Hi Nick,

Im told you're a man I should speak to regarding S Am!!

The Magadans.... Overall, I'm pretty happy with them. I was on Zegas for the first 6 months (until one decided to part company with the bike near Uyuni - didn't see / feel it go and never found it when I went back), and I feel a lot happier on the rough stuff with the Magadans. They attach pretty securely to the frame with only one horizontal strap and seem very well made and robust. I've gone down a couple of times in the dirt with them attached and except for the front pouch which was the impact point, there isn't a mark on them. And they hold a lot - Chris Scott did a test with water and found they could hold 40L.

There are only two aspects I don't like. I take them off every time I stay in a hostel and the velcro 'sandwich' system on the top straps is not convenient. With the velcro, it's a pain in the ass adjusting them straps when the panniers are on the bike, to get the optimal position. And with the Ten, I can't simply leave the velcro in place at the correct length for the bike and lift them on/off, because I need to thread the front strap under the pillion handles every time I fit the panniers. I'm going to look at putting heavy duty friction buckles on in lieu of the velcro, which will make things more manageable. Or take the handles off, of course - but I may have a pillion soon.

And I find the heavy duty w/p liners a bit too heavy duty. They top part is bulky, making it is difficult to roll the top down tightly: I doubt the waterproofness if the pannier were to be fully submerged; and because it can't be rolled down neatly, the resultant bulky top section takes up a bit of the pannier's internal volume. This is worse when very cold, as the plastic stiffens in such conditions. But this is easily rectified by buying a lighter-weight 40L drysack, or a number of smaller ones.

If the Giant Loop Siskiyou panniers had been available when I bought the Magadans, I would I looked very closely at them. Removing / attaching looks very quick and I reckon they would be very stable, especially with a pannier rack fitted. But I'm happy with the Magadans for now.

Let's talk S Am at some point. I'll be heading back to Peru and then onwards north in a couple of months - for now I'm static in Santiago.

Cheers,

Paul