Ortlieb bags seem pretty good in my experience. I have the backroller XL which is a pannier bag with a shoulder strap rather than a backpack. Plus they are made in Germany and not just a German company with outsourced production.
this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2026
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Can also vouch for Ortlieb. Back when I bike commuted to the office, I used an Ortlieb single pannier for my laptop and accessories. Was pretty convenient to clip my bag to the bike and not get my back too sweaty from riding with a backpack.
Yeah, as a former sweaty back commuter its a big improvement to not have a backpack on. Plus I get fewer holes in the back of my t-shirts now from friction between them and the backpack.
Although with the heatwaves right now I still get fairly sweaty, at least not having a backpack on makes it a bit better.
The arkel brand has some super well made panniers.
https://arkel.ca/collections/bicycle-panniers/products/bug-pannier-backpack
North St bags makes a pannier backpack also.
They are both extremely heavy duty with high quality hardware, burly fabric etc