Tri Girl: My DH actually bought me front and rear panniers for Christmas. I chose Ortlieb front and back rollers, and he chose the color (bright yellow!) so that it would still be some sort of surprise. I'm looking at racks right now. I think I want to go steel for those too, but I haven't made any decisions past that. I'm also trying to decide what I absolutely need vs. what I want. I'm not a big person, so I am trying to be careful with gear to keep the weight of the bike + stuff down (without sacrificing too much durability!). I know from my experience backpacking that if I buy it, I will feel obligated to use it!

wnyrider: Thanks again for your help in the other thread. I did end up ordering a 47 cm to get the appropriate TT length. The shop actually had a 2010 Sherpa in the 50 cm size, and it was quite obviously too big. The whole experience actually reinforced my love for my LBS. When I was road bike shopping, a different LBS put me on a bike that was a size too big and tried to tell me that it wasn't too big and that we could make some adjustments that would make it more comfortable. It turned out that they were just trying to clear out last year's stock to make room for the new stuff. Putting me a a too big bike to clear out stock was never even an option at my LBS, which makes me feel good about spending my money there.

I love the fenders! What kind of racks do you have?