Hi, does anybody have a solution for unclipping bottom hook on ortlieb back roller city panniers?
It happens very often when I ride with through some bumpy paths or over the speed bumps. The heavier the load, the faster it goes off, but even with a laptop inside still happens.
I tried few different hook positions, on photos you can see my recent one and all of them failed. You can se that the bag itself has enough flex to unclip it with a single hand.
My rack is Topeak MTX SUPER TOURIST DX DISC MTX 2.0
by BusComfortable1638
6 Comments
Rotate the clip so that it engages with a vertical tubes that way when the bag moves vertically over bumps it just slides along the tube.
I’ve had a very similar issue. If this doesn’t make sense let me know and I can take a photo of my setup later.
With the back of the bag facing you, move the clip all the way to the right. Then rotate it so it is point up a bit so it’s on a 45 degree angle (give or take). When putting the bag onto the rack you will almost slide it up. The latches on the top should be nicely spaced out if you can (can’t remember how they move). You want to make it so if the bag slides along the top it won’t slide back far enough to catch the “hook” to slip off.
The latches will hold it down and by clipping the “hook” along the vertical part of the rack it holds it in tighter. If the bag slides forward it won’t move (the hook keeps it in place). Backwards it won’t move enough to unclip relative to bouncing up and down.
Same issue.
I took ~8″ of double side velcro and wrapped it around the smiley bottom bracket and my rack.
Easy to rip off, takes ~2 minutes to put back on, solved the problem for $0.10.
That’s why the bottom hook is very adjustable. Move it along its track and/or rotate it until it’s in a position with some solid overlap with your rack frame, while still being easy to remove/attach your panniers.
The bottom hook is mostly for anti-sway. The top hooks keep the bag on the rack. I have a bag with a very similar system (not Ortlieb brand) and have it set up so that the bottom hook catches a vertical tube from the side. To mount the bag, I engage the bottom hook, then slide the bag down along it until the top hooks are in position. I set up the top hooks wide enough that the bag can’t slide much forward or back.
For your rack, I’m not sure if setting up the bottom hook to catch the middle vertical from the rear or the rear vertical from the front would be better. On my rack, I hook the rear vertical.
Usually takes a while for me to figure out how to set it up to prevent this. In general, I try to get the upper and lower clips working against each other, so the bag can’t slide forward or back. A few wraps of hockey tape where the lower clip should go helps to bind it there, and also reduces rattling.
But my bags (sport roller) have a stiffener in the back so the upper and lower sections are rigidly aligned, looks like the larger bags don’t have that? I feel like it helps.