Josh and Ian go over the new products and product updates for Ortlieb’s 2016 line. Take some time to check out some exciting new products as well as some product updates from Ortlieb.
Ian explains in depth what has changed for 2016 as well as feature changes for existing item.
[Video Transcription]
Hi, Ian Strakal Interbike 2016. Here we are at the Ortlieb booth going over some new items. Here are a couple of different bags that are in our urban line. Both the reporter and commuter bags are not available in a polyester and some different color waves. Technically they are identical to versions in the urban line except they are a little more colorful, speaking of the urban line. Here we are, so these would be examples of the same bags in the urban fabric, about 15% cotton the rest is nylon and they are completely waterproof and weldable, the same as any other Ortlieb product.
Ortlieb is dabbling in a couple of racks now, this is the rack 1 it has integrated QL3 systems its built in Asia and its made out of aluminum. We will have a Rack 2 offering also very similar in design but it will have an appropriate deck on top. These will work with both QL3 and QL3.1 systems.
Would you mind doing a quick demo?
Its a little bit funny when I am both the bike and the bag, but I am going to do my best. So, with the QL3 system, you locate the buttons and just slide it on directly, like this. To release it, you just pull on the release handle and away you go. So it would be a perfect opportunity to talk Ql3.1 system as well. So here is the new Ql3.1 system, the nice thing about this system is, we had some feedback with the QL3 system, that when it was dark, it was difficult to locate all three buttons on the right plane and then slide it in. With the QL3.1, you locate the lower button, put the top buttons on the bag and just rock it in and you can go from either direction. And to release just lift the handle and away you go. So it is truly a one handed removal and installation, the QL3.1. The two system are cross compatible and either one will work on every rack. Eventually, probably 2017, everything will cross over to QL3.1
For 2016 we are going to have the downtowns and office bags in QL3.1 and the OL3 single bag, the city biker and the vario will have the QL3.
Moving on, the Velocity has been our number 1 pack in the line. These are basically and enhanced version more of a day to day pack and a little less utilitarian. Some of the features on these bags are, a flat bottom, so when it has item in there it can stand up on its own. A non waterproof outer zipper pocket with some drain holes in case you do cross some rivers or go swimming. It has these loops on the outside that can be used as daisy chain loops to attach items to. You could put a blinky light here or slide a U-Lock through here, that way your U-Lock is not banging against your Mac Book. Some of the people who were using Velocity’s in a more cargo capacity, where the bag is staying open and the velcro is not secured were complaining that if they have long hair the velcro could catch into their hair, or if they are wearing sweaters it could cause damage to the sweater and make it look a little shabby prematurely. So, for these bags which are intended for day to day use, they switch to hook system so it side steps both of those issues. There is also some enhanced inner organization, specifically a laptop sleeve, this is padded all the way around and you just slide you laptop right in. There is alos a zipper pocket with a number of inner organization pockets as well. You can zip those inner packets away and then you have a large cargo area. The shoulder straps are also unique, they are radio frequency welded made in our factory in Germany, so we are not contracting out for anything bag aside from the buckles. It has a nice TPU padding system, these are welded right into the body of the bags, so they are never going anywhere. Two color waves, this is coffee and this is pepper.
Fat bikes are becoming more and more popular and we have a Fat rack. Tubus was really good on the design and they didn’t spend a lot of time on the marketing. It is called the Fat Rack. F.A.T. You will notice this tubing is a little bit thicker, because the wider stance they need to increase the overall diameter to make sure it was going to be stiff and not have any flex. So this is a 12mm load rail on this rack and it had a nice drop load rail so it keep the center of gravity lower. It also leaves the deck unencumbered so you can mount to the top of the rack.
This is our number 1 selling pannier (Back Roller Classic), but there is call for even larger options. So this is the Back Roller Classic Pro and this is the Back Roller Plus Pro. Now to give you and idea of scale, a pair of Back Roller Classics is going to be 40 liters. A pair of the Back Roller Classic Pros is 70 liters and there is an additional non waterproof pocket that adds an addtional 8 liters of capacity. So these were originally designed for the global traveler, someone who is going to be living off their bike for a number of years. There are not so many global travelers who come to interbike, so everyone here has been talking about tandem riders or you’re packing for 2 people on one bike and they are cargo bikes, as an example I have an extra cycle where I can put 4 Back Rollers on the back, so a nice 80 liter capacity. Thats not bad, but if you put 4 of these on the back, you have 140 liters of capacity plus an additional 16 liters of non waterproof capacity. To put it in perspective that is a Big Zip and and Backpack worth of capacity. Another good application would be the Extra Wheel Trailer.
