Detours Fremonster Flap Pannier

I have been using this pannier on my daily commute for a two months now. It fits my basic needs, seems well built, but it also leads to daily annoyances.The mounting system is simple - two clips that close on the saddle. It is very easy to mount. It is a bit harder to remove, often while I open one clip the other re-engages.The laptop pocket is attached to the back of the bag. The hard frame extends past the pocket, so that if the bag fall the laptop is protected.This bag is not huge, but I do manage to stuff it with my laptop, rain jacket, a fleece, few essentials, and there is room to spare.The bag is designed to be carried as a shoulder bag when it is not mounted. The mounting clips are covered by fabric to protect them and the user. Due to the hard back, this is not the most comfortable shoulder bag, and while it is ok walking from the parking to the office, I would not go on a long walk with it.The bag has rain cover hidden in a small zippered pocket. I did not test this functionality yet. Riding in medium / light rain for short period it kept its contents dry.There are two related annoyances. First, the shoulder strap. When riding the bike I have to either remove it (annoying) or stuff it into a small front pocket that is clearly not built for that. As someone going on short rides, attaching/removing the strap every few minutes is too much.My other annoyance is the flap. The bag has a magnetic locking mechanism with two attachment points (depending on how full it is). The idea is nice, as closing the flap simple. The problem is that this magnet is too weak. The flap opens easily, and be used for clamping down to compress stuff inside the bag. Moreover, picking up the bag with the handle immediately opens the flap lock. Since the flap holds in the strap, this means that when I am not careful the strap falls out and gets in the way of the wheel :-(

This is the first pannier I've used, but I like it a lot. Five reasons in particular:1) The slim profile means I don't feel awkward navigating tight spaces or carrying the bag when it isn't full.2) It carries a ton! I never run out of room while grocery shopping. I could probably pack for a couple of days in this pannier.3) I like the handy outside pocket for keeping biking essentials like lock, keys, lights, gloves.4) It is reasonably comfortable and not terrible looking to carry this as a shoulder bag. I wouldn't carry it if I'm not biking, but I don't dread carrying it around between trips.5) The laptop sleeve fits my laptop securely.The attachment mechanism seems sturdy, though I always test that it is firmly attached to the rack before heading out. It fell off once when I hadn't seated it properly, but I don't blame the bag for that. I've never had a problem with it flapping around even though there isn't anything to secure the bag on the bottom. I also love the integrated rain fly.

First used this morning. Overall I am very impressed with the quality and design for commuting. It is slimmer than other bags so better clearance in traffic. It is just the right size and the expandable top is a great feature. The top has 2 zipper pulls so it closes from either side, just an example of the attention to detail. Slight heel strike issue and it didn't fit my Velo Orange rack at first. The hooks aren't adjustable like some bags but their placement is easy to modify which I did. I don't mind the extra holes, the flap covers them. I like the hooks better than Ortleib's QL2 system, except those are adjustable which is a big plus. It doesn't secure at the bottom but it doesn't seem to matter even on rough pavement. It's easier to attach/remove, has more pockets, and is slimmer than the Ortleib bike-shopper my wife has, but lacks the capacity and adjustability.

I really love this bag! It's my first pannier but I think I chose well with this purchase. It's well made. The outside fabric is made of this faux-suede plasticy material that doesn't seem so sturdy at first but seems pretty sturdy so far. There's a small pocket outside of the main compartment where u can put a u-lock (though i don't because that causes the weight to be on the top) but i use it to quickly stuff the strap when I'm too lazy to de-latch it and stuff it in the main compartment. There's a fair amount of space in the main compartment and a separate sleeve inside the main compartment to stuff I believe up to a 15 inch laptop. I mainly bought this bag for more grocery storage and to take some weight off my book bag when I bike and try to carry a bunch of stuff. There isn't too much space on the z axis of main compartment storage, but the top doesn't need to stay folded and expands up so you can fit more stuff into the bag. It has two sturdy spring grabber things that attach well to my bike rack. i've hit a few hard bumps and didn't feel like it needed any further securing. There's shiny hazard light holders on each side of the bag. There's also a nifty rain jacket for the bag stored in a small zip up compartment at the bottom of the bagMy main decisions for purchase were it's competitive price point, the availability of the strap, and how well made it looks. I can tell you that it for sure excels in those categories. Amazon only offered teal at the cheaper price point, though I would have preferred their merlot color. The bag is cute, if not kinda dorky, but looks cooler than most panniers out there at the price point. I do like how bright the teal is as to help the visibility of my bike on the road. There is also a wicked glittery cloud with lightning bolt on the inside (a warning for people who are worried about looking too kawaii) but you can't see it unless you open up the main compartment. Also the main compartment on this teal model is lime green on the inside and the rain jacket is a similar sort of green.Very happy with my purchase and will pay attention to this company for more bike gear!