@Andres4NY Did they have inserts for the clips to make them fit snug on the rack rail? Without the inserts the bags can bounce a lot, which stresses the clips. They make the clips oversized so they can fit nearly any rack and supply inserts to make them fit (close to perfect). I have some Backrollers that are nearly 25 years old and they’re still going strong. The clips on them won’t fit racks with oversized rails, but they haven’t failed after many many thousands of miles.
@voiceofunreason Same bike+rack that my wife's been using since 2009, and she has another pair of Back Rollers that have still held up just fine after a decade. This looks more like a defect, breaking after such a short period of time (and honestly not that much usage; maybe a few hundred miles on them so far?)
@Andres4NY I should've been more specific, the inserts come with the Ortlieb bags and snap into the upper hooks. They act as spacers as the hooks are intentionally oversized so they can fit on racks with oversized tubing. There are several sets of inserts in different sizes. You use the insert set that fits your rack's rail size the best. If you don't use the inserts, the hooks can rattle around, and I could see that causing stress/premature failure.
@voiceofunreason Yes, I'm aware of the inserts. We haven't needed them; the hooks fit the rack just fine and don't rattle. Same size hooks in the old panniers as the new ones.
@Andres4NY Well, definitely sounds like it wasn’t anything potentially declared ”user-error”. Ortlieb, historically, has had a very good warranty, so they should make it right. Hopefully this doesn't point at an overall quality decrease.
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