Get boxes with removable tops - not with hinges
 

Get boxes with removable tops - not with hinges. This allows you a) get
inside the boxes without taking the stuff you inevitably have attached on top
of the center of the bike b) you can use these tops as trays or work surfaces
for cutting food (My Tesch boxes are unfortunately the hinge ones)

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Grant March
"Live as if your life depended on it!"

Glad I saw this tip - I'm getting some panniers made. I was going to go for hinges but now I won't. Thanks.

Now what would be nice is lids designed to be 90 degrees to the boxes so as to form a perfect tray when the box is open. Hinges would mean the tray formed by the open box is at hand height rather than on the ground in the dirt or balanced precariously on your seat ready to fall.

You can have the best of both worlds: I bought some boxes from www.OffTheRoad.de which have removable hinges. You slide the lids out of the hinges sideways. Cost about €210 for a pair. They're not the strongest, I guess, but then I'm not going to blat through the Sahara.

My left one got hit by a French fire truck and crumpled and got a 10cm hole. It got beaten back into shape, selaed with tar paper on the inside and is still in use today.

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Salut from Southern France, the bikers' paradise,

Peter.

Hello!

I have the same boxes as the Off The Road ones. I got mine from a shop in the UK - they look exactly the same, but have "free xXx" stamped on them. Try looking that up on the Internet!

I rivetted a 4mm sheet of ally onto the back of each one, and I' using the 18mm TTech hoops and attachments. The lids lift to 90 degrees and then slide off.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/ubb/smile.gif

Look here for a pic:
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link broken, so deleted by Grant

[This message has been edited by Grant Johnson (edited 09 October 2005).]

One day I'll learn not to buy stuff over the phone or on the net: just received a new pair of panniers from Off-The-Road to replace the above mentioned ones, as the old ones are a little buckled, but, more importantly, the new ones are bigger and my other half (who is now using them) needed more space.

Shock!

The panniers we got are substantially different from the ones pictured on the web site. In particular, lower and wider, requiring a major rack rebuild the evening before her departure, hinges now fixed and seams overlapping and spot welded instead of welded right through. So, please note:

No more removable hinges on OTR's panniers.

Hey guys, check out the panniers i built at this link www.mrron.smugmug.com. Just click the panniers photo's. Mine are made with weld-on aluminium hinges. These have been vey durable so far.
You will need to click the your photo's icon when you open the link.

[This message has been edited by Mr. Ron (edited 09 October 2005).]

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bad link fixed by Grant


[This message has been edited by Grant Johnson (edited 09 October 2005).]

Check out the Jesse Oddissey Bags:

(http://www.jesseluggage.com/odyssey.html#how)

They have the 90 degree lid opening feature, which I use occasionally as a convenient almost waist-high tray. Thanks to its design, it will support quite a large weight too. IMO they are the best of both worlds. Also, you can lash and leave things on top of the lids (with the optional Lid Rack) while still be able to open them to rumage inside the saddle bag. I do it all the time.

Hinges are definitely stronger and more secure when closing. I have seen too many unhinged lids come flying off at the first few hard pot holes on the road.



[This message has been edited by gyuris (edited 20 October 2005).]

For more on how Off The Road does business see here

Great tip, planning to build my own panniers. I especially liked the idea of hinges where one can slide the lid off sideways.

This might not be an earth shattering revelation but it is definitely a plan so cunning,you could tie a tale to it and call it a weasel!(All plaudits to Black Adder) A solution to the 'hinge/not hinge scene has to be a slide-out hinge pin with an 'R'clip on the end.........best of both worlds.Have fun