Panniers for the Casseroll -- by Black Rose Bags

As the Casseroll build continues, the time came for me to decide on panniers. As you can probably tell, I'm not terribly fond of ubiquitous products--those available at any old shop, be it brick-and-mortar or digital. I examined the obvious choices; Ortlieb (front roller plus), Arkel (T-28), and some not-so-obvious ones; Gilles Berthoud (GB 1500), Rivendell (Sackville), VO, and various options on Etsy. I liked some better than others, but was not in love with any particular bag. Hmph.

I recently started following Lovely Bicycle on twitter, and read about these from Philosophy. Interest piqued. Then, one tweet to rule them all:

I checked out the Black Rose Bags Etsy Store & Flickr page. What I saw was a style that closely matched what I was trying to achieve with the Casseroll, and I was hooked. Their ethos is also a nice match to my own; they repurpose what others deem as scrap and are able to create what I call functional art.

I quickly emailed an inquiry to see if I could have a little different color scheme made up. We sent a couple emails back and forth, and a deal was struck. Within a day or so, they had pics of the bags posted on their flickr page. Within a day or so more, they were in my hands. Here are some shots on the bike:

I stuffed a couple hoodies in each for them to take shape. Notice how well the copper rivets and leather match. 

I'm able to mount the panniers all the way forward on the Tubus lower rail. I still have good heel clearance--thanks to those well-designed chainstays.

Roll top

I'm excited to put these to use. These are lighter weight than the models mentioned earlier--by quite a bit. The hardware is simple, it's made by hard-working folks--truly functional art. I may work on adding a lower hook style retention system if I find unwanted movement to be a problem. That and possibly D-rings to attach a shoulder strap.

What lovely panniers. Black Rose should have some available soon (check links above).