Arkel Panniers Review and Comparsion

 I purchased a pair of Arkel Orca 45 and an Arkel Signature V commuter pannier, and have used them for commuting and grocery runs. No touring, unfortunately.

tl;dr: Arkel panniers are amazing. The quality is incredible. However, I don't like the panniers that I got for design reasons. So let's get into what I don't like and what other Arkel options are better.

Signature V

The Signature V is fantastic. Shoulder strap is a little narrow, but comfortable. The laptop pouch is great for a larger laptop. The orange color looks great. It works very nicely as a shopping bag. Arkel's cam attachment system is awesome.

The biggest downside is that the pannier does not attach at the bottom of the rack. This means that it'll swing out on any bumps or impacts, and then will swing back onto the rack. This is a decent amount of jostling and force that your gear will go through.

It's an expensive option, but made in Canada and with great features and looks. I like it better than any other commuting pannier I've tried, for sure, and I use it on most smaller grocery runs. I get a lot of use out of it, both as a day bag, a commuting pannier, and a grocery pannier.

The design - shoulder strap + opens up - makes for a genuinely great shopping bag. The other backpack options wouldn't work well for this. I don't often shop like this, though, so I don't anticipate it making a huge difference to lose this feature.

Orca 45

The Orca 45s are huge! They have a ton of capacity and are relatively lightweight for the volume at 4.6lbs. I bet they'd be awesome as a touring pannier, but due to COVID, I haven't gone on any tours this year.

This option is also the lightest at 8lb, though the Orca45/25 comboThey lose points for the round bottom. This makes heel strikes less likely, but it makes them much less useful for carrying a load. They're also not freestanding because of this. If I'm going for a big grocery run, I'll take one Orca and the Signature V. The V has a flat bottom and easily carries heavier, boxier items, while the Orca can carry a ton of looser stuff. They have a cradle that keeps the round bottom shape intact, which brings the weight up to 5.5lb. You can remove them and get a bit more of a flat bottom at the expense of a slightly less nice looking pannier.

Some Regrets

In retrospect, I'd rather have the Dolphin 48 panniers than the Orca 45. They're slightly heavier (4.8lb/pair vs 4.6lbs), but they have more pockets and the flat bottom makes for a much more versatile storage container. I could easily use those two as grocery bags. The separate compartments make it much easier to organize gear.

I have a tiny amount of regret for the Signature V. The GT-18BP would make a slightly better choice as a commuter pannier. It's slightly lighter (2.7lb vs 2.9lb), has backpack straps for more convenient carrying, and attaches to the bottom of the rack as well. The volume is considerably less (18L vs 28L), but I have never found myself filling up the Signature V - if I'm needing a lot of volume, I take the Orca, and the Signature V is mostly for heavy items that need the square bottom.

The GT-18BP is also a reasonable front pannier for touring. Pairing it with a regular GT-18 would sort your front rack out. The Signature V isn't really suitable on a front rack.

The Bug pannier is a good choice, but wouldn't be great as a front pannier. The Bug is larger with 25L and weighs only 2.6lb. It's the superior commuting choice, but more expensive at $200.

Hindsight

Let's calculate some prices and volumes. We're going to sum up the cost of all the pannier bags in a few scenarios, and then figure out the per liter cost of what we can have on the bike at once. Two scenarios call for five bags, while a third only calls for four. By only considering the total volume on the bike, we'll adjust for the extra cost of a fifth bag.

Orca 45 + Signature V + Orca 25

  1. Total Cost: $590
    1. Signature V $180
    2. Orca 45 pair $220
    3. Orca 25 pair $190
  2. Max on-bike volume: 72.5L
    1. Signature V: 25L
    2. Orca 45: 22.5L
    3. Orca 25 pair: 25L 
  3. Max on-bike weight: 8.18lb
    1. Signature V: 2.9lb
    2. Orca 45: 2.28lb
    3. Orca 25 pair: 3lb
  4. Liters per Pound
    1. 8.86 L/lb
  5. Cost per Liter: 
    1. $8.13
That's an expensive cost for the volume I get, especially considering my complaints about these panniers. The Orcas perform really well in terms of volume to weight due to their lack of features, so they have a good $/L/lb rate.

This option suffers on weight by using the 25L Signature V in the calculations above instead of the 22.5L Orca pannier - almost 0.6lb heavier for only 2.5L volume gain. Using the Orca gets us to ~7.6lb on bike weight.

Dolphin 48 + GT18s

  1. Total Cost: $615
    1. Dolphin 45: $270
    2. GT-18BP: $185
    3. GT-18: $160
  2. Max on-bike volume: 84L
    1. GT-18 pair: 36L
    2. Dolphin 48 pair: 48L
  3. Max on-bike weight: 10.2lb
    1. GT-18: 5.4lb
    2. Dolphin 48: 4.8lb
  4. Liters per Pound
    1. 8.24 L/lb
  5. Cost per Liter:
    1. $7.32
This scenario improves on the quality of the rear pannier significantly, only has 4 panniers purchased, has a backpack for the commuter pannier, and has a more secure attachment for the commuter than the Signature V. At $7.32/L, it's cheaper for the amount of volume we get, even though it's more expensive.

The big downside is weight. It is considerably heavier than the other options by over 2lb. At 8.24L/lb, it has the worst volume/weight ratio. The GT-18s at 5.4lb/pair is a huge weight cost over the lighter Orcas.

Dolphin 48 + Orca 25 + Bug

  1. Total Cost: $660
    1. Dolphin 48: $270
    2. Orca 25: $190
    3. Bug: $200
  2. Max on-bike volume: 74L
    1. Bug: 25L
    2. Dolphin: 24L
    3. Orca 25 pair: 25L
  3. Max on-bike weight: 8lb
    1. Bug: 2.6lb
    2. Dolphin: 2.4lb
    3. Orca 25 pair: 3lb
  4. Liters per Pound
    1. 9.25 L/lb
  5. Cost per Liter
    1. $8.91
This has the optimal rear panniers, the cheaper front panniers, and the best commuter backpack. At $8.91 per L, this is the premium choice both from absolute and relative perspectives. However, the improved features on the Dolphins and Bug make up for the difference.

The Orca 45/25 combo is lighter by 0.2lb than the Dolphin 48/Orca 25 combo.

Conclusion

The Signature V doesn't really hold up next to the Bug or GT-18 backpacks, in my humble opinion. The burnt orange color looks great, though, and it does make a good shopping bag with the shoulder strap. It's a bit more versatile than a backpack, but the backpack still wins. The GT-18 and Bug's external pockets make for a more useful way to store quick-access items, too.

The Dolphin 48 + GT18 combo maximizes volume on the bike, but also weight. It has the best cost per volume ratio by a considerable amount.

Swapping the Orca 45s that I got for Dolphin 48s and the Bug for the Signature V is a huge cost increase ($70), but gives you the lightest and most featureful setup.

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