Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I ended up sending these back. I bought them before doing ample research, based on all the positive reviews and knowing for certain that I wanted Ortlieb panniers. But for just a little bit more money, the Ortlieb Back-roller Classic is a far better buy. Here are features that are missing from this pannier that the Classic includes: * Buckles with straps that enable closing the panniers more quickly and easily across the top for quick access when using as a commuter and when total waterproofing is not as critical (I live in the desert). * Compression straps that double as carrying handles when toting the bags around off-bike. Again, for commuters, this is pretty important. The City model does not have any straps anywhere, although a strap can be purchased as an add-on. But the price of a single strap is more than the difference between the price of the City and the Classic. * Buckles that are opposite each other so that the panniers can be attached to each other off-bike to make them into one big blog of baggage. Again, for commuting I've found this invaluable. * Inner pouches, with a large, flat pocket and a small zipper pocket. These are very handy for keeping wallet, keys, sunglasses and so forth easy at reach, especially since my cycling shorts have no pockets. The City has one big cavernous space in it. Otherwise, the two models of panniers are basically the same. But these differences are pretty important to me. I'm using the bags primarily for urban commuting, but I can imagine the same features would be just as important for long-distance cyclists. I just don't think it makes sense, when buying a top-of-the-line set of panniers like this, to save $20 or so just to compromise this much. I wouldn't be surprised if Ortlieb discontinued the City at some point because it's not really cheap enough to be worth all the missing features. Had I known more clearly about all this in the first place, I wouldn't have bought the City. I just love the Classic, but I ended up getting a better deal elsewhere, so I haven't writtten an Amazon review of that product.