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CARRADICE SUPER C REAR PANNIERS
Review from CYCLING PLUS - issue 115, February 2001
VERDICT: 9
Highly recommended panniers from a well-respected British manufacturer |
 Travelling through parts of West Africa, these panniers were put through some pretty tough conditions - and coped well. The big issue with panniers, and often the most difficult problem to solve, is to stop them moving about the rack. Carradice uses two ratchet clips which attach the panniers to the bike; these worked perfectly despite the hammering of African roads, and I found them quick and easy to clip-off the rear rack. Although during testing conditions were dry, the cotton duck construction did manage to keep out fine desert sands.
The 3M Scotchlite material on the pockets put my mind at ease when travelling at dusk. Their tough construction makes the panniers strong enough to survive being slung onto the roof of bush taxis, and being trodden on by camels - not that we'd recommend such wanton treatment.
But don't put them onto an airport carousel with the anti-sway catches attached - I ignored this and lost a catch. If you've got any doubts at all, remove all catches.
Our only criticism is that we would prefer the click -in clasps for extra kit to be positioned on the small side pockets instead of the main compartment. Capacity is a healthy 54 litres per pair.
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CARRADICE SUPER C FRONT BAG
Review from CYCLING PLUS - issue 121, August 2001
VERDICT: 9
Excellent bar bag with very few drawbacks |
 This is made from 100% waterproof and very hard wearing cotton duck. It uses one of the standard KlickFix fittings and weights 880g. All of our standard test kit fitted inside except for the compact camera.
There is an internal key/change pocket and two other pockets that helps to organise the contents; less useful are small mesh external pockets. The large map case in normal use is folded in half - it can't be left open as you cycle but is easier to use folded than the Ortlieb showing about a fold's worth of and OS map sideways.
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CARRADICE SQR TOUR
Review from CYCLING PLUS - issue 121, August 2001
VERDICT: 9
Very roomy seatpost mount bag for all but shorter riders |
This large seat post mounted bag easily swallowed our test kit and various items - in our case the compact camera and tools - could handily be kept in the two small external pockets; a small Velcro fastened inner pocket took keys and change. It was 100% waterproof.
The seatpost quick release fitting was extremely easy and quick to use and there was no bag sway but it needed a clear 60mm or so of seatpost for fitting. On small frames there was not enough space to fit the bag over the mudguard. With medium and larger sized frames there was no problem. It weights 1130g
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CARRADICE NELSON LONG FLAP SADDLEBAG
Review from CYCLING PLUS - issue 121, August 2001
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VERDICT: 9
Not sexy but a very versatile luggage system for the day tourist
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This is by far the most capacious of the bags on test, swallowing the test kit with masses of room to spare. The two external pockets are extremely usefully sized taking tools, puncture kit and spare tube. With the SQR system it is extremely quick to detach from the bike but does need 60mm free of space on the seatpin, though will fit over the mudguard on all but the very smallest frames.
With the SQR system it weights 1060g, 660g without - but it then needs a saddle with bag loops or another type of saddlebag support. It was 100% waterproof in the shower test.
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CARRADICE BARLEY SADDLEBAG
Extracts from Test Report by Tim Wainwright
as featured in the Winter 2004 issue of ARRIVEE magazine
Carradice “Barley Cotton-Duck Saddlebag
 This saddlebag is a newcomer to Carradice’s range and while not radically different from any of its other bags, it does have some nice new features that other small day - bags in their range don’t have. The most noticeable difference is its colour: traditionally, cotton - duck bags have always been black, but this one is olive green with black piping on the edges and honey - coloured leather straps. The colours blend well together and give it a distinctive look. You can get a black version with white straps if you prefer, but I really like this new colour. It has two side pockets large enough to fit in a couple of inner tubes and a tool roll with a bit of space left over. Another welcome feature is the interior drawstring which pulls up the inner nylon “curtain”, giving slightly more capacity and also preventing items from tumbling out when undoing the straps. The traditional position to take rolled-up rainwear or spare clothing on top of the bag now has six D-rings (three each side) to take either a narrow or a fat roll. There is also a loop on the lid for fitting a rear LED. The bag weighs 550 grams (19 ounces) and the capacity Is claimed to be about seven litres. To see if it had suitable capacity for typical items I would take on a 400 or 600 brevet, I filled it with leg - warmers, arm warmers, woolly hat long fingered gloves, windstopper jacket, long sleeve Helly - Hensen, Petzl Tikka head torch, folding tyre and a few bonk rations. A few more items could have been squeezed in if necessary, with the straps at full length. Tubes and tools went in the pockets, and there was still space on the lid for a cape or whatever.
So, if you like to travel light there’s no need to weigh yourself down with an oversize bag and a carrier. As the bag is quite compact, it fits neatly under the saddle, easily clearing the mudguard or tyre. Finally, I gave it the waterproof test, standing the bag on the shower tray floor and leaving the power shower running full pelt on it for several minutes - a deluge it was unlikely to receive in Britain, more like a monsoon storm. Result: not a drop of water penetrated the bag, so maintaining Carradice’s high reputation for waterproofing their bags. For extra protection for riders without mudguards in wet conditions, there is a strip of waterproofing material under the bag, in line with the tyre. This would only need a wipe over with a damp cloth to keep it clean after a wet ride.
At a price of £34.95 it’s good value for money, tough and well - made, ideal for our style of audax riding.
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