This post is about my bad experience with Nomada Cases by Holan. I had some old plastic panniers that I used in my trip to Estonia, but I thought they were not good for Iceland. Too small, and probably neither waterproof not strong enough. I decided to invest in a new metallic set, and after considering several options I chose Holan‘s panniers. I liked their looks, the cut edges, the many strap hooks, and the available extras of straps, bags, bottle holders and bottom boxes. I made an investment of 1329 €, divided as follows:
- Pannier system for Africa Twin (44 liters): 860 €
- Two EXP-box bottom boxes: 210 €
- Set of 8 locks for the panniers and boxes: 72 €
- Two double bottle holders: 48 €
- Two bags: 70 €
- Two strap carry handles: 34 €
- Two belt straps: 15 €
- Shipping: 20 €
If you just buy the pannier system and locks, the price is pretty much the same as other panniers in the market. It’s the extras what made it so expensive. With everything installed, it looks like in the picture below. The reflectors are not included.
The first issues I noticed when I installed the rack are related to the bar that links both sides. The “flaps” with holes for the screws are not well aligned, and the bar touches and pushes the plate holder back. You can see this in the image below. Notice that the tight screw and bolt are pushing the flaps together, the misalignment was bigger when loose.
This picture was taken after the Iceland trip. I was worried that the misaligned flaps would put extra force in the bolts that could make them break, but so far they have survived fine. The plate holder has scratched the paint from the bar, though.
Another issue is the weakness of the bottle holders. As you can see in the first picture, I was carrying a fire extinguisher and a 1-liter flask. The picture below shows how the holder bent down after the Iceland trip. Compare it to the unused holder in the background. The other holder that I used was bent the same.
The biggest issue was that the right pannier started getting loose and falling in bumpy roads. The picture below is a composition of one of such incidents, together with the wheel that Holan uses to tight the panniers. Loosing a pannier is a extremely dangerous thing, because it causes a sudden shift of weight that pushes you sideways. Fortunately this happened on bumpy roads with almost no traffic.
The first time it happened I thought it was my mistake for not attaching the pannier tight, but it kept happening no matter how tight I twisted the wheels with both hands. At the end, when riding on bumpy roads, I had to stop every half an hour to make them tight again. I don’t know why this happened only with the right pannier; but in my opinion, relying on a wheel staying tight under vibrations is very risky and a big mistake. There should be some kind of safety lock or pin.
Another issue, related to the bottle holders, is the weakness of the locks. They are made of the same metal with the same thickness. The locks are designed to work as hinges as well, but one can notice they are not quite strong to even hold the weight of the open lid. The picture below shows how the hooks of the lock of a bottom EXP-box bent after the trip to Iceland. Those little hooks hold the weight of the box, and I was carrying tools in it. It never actually opened, but I used flanges to be safe.
One issue of the EXP-boxes is that they easily get water when crossing rivers and such. My tools got rusty. If they aren’t meant to be waterproof, I think they should have a hole to let the water out.
Speaking of waterproofing, the rubber sealing of the panniers gets peeled off when pulling full bags out of them. The picture below shows how. So far I managed to stick it back.
I placed the order for the panniers on January 3rd 2017. I can’t remember when I received them exactly, a few months later. I only used them in my trip to Iceland, July-August 2017. On September 10th 2017 I sent an e-mail to Holan explaining these issues with attached pictures, and asking for a compensation or repair. So far I didn’t get any reply. I will update this post if I ever hear from them.
It’s a pity that poor design or quality in the details ruins what otherwise would be a great pannier system. This, plus their lack of response, makes me regret my choice. Actually, after my trip to Iceland, I think I should have used flexible bags like the ones made by Wolfman Luggage (Just an example, I’m not endorsing the brand). I thought flexible bags were too weak, but other adventure riders I met were happy with them and their resistance to falls. If you are unlucky, you can probably do an emergency fix with duct tape. My metallic pannier system adds a lot of weight and made handling noticeably more difficult, specially off-road.