Pannier Size ?

[NvNick]

Suggestions needed on pannier sizes please, i searched a bunch and haven't found any answers. I am pretty sure i will be going with Kriega os and not sure what size to get. I will be on week long trips and will carry tent and sleeping bag on top in dry sacks and not in the bags. So typical amount of clothes, cooking ware and what not. Whats everyones experiences ? I know i dont have to fill them but also dont want to short myself on space. Thank You

[Desert Mariner]

Depends on how carefully you pack, whether you are camping and traveling remotely, what season, etc.

 

I have yet to take my T7 on a longer trip, but last summer's long rides on the DR650 I used: panniers with 35l per side and a 49l duffel on top with my tent, sleeping bag and camp chair. My buddy and I traveled throughout the US Southwest in temps ranging from below 40 degrees F at night to 90 degrees +. We camped every night for two weeks and often carried food and water for a couple of days. We never ate at restaurants and we stayed in only one designated (fee) campsite. I also carried front and rear spare tubes, a compressor and a good size tool kit, a stove and a liter of stove fuel. 

 

I figure about 120 Liters of storage total is just about right for me. That gives me a fair bit of extra space for when I hit a store just before heading into the hills. My traveling partner had smaller capacity panniers and he ended up strapping items on top when he need extra space. One day, we arrived in camp and settled down for a nice cold beer and he discovered that the beer he had bought had fallen off on the rough road to our campsite . . . we ended up sharing the beer and the tortilla chips I had purchased and stowed in my panniers . . . he now has larger panniers.

 

This coming summer, I'm going to try a Mosko Moto Reckless 80, a 15-20L drybag, a small (4L) tank bag and a couple of 5-10L panniers attached to my crashbars on the T7. I've never used a tank bag or crash bar bags, but I found that last summer on the DR I wasn't happy with the weight distribution when I was on rough trails. I'm hoping that running with my water supply forward on the bike will be a more balanced approach for camps without access to water versus a rack-mounted rotopax.

[jmoth79]

I went with the OS-18s on either side.  The way they are constructed - the straps can cinch them down if you don't happen to use the full capacity.

[sebti]

When you order panniers at batangacase.com, you can ask for the size you want, because he makes himself panniers and if you want panniers bigger or smal for a few cm, he can make them.

[WalterT]

Strongly depends on the amount and volume of the gear you want to bring. This was my packing list some time ago: 

Made some changes in the mean time to further reduce volume (smaller cooking pot and instant coffee), but added a small chair and a mavic mini drone.

 

I ordered the Kriega base with 2 18l bags, and will combine this with a Givi seat bag. I can easily fit all the mentioned gear, clothes etc in the 2x18l, with a little room for food. The seat bag is for thedrone and other small stuff which I want to access quickly. 

 

Thought about going for 2x12l, which would maybe just squeeze everything in, but some spare room is handy - last trip decided that a small bottle of whiskey increases the fun in the evening a lot :-).