Oxford Aqua V20 Single QR Pannier Bag

Oxford's ever-expanding range of bicycle bags and panniers builds on the company's years of experience with creating reliable motorcycling luggage. The Oxford Aqua V20 Single QR Pannier Bag is affordable, easy to use and adjust, and utterly bombproof and protective. Only the weight and the stiffness of the roll-down top stop it from being pretty much perfect.

One of the first things you notice about the Aqua V20 is how robustly built it is. This is no ultralight pared-down carrier, it's a solidly made, indestructible-feeling bag designed to keep its contents safe and dry no matter what's going on outside.

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The fabric is tough and fully waterproof, with a roll-top closure ensuring it stays that way. It's a single compartment design, with a zipped exterior pocket and lots of reflective accents. The rear panel of the bag is stiffened and there's a toughened hard plastic bumper at the base of the bag.

The attachment mechanism is one of the best I've used. The position of the clips and the lower securing bar are easily adjusted with a hex key, simply sliding along a track to the desired location. Most impressive though is the quick and easy clip-fastening, where the bag actually clips onto the rack, to keep the hooks from bouncing off and coming unattached on rough ground.

When you want to remove it, there's a loop attached to the fastening clips that detaches the bag from the rack with one simple tug. This ability to clip on and off easily and quickly makes it really useful even for short stop-start journeys. There's also a loop for grabbing and carrying the pannier.

Thanks to the design of the clip mechanism, the bag attaches to a variety of racks with little faffing apart from fine-tuning the position of the clips and security bar at the bottom. Once clipped on, it feels secure and safe.

In the absence of any meaningful touring opportunities this year, I used the bag for shopping and commutes, and it's extremely capable. The waterproof fabric keeps the contents dry and safe even in the most horrendous weather, whether in the main body or in the zipped front pocket (with waterproof zip). The 20 litre capacity is plenty for a few days' groceries or work kit for a day, and a pair would easily cater for a decent length tour if packing light.

The reflective accents are numerous and distributed all over the bag, providing good extra visibility. (The bag is also available in black.)

Although far from being light, the Aqua V20 is built to last and be protective, and that it delivers in spades. The only hiccup really is the roll-top closure. The stiffness of the heavy duty fabric makes rolling the top closed a bit of an effort, and certainly tricky to do neatly and with the bag already fitted to the rack. Its pliability has increased with use, but after a month or so of testing it remains pretty stiff.

While not an insurmountable problem (the bag still rolls shut and the contents stay dry), it's a little irritating and makes closing the bag while fitted to the bike unduly fiddly. One solution would be the approach taken by some other manufacturers of using a slightly lighter density fabric in the upper roll-top area of the bag, perhaps even only on one side, making it easier to secure.

Making up for any niggles, though, is the price. At £39.99 it's incredibly good value for something so rugged and protective. It's not as finely tuned for performance as the likes of the Vaude Aqua Back Panniers, but they're £70 each (if slightly larger volume at 24 litres), and it's also a lot cheaper than Altura's Thunderstorm City 20 Pannier at £74.99. It's even a fiver less than LifeLine's Adventure Waterproof Pannier Bag, though you get 22 litres of space for your £44.99.

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That roll-top might not be perfect, but for the price this is a solid purchase. Rugged and protective, the Oxford Aqua V20 pannier is very well made and great value for money.

Verdict

Durable, protective and excellent value for money, just a shame the roll-top closure is so stiff