What Arkel have to say about themselves:"We’ve come a long way from our humble beginnings when, in 1988! Serge Vigeant and Diane Laplante wanted to create the best bike pannier design available to cyclists period! From the very first pair of touring panniers he made for himself to any touring, bikepacking or commuter panniers, you can expect high quality.
For 35 years, we cared about your experience on the bike and worked on practical designs that make your cycle tour, commute or bike ride more satisfying.
We also choose high quality and sustainable material such as the finest fabric (Cordura, XPac), the best zippers (YKK), the sturdy hook system (Cam-Lock® system).
80% of our bike panniers are made in Canada by people who really love to ride! Our designs integrate countless hours of experience on the road and tons of customer feedback. There’s no better way to gather information than from the road.
Arkel is also dedicated to community empowerment evidenced by the lively crew from CRDITED Estrie – a social service program for folks with Intellectual Disabilities and Pervasive Development Disorders. They’ve worked at Arkel’s Quebec headquarters since 2003. We think of them as a family around here. Once the designers have finished creating our bags and the seamstresses have stitched them tight, the gang from CRDITED Estrie goes to work assembling and putting the finishing touches on each pannier and bag.
We also aim to provide the best possible customer service, we are dedicated to the complete riding experience from beginning to end as we know bikes and will assist you with whatever question you may have, from outfitting your bike for the next ride, urban commuting, touring or bikepacking adventures."