BikeBins hard-sided locking panniers - approaching the seven year mark!

Almost seven years on, and we are still using our Bike Bins panniers.
Here I am about to lock my helmet inside on a trip to the local hospital.

Almost seven years!
I always intended to make this a long-term review, and you won't find reviews as long as THIS elsewhere!

It was in June of 2010 that we bought our pair of hard-sided locking panniers from Bike Bins.
They are currently 45 quid each (or 80 quid for a pair) including VAT and shipping.
We paid about 65 for ours, but that was seven years ago!

Anyway, we still use them.
In the seven years, the colour has faded rather, and we have broken one mounting rail (which, because it uses standard Rixen and Kaul parts, I was able to repair for a reasonable cost).
Here are links to where I have written about them in the past, so you can easily read what I wrote then:

The original review
2 years on
3 1/2 years on
Approaching 4 years
Problems at 4 1/2 years
The repair
5 years, and a comparison with other panniers we own 

New Shifters, and Nine Over Eight Gearing?

Winter dreaming about gearing.
Having recently got my hands on a pair of "old school" "thumb" friction shifters, I will have a bit of flexibility with gearing.

Three factors that influenced me buying the friction shifters are:
1) I have an almost unused rear wheel that came with Hoppy (that was quickly swapped out for the eight speed I was using on Mermaid) that has a seven speed freewheel. With friction shifters, to swap wheels I'd just have to alter the stop screws on the derailleur. Indexing is irrelevant on an unindexed system :-)
2) Having removed myself from the hegemony of having to have the same "speed" shifters as rear gears, I can run a variety of set-ups, including unorthodox ones. Irregular spacing between cogs? as long as the chain can handle it, so can the friction shifters!
3) If I fancy another go at an aero setup, then friction "thumbies" mounted on the aero bars will be MUCH cheaper than the "proper" aero "bar end" thumbies.

Fixing the bike after the Crash

Hmm. These were "North Road"-style bars.
But the left side has been bent in the crash.

The lower side has been bent in the crash.

Hoppy escaped the crash pretty lightly - indeed a badly bent handlebar seems to be the extent of the damage.
But I can't ride like that, so a bit of repair is in order!

To Voucher Or Not To Voucher - That Is The Question

I got an email yesterday.
Decathlon reminding me that I have a voucher that is about to expire.
Given that today is the last day of the month, I guess the exoiry date will be today!

Hmm.
Whether to redeem or not?

Question 1: Trust.
This is always the biggie for dealing with folks and companies!
What do I think of Decathlon?
Do I think they sell great stuff, or junk?

I Went Quiet - What I Have Been Up To?

I've mostly been writing on my my sports-orientated blog.
That andd I fell off my bike, breaking my shoulder blade/

So here is a little list of article there, in case you are interested:

A running footpod (clips onto you running shoes to measure cadence)
Compatability worries about Ant+ sports tech?
The relative importance of power and aerodynamics in cycling
Review of my (cycling) turbo trainer
Four cheap ways to lose weight from your bicycle
Fitting short - really short - cranks to my bike
My favourite Training Peaks features
Training tips, with the case study of a real 100km (62 mile) ride
Why I don't own a "proper" road bike
My 2017 training plan, and training tips
Issues with chainline
My big bike crash (I broke my shoulder blade)
The importance of "rest" days
Editing activities in Training Peaks
Setting custom zones in Training Peaks
A review of my cycling year - 2016
My progress since the crash

So I've been quite busy, really!