21st July 2012 – I had a need develop to have a top box for commuting, grocery shopping & to lock my helmet in the box when roaming around town.
In the end, I decided to choose the Touratech 38L model in anodised finish with ‘Rapid Trap’ mounting system. Reasons I went for this make and setup over the competitors were:-
*Mounting rack compatibility with the Touratech panniers that I would get later down the line;
*Locks and keys can be matched with panniers’ own in the future (meaning fewer keys);
*Ability to remove the box when arriving home or on the road at an instance (not covered under insurance if stolen);
*Can lock my helmet in there (so can go out and about town ‘hands-free’);
*Nice, gorgeous curves and finish! 😀
 |
 |
Assembling the locks myself to the ‘Rapid Trap’ lock and aligning the metal wiring to the way it was setup can be a bit fiddly and the best tool I used were a pair of precision tweezers from a hobby/craft shop.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Review:
It’s been performing great and feels very rugged. The locks and the Rapid Trap’s hinges felt a bit ‘gritty’ and tough to turn at the height of winter but nothing a few squirts of WD-40 couldn’t fix. 😉 Took care to ensure there were no o-rings on that hinge and there wasn’t, beforehand.
Pros: doing what I got it for.
Cons: After ~6000 miles, one winter and summer, the rubber pads at the bottom which makes contact with the luggage rack have finally become unstuck from the box after commuting, the wet road conditions presumably. The rubber pads looked to have provided protection and cushioning. I can get some cupboard cushion pads and put them in. Some of the opaque silica gel (the ones that bathroom tiles are used to finish with, perhaps?) came off easily inside the box.
Looks like chain muck can react/’stain’ the finish. Or it just needs a bit more circular motion cleaning with soapy water and rough surface of a kitchen sponge 😉
PackedPanniers.com 
Leave a comment