Commuting - Handle Bar Bag and Lights

For a number of reasons, I want to add a handlebar bag to my commuting bike. This raises the question of what to do about lights. I currently have an old Specialized Vegas light on the bar but am planning to upgrade to a real lighting system in the fall. (most likely the Planet Bike Insight (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/Profile.cfm?SKU=14105))

So how have people combined handlebar bags and lights. I'm thinking maybe mounting on a front rack. The Planet Bike light would work OK for that as it has that separate bar mounted switch.

On the bag side I'm planning to get Arekl Overdesign's Small Handlebar Bag (http://panniers.com/panniers/sm_hb_bag/index.asp?page=overview&site=). I'm wondering if anybody who has one of these can tell me the width the brackets need to be apart and how far they protrude from the handlebar.

Also any opinions on the Arkel Bag or the Planet Bike lights would be welcome. In general I have been very pleased with products from those companies which helped to inform my decision.

thanks!

The Arkel Handlebar bag did not work for me. If you mount the bag lower, then it scrapes against the front wheel pretty bad, and it slows you down. That's what happened to me, and I wasn't aware of this problem until I returned from my trip. So you end up lifting the bag up, which means you can't place lights on your handlebars at all. At least, I couldn't, and I have straight handlebars.

Anyone else with experience on how to get around this problem?

Koffee

I use a helmet mounted headlight.You can get expensive cycle specific ones but I just got a fairly inexpensive one designed for hiking with a headband mount and just removed the headband and bungied it to my helmet.It has a halogen function a regular LED function and a red LED function for night vision.Works great for camping and touring as well as you can use it off the bike in the tent etc. And the girls at the beach love it because they all think I have a camera mounted on my helmet lol.

I have a Topeak Handlebar bag and it comes with a special bracket which the light mount attaches. If you are using the bag, the light is mounted on the bottom and if you are not using the bag, the light bracket slips into the handlebar bag mount. I hope that is clear?

Hey, thanks for the replies.


Originally posted by Koffee Brown
The Arkel Handlebar bag did not work for me. <edit> So you end up lifting the bag up, which means you can't place lights on your handlebars at all. At least, I couldn't, and I have straight handlebars.
Koffee

Yeah, I read on Arkel's site that it interferes with handlebar mounted lights, so I pretty much wrote off trying to use them. They mention mounting them on a front rack which sounds reasonable. I'm curious to hear what people who have tried that think.


Originally posted by Gordon P
I have a Topeak Handlebar bag and it comes with a special bracket which the light mount attaches. <edit> I hope that is clear?


Makes perfect sense, and sounds great, however that bag is bigger than I'm after.


Originally posted by RWTD
I use a helmet mounted headlight. <edit>


I'm considering this, but even at night I tend to look all over the place, and I think I'd prefer a stationary light. I have been thinking though of getting a headlight in addition to a mounted one for those situations that warrant it.

Makes perfect sense, and sounds great, however that bag is bigger than I'm after.

They do make a small one. :)

When I had a battery headlight, I rigged a fixture to attach the headlight near the fork crown.

- On the fork crown, where the fender is bolted and where a centrepull brake used to be bolted, I attached an angle.

- At the other end of the angle, I attached a 2" long piece of PVC pipe (3/4 in dia, I think). The piece of PVC pipe is parallel to the handlebars, so the headlight could be attached there just as it was on the handlebars.

With a large frame (mine is a 25"), there is no problem. With a small frame, the headlight beam could still be going through the bottom of the handlebar bag.

BTW, I have since changed the setting for a hub-dynamo-powered one.

Regards

I use a bar bag (Carradice) with a dyamo-powered lamp. Most modern dynamo lamps come with a fitting for the fork crown bolt (caliper brake bolt).
On my commuter bike I have the same lamp in the same position, but have wired it up to a rechargeable battery in a water bottle.

I was struggling with this for a while and tried a bunch of different stuff until I settled on what I have now, which really works for me. Except for how much money you decide to spend on your lights, it's can also been much cheaper than you might think.

I think you have to start by making a decision about what you want the handlebar bag for. I commute on a Surly CrossCheck with a rear rack. Depending on how much stuff I'm taking too work, I have an Arkel Laptop pannier and a Vaude trunk, and could add another or different panniers if necessary. So I really wanted the handlebar bag to hold small things that I might want close at hand and most importantly, hold a map or cue sheet.

