Yes, that's the way it is. I use the outer part of the pannier for my first aid kit, my tire repair stuff and compressor, my multimeter, some fuses, some electrical tape and a few other things that escape my memory at the moment. Then I've got the shop manual for the NT behind the bag liner in the very back of the pannier.So, you use an un-expanded bag liner in wide pannier lids. Obviously you use that the extra space in another way? or you don't need the space and this is just the way things work out for you when you pack?