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Axiom Monsoon Pannier Bag
August 21, 2009
I am lucky to live in a place where monsoons are non-existent, but we do have a good down pour on occasion. I had been looking for a smaller front pannier bag for my city/touring bike and the Axiom Monsoon seemed to fit the bill, so I thought I would try them out and put them through their paces.
The first thing noticed is that the 24.8 litres (12.4 litres per side) is a very nice size for a front mounted pannier. In the past I had used another Axiom bag on the front that was about an extra 5 litres in size, and it just seemed too large and bulky. Now the larger bags have made their way to the rear rack and the Monsoon is strapped on the front. Mounting the bags was a lot easier then I had expected. They are mounted on my custom made front low rider rack and the bags actually went on with ease. The pannier bags have a mounting system that has two large heavy duty hooks as well as a "lock" for the upper bar, and a smaller lower hook on a heavy elastic. The system work well on 90% of racks I have found, although I have found it to be a little difficult on a few racks on the market.
The bags are a fully waterproof system and from all my testing they seem to live up to that billing. The bag is essentially a dry sac and features a top flap that is also waterproof yet features a mesh backing that they call a "tool pocket". It was actually pretty handy to have my multi tool and tire levers easy to find. The top, outside of the flap, features a small waterproof zippered pocket. This pocket is on the small side but found it useful for keys and other small essential. The outsie of the bag features great reflective panels as well, so you will be seen at night.
Out riding the size of the bags was great. The down side to panniers is that if too large they can just slow you down in a head wind, but these bags are nice and compact, yet still hold lots of stuff. The one noticeable drawback is that the strap on the outer flap is too long. I could not possibly load up the bags enough to need all the allowed space. These straps do not really get in the way being too long, but they seem like an oversight.
All in all they are my new commuter panniers and they will make their way out on all my future touring rides. They are easy to put on and pull off and although I am not a big fan of carrying around pannier bags off the bike, they really are small enough that they are not a huge annoyance.
Waterproof, lifetime warranty, extra hardware, light weight.... I am not sure how you could go wrong.
Cost: $114.95 CDN
Description: A commuter/touring pannier for the real world
Pros: Waterproof, lifetime warranty, extra hardware, light weight, welded tarpaulin
Cons: Top flap strap is too long
Rating: 4.75 out of 5
Axiom
Reviewed by: Ryan