I also wanted to use my Performance View Point Dual (http://www.performancebike.com/shop/large_photo.cfm?SKU=15695&Store=Bike) lights, 5 years old and still going strong. I did upgrade the mount a while back to the kind that current Viewpoint Duals have, with the QR mount and the offset and the swivel that lets me have many more mounting choices.

And I also wanted to mount my computer. For commuting, I want to get my info as quickly as possible, so I have a wireless Topeak Panoram (http://www.topeak.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/store/cpanoram.html?L+scstore+sykb4913ff44cc44+1059855940) which does the job, even though it lacks cadence.

I quickly realized that I was going to have a handlebar real estate problem, with an offset dual light, an offset and unusually wide computer, and a handlebar bag. I tried some of the handlebar extenders, like the Minoura and the Photon (from Nashbar), but I was never thrilled with the placement, the look, and the bar bag compatibility.

Then I found two things at about the same time. First I found the Weyless Stem Cap Adaptor Kit (http://www.supergo.com/itemdisplay.asp?compflag=1&parentid=21915&company=Weyless&secid=24&subid=1518), which let me swap out the stem cap and get a few inches of bar space out in front of the actual handlebars, but not too far out front to get in the way.

Then I found the REI Bar Top Handlebar Bag (http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47591466&parent_category_rn=4500847) which goes over the top of the stem, rather than hanging out in front, and has enough room for little stuff, like keys, sunscreen, bars or GU, whatever, and holds maps and/or cue sheets in a protective sleeve.

So I hang the lights on the left half of the Weyless bar so they hang below, offset to the center (and strap the thumb switch to my bar), and I mount the Panoram on the right side of the Weyless, offset to the center, and put the bar bag on and voila--lights, computer, and bag contents all within view and easy reach. And the lights are unobstructed and don't reach down far enough to touch my fenders or anything else they could bother.

The only drawback to the handlebar bag is that unlike my Arkel and Vaude gear, it has no rain cover. I just bring ziploc bags to protect everything in the bar bag if it rains.

Kodama-

I'd check into what Michel was using for headlights. I rode with him on a night ride in Montreal, and what he had made me sit up and take notice! He had so much light we could all see what was coming up ahead of us on the road! I was thankful, cause I just had a crappy radio/bike horn/light...

Koffee

I mounted my light (a 10W Marwi helmet light) onto the barplug mounting of a broken rear view mirror. Since I use L-shaped barends, that puts it near enough to my bag that it is easy to put the cigarette pack sized battery pack in the side pocket of my Vaude bag. Works for me.

So, did you decide what to do about your bag and lights? Just curious.

This may come a bit late, but here goes: I just bought myself a Minoura Space Grip (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=&subcategory=&brand=&sku=5059&storetype=&estoreid=). They make two versions, shorter and longer. The shorter one is enough for me (I have a small handlebar bag). Works well.

--J

Originally posted by veloce
So, did you decide what to do about your bag and lights? Just curious.

Not yet, I decided that I spent too much money on CD's this month to buy the (not cheap) Arkel Bag. I remain committed to the Arkel, as the size isright and their briefcase pannier I have is fantastic. Also it looks like the week long trip I was going to take in Sept. will not be happening. So I'm putting off the bag purchase for now.

As it gets closer to fall and I need the lights, I'll probably work out the setup. I'll post what I figure out here.

Thanks to everyone for the good ideas and advice!

Beware of the arkel bag- Again, I have that arkel bag, and it's not possible to work with the setup to change the lights. If you move the bag down, it will skim the wheel, and if you hike it up, it will literally be upside down by the time you get it high enough to mount the lights.

If you go with the bag and you can figure it out, let me know.

Koffee

I have a large Blackburn handlebar bag (with map window in the top cover), and have mounted my battery-operated headlight to the end of my left climbingbar. That has worked well for me. Of course I don't have a lighting system -- just a Cateye HL-MC200 (208? can't read it too well) battery-operated halogen headlight in which I use rechargeable Nimh AA batteries (last longer than the rechargeable alkalines). Soon I will be getting a Cateye HL-EL110 one of those new LED headlights. Plus I have an amber-lensed blinker on the front (one of the photon kind, but looking to eventually get one with 5 LEDs in it).

Anyways, that's how the lighting on my bike works. :D

~~Bren