We’ve made racktop bags for years, this is however a new a rack top fixing system we are offering. So this is really exciting, it is called the rack lock system and if you see the rack is completely naked when the bag is off the bike, no additional components. Everything is encased right on the bag. You put this side on the rack and then push it down to engage and it will lock into position. Here is the release tap here. If you have a dedicated bike you want to leave this on all the time you can pinch this and remove the key and now the bag is completely lock onto the bicycle. Not only for dedicated bikes like this, but if you have a rental fleet and you don’t want people loosing the accessories its another good option. We have quite a bit of adjustment, I believe it is 80mm on the narrow size and up to 160mm on the wide side. It can even accommodate racks that have a bit of a taper with these moving independently. You can also have these hooking from the outside or inside of the rack, whichever suits your nee
ds better. Its really going to work on almost any standard rack? I was told they test 200 different models of racks and it have about 90% compatibility. So these hooks, if you look at them are angled, not a radius, the reason they are doing this is with no shims or adjusters is can accommodate tubes from 8mm to 16mm.
So this here is the soft basket, same rack lock system. There was a lot of demand in Germany and in Holland from a basket that is waterproof from Ortleib. This is what we finally came up with. So you would unvelcro the carry handles, open it up. You can see there are some elastic straps here, remove those from their fixing location. lift this up and you can see the accordion bellows open up nice and wide and allow full access to the inside for shopping or a puppy. Then to close it you just grab here and here and collect both in one hand and bring them down and you can see the accordion bellows tighten up really nicely and attach to the fixing locations and away you go. Some nice color options here.
Because not everyone wants a basket on the rear, some people want a basket on the front, we have its cousin here. This uses the same Ultimate 6 mounting system which is cross compatible with and click fix systems. Again we are using the bellows to keep the rain out you can see because of the mounting bracket they collect on the sides rather than on the face, like the racktop bag. So, very good options, we are pretty excited about having these.
We need to talk about roller duffles. So, I know we are at the bike show, but Ortlieb has wide range of product offerings. These roller duffles, this is the duffle RS, this is something we have had in our line up since 2015. It is a large cargo duffle this is actually the smallest, it comes in 3 sizes, 85 liters, 110 liters and 140 liters. To put it into perspective the big zip here is 140 liters, this is something we have had as a legacy item for a number of years. Some differences between the Duffle RS and the Big Zip are, first of all the wheels. You can see there is an aluminum structure on the bottom, kind of a bash plate and the bag itself has some foam. So it is a really light weight bag, it has an aluminum handle here with a foam grip so you can take your samples along with you. These handles can also convert to shoulder straps. So once you get off the train and need to go up stairs or something, you can just sling it over your back and carry it like a backpack. We have some non waterproof pockets here for quick access items or a business card. It is the last suitcase you will ever need. There are a number of adventure travel bags in the market place, there are 3 things that distinguish us from everyone else. First, its Ortlieb. Second, it is waterproof. Third, weight… this is a very light weight bag. The reason why weight is important is many airlines have a maximum weight capacity, so the heavier your bag is the less gear you can put inside. SO weight is a really important feature.
An exciting new addition is the Duffle RG, this will come in 3 sizes as well. This is the small 35 liters and the nice thing about 35 liters is it is carry on size. It has a telescoping handle. Also the carry handle can be converted to shoulder straps, if you do not want the carry handle on there you can always remove it. Again, some non waterproof outer pockets. The same tie zip zipper you’ll find on all of our duffles. The nice thing about this zipper is that it is rated to 1 meter for 30 minutes. You will see this is a bit more robust, it has some hard structure to accommodate the handle and because of that the overall weight is going to be a little higher than the Duffle RS. This is aimed more as a true travel bag as opposed to and adventure travel bag. I can’t wait, because I am buying one!