want to pay for it or carry it about!

Andy

[MT350]

Go soft, not hard...

Definitely the way to go

[aussie]

Thanks guys

I know that the panniers look MASSIVE in the pictures....But they are of a reasonable size on the bike....

I have thought of going soft saddle bags but this is the way I'm going.....

As a personal choice would you choose the welded version from a thinking fabricator OR a folded version for a metal basher???

[Threewheelbonnie]

I'd pick the supplier based on who seems interested, has a good feel service wise and let the rest ride on that.


Andy

[backofbeyond]

I've made a few sets of panniers over the years (although nothing as complicated as your wooden prototypes) and for me simplicity wins out every time. If you're not going to spend much time off road they don't need to be built to nuclear reactor standards and apart from the areas where they're mounted the metal isn't under much stress.

Folds, rivets and some reinforcing brackets on the corners to take the brunt of the occasional fall is simple and if they do get bent out of shape you can drill the rivets out to replace or straighten damaged bits. It depends where you're going but while welders are common in many countries, ally welders are not. Not very high tech but something that works beats something that just looks the part when you're weeks from home.

[AliBaba]

Folds are better then welds, but you will end up with quite a number of welds anyway. I wouldn't worry if it's done correctly.
The folding itself is easy, it's more difficult to plan how to do it so you can reduce the number of welds.


Cutout for the exhaust (more complicated then it looks here) and a lot of folds and welds: