GEAR ON TEST – ADVWORX 30-litre soft panniers
On a recent 7-day trip through the Victorian High Country, I had the opportunity to comprehensively test a pair of ‘ADVWORX’ soft panniers.
Developed by Steve Smith and Chris Bostelman at Adventure Moto, ADVWORX may be a relatively new name in the market, but Steve and Chris bring more than three decades of adventure riding experience to the brand. Soft luggage is the focus, and as well as panniers, the ADVWORX range includes duffel bags, tail bags, handlebar bags and even cooler bags.
Having used both hard panniers and soft luggage on my BMW R1200 GSA in the past, I feel I know the pros and cons of both. Hard panniers are tough and offer obvious security and protective advantages for the contents over soft panniers, but they’re also bulky and add considerable width. That width has obvious disadvantages when riding in the city and can limit manoeuvrability on off-road trails, too, forcing you to rethink your bike’s dimensions and be more spatially aware.
One other issue with hard luggage that I witnessed first-hand on my High Country trip was when a pair of fellow riders clipped each other’s panniers, sending one of them to the ground, fortunately without injury. Blame exuberance or inattention, but this happened twice on the week-long ride. Would this have happened with soft panniers? Possible, but unlikely.
Choosing ADVWORX
After I signed up for this High Country trek, I decided specifically to go with soft luggage and started looking around at various brands. Eventually, I settled on a pair of ADVWORX 30-litre soft panniers. That’s 30 litres per pannier, by the way, so I figured a 60+ litre carrying capacity would be more than enough to see me through the week.
I came to the ADVWORX panniers with an open mind, but had no intention of giving them an easy run. I would judge the panniers on several criteria, including how compact they looked and felt on the bike, their ability to expand and compress as required, durability to rips, tears and other damage on the trail, ease of fitment, ease of use, stability on the bike and aesthetics.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, I would be checking the claims that these panniers are 100 per cent dust and waterproof. This is an area I am skeptical about – not just on the ADVWORX products, but soft luggage in general.
How they Performed
After a week’s use and abuse, the ADVWORX panniers ticked almost every box on my marking sheet.
Compactness – Once fitted, the differences in width between my hard panniers and the ADVWORX 30-litre soft panniers was minimal, but felt much greater and made a massive difference to the way I rode. In most instances, I didn’t even consider the extra width of the bike.
That compactness didn’t come at the expense of practicality, either, as I found they held all the gear I needed for the week. While I did have a tail bag as well, I could have got by without it.
Style and Aesthetics – ADVWORX gear is a bit of a Model T Ford scenario – ‘any colour you like, so long as it’s black’ – which wasn’t a deal breaker for me (who really wants rainbow-coloured panniers anyway?). When fitted, they hugged the pannier frame neatly, maintained their shape and looked like an OEM product of high quality. The internal colour is a light blue that makes it easier to locate items you’ve packed, rather than being lost in a sea of blackness.
Size Flexibility – These panniers are designed to be loaded from the top, like a rucksack. Once loaded, you simply roll the top down like you would with a sleeping bag. While the capacity is 30 litres per bag, they can hold a bit more or a bit less, depending on how far you roll the top down. Holding the rolled top in place is a strap that runs underneath the bag and a pair of additional straps that fold over the top. Two further straps around the width of the bag secure it to your bike’s pannier frame and these are adjustable for a snug fit.
Another key to compressing the pannier’s size – and making it dust and waterproof – is the air bleed valve. Before closing the bag, you open this valve. As you roll the top down, you can hear the air escaping, then close the valve once the top’s rolled.
The fastening procedure sounds complicated and does take a little getting used to, but I got the hang of it quickly. The adjustability of all the strap fasteners meant the pannier size could be compressed significantly, especially when the stiffeners – two plastic panels that help the panniers hold their shape when empty – are removed. You can also reduce the pannier’s height by simply rolling the top down a few more turns.
The other advantage of this compressability is that it enables a handful of items to be secured more snugly, instead of rattling and bouncing around like they would in a hard pannier.
Material and Construction – ADVWORX panniers are made from 1000 Denier ‘TPU’ - Thermoplastic Polyurethane – that is stronger, more flexible and more resistant to UV damage than PVC plastic, without being any heavier.
TPU is strong and abrasion resistant, but it is flammable, so you need to be aware of mounting them near your bike’s exhaust. For those that are aware of the BMW R1200 GSA pannier frames, there is an allowance for the width of the muffler on the offside that extends to the hard panniers, too. As the ADVWORX panniers don’t allow for this, adding a side plate to the pannier frame to create a heat shield is recommended. Adventure Moto are currently developing such a plate.
On Day 3 of my trip, I noticed that my exhaust-side pannier was rubbing on the metal tabs that the hard panniers lock onto. If this was left unattended, I thought it may have worn through, so, for an on-the-fly solution, I raced to the nearest hardware store and grabbed a small piece of plywood. Roughly cut to shape and secured to the pannier frame with cable ties, it did the trick for the remainder of the journey.
In terms of the durability of their construction, the ADVWORX panniers exceeded my expectations. I dropped my bike a number of times on the ride, as did others. The soft panniers didn’t rip or tear and they provided some cushioning protection to the BMW, too. A mate’s hard panniers didn’t fare so well – he’ll be off to the panel shop for some remodelling!
Weight and Load – The trails we rode were well worn, with plenty of whoops, potholes and little jumps. In the past, I’ve seen a mate’s hard panniers break the pannier frame on routes like this, so minimising weight and evening out the load was a concern for me.
The ADVWORX panniers address this, combining four connection points on the pannier frame with two large straps that straddle the subframe of the bike, meaning that the load doesn’t rest entirely on the pannier frame. In fact, I believe the pannier frame connections are more for stability.
In the case of the BMW R1200 GSA, you simply remove the rear seat, lay the large straps over the seat base and replace the seat. Once in place, you don’t need to remove the straps to take the panniers off, as they simply unclip from the panniers.
If you need only one pannier for your ride, or you want to carry separate items, like a RotopaX container, for example, the provided loop straps allow you to mount a single pannier easily. Alternatively, there’s enough length in the loop straps allow the panniers to be mounted outside of a RotopaX container on a pannier frame.
Similarly, the integral MOLLE webbing on the back of each pannier means you can also mount a single unit to the tail of your bike as a tail bag.
single unit to the tail of your bike as a tail bag.
Water/Dustproof – A week of wintry weather, including a bit of snow, along with some very dusty trails put these panniers’ capabilities to the test and I’m happy to say they are both water and dustproof as claimed.
Ease of Use – For this trip, I found the ADVWORX panniers were ideal. Sure, there are more steps to opening, closing, fastening, etc., compared to a hard pannier , but this is part of the deal when opting for soft panniers of any type. It only frustrated me once when I thought I had everything in the pannier only to discover a small bag sitting on my seat!
Security – This is the one area where hard panniers have an obvious advantage over soft panniers. Attempting to lock any soft pannier is pretty pointless, so if you’re carrying valuables and are stopping overnight or for an extended period and don’t have secure storage for your bike, you’ll need to remove the panniers. As mentioned, the ability to unclip the panniers without removing the underseat crossover straps makes this easier.
Summary
Having used both types in adventure riding, I’m finding myself preferring soft panniers over hard panniers more and more these days. I was impressed with the performance of the ADVWORX panniers – they did everything that Steve and Chris said they would.
Since my High Country ride, Steve’s told me about an upcoming improvement for removing ADVWORX panniers from your bike in the form of a plate that incorporates a simpler one-clip system - making it more like a hard pannier set up.
Overall, the style, lack of bulk, reduced width and ability to handle rough terrain makes the ADVWORX soft panniers a solution for me.
Thumbs up, Adventure Moto.
ADVWORX 30-litre soft panniers
Key Features:
- TPU construction - stronger, lighter and more flexible than PVC
- Up to 35-litre capacity per pannier
- 100 per cent water and dust proof
- Lighter and less subject to damage than hard panniers
- Blue inner liner - increases visibility inside the pannier
- Removable stiffeners – holds pannier shape when emprty
- Air valve system – improves compressability and water/dust proofing
- Four-point mount and cross-over strap fastening system – makes attachment easier
- MOLLE webbing and adjustable straps all round – ensures a snug fit to bike/frame
- Each pannier can also be mounted individually, or as a tail bag.
ADVWORX 30-litre soft panniers are available exclusively from Adventure Moto, priced from $595.00 RRP/pair. Smaller 20-litre and 8-litre panniers are also available.