Tandem Cycling - Handle bar bag with Brifters???

anybody know of a handle bar bag that works with Brifters????

We are planning several tours with our Co-Motion Speedster --- one week long in the Adirondacks and then a lil over a month down the West Coast in September.

Currently I have brifters and the cables prevent the use of any decent size handlebar bag.

Any body have a work around???

or

A link to step by step How to as to how to go to Bar Ends. I am running 10 speed Shimano

thanks in advance:thumb:

Mike

http://www.arkel-od.com/technical/shiftersBB.asp

Bar-ends is a solution. Otherwise, try to move the cables around the handlebar bag. Depending on the width of your bars and handlebar bag, it might be fairly easy to do, or your cables and housings might be a few centimetres to short for that.

Otherwise, if your handlebars are high, you might install a dual-stem setup like this (http://mgagnon.net/velo/potence-double.en.shtml). Or you might use a noodle as shown here (http://arkel-od.com/technical/shiftersBB.asp).

The JandD Mountain Handle Bar Pack 2 will work

Do you already have the handlebar? If not, you may want to look at this (http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_167593_-1_10000__13000) solution. They also sell a fitting bag for it.
Or you can go upscale on the same concept and get this (http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=30465&category=3539) one.
I have no firsthand experience with them, but it looks as if it would still accomodate a low-rider front rack
Duppie

This may be an expensive solution but randonneurs use a mount called a decaleur to mount front bags:

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-84224226242177_2049_13391910

See www.velo-orange.com for front racks, bags and stuff.

I have the Arkel small handle bar bag on my single bike and use Arkel's V-brake "noodle" solution on my 10-spd Ultegra shifters. I works fine.

You can get Nokon cables and route them under the tape... or you can just get Campy brifters ;)

We used a small handlebar bag (Voyageur) to carry tools on a tour. The cables fit around the bag and the wireless Flight Deck worked. Here is a link to a picture.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/page/?o=3Tzut&page_id=40352&v=6c

Sheldon and Martha
Greenfield, IN

You can get Nokon cables and route them under the tape... or you can just get Campy brifters ;)

The latter of which was my solution. But, quite frankly, old-time Campy afficionado that I am, I'm afraid I have to say the design sucks, at least for me. I rate the thumb paddle design of both Campy and Shimano as stone cold losers.

My next step will be to upgrade to 10 speed, (which the OP said he already had), and get the new 7900 Dura-Ace brifters (http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/news_and_info/news/shimano_introduces0.html) which now hide the cable under the tape like Campy. That is, as soon as they make them for a triple!

I would fully expect that this design will trickle down thru at least the Ultegra and 105 grouppos fairly quickly.

I just hooked my handlebar bag on and never had a problem. It pushes the cables out of the way a little bit (Ultegra brifters) but hasn't affected shifting.

I am, I'm afraid I have to say the design sucks, at least for me. I rate the thumb paddle design of both Campy and Shimano as stone cold losers.


The campy thumb lever works perfect for me... it is nothing like the one on Sora (which do in fact suck).

I can shift in the drops and the hoods, and the spots just behind the hoods, more comfortably on my campy bikes then my shimano ones. I like my brake lever to be on a fixed pivot point, and also I like that you can pull the shift paddle closer to the bar independently of the brake lever so it can take a more natural arc. But it is personal preference, of course.

Have you tried them out on a ride?

My next step will be to upgrade to 10 speed, (which the OP said he already had), and get the new 7900 Dura-Ace brifters (http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/news_and_info/news/shimano_introduces0.html) which now hide the cable under the tape like Campy. That is, as soon as they make them for a triple!

The next version of Ultegra will be out by the end of this year, and will have the shift cables running under the bar tape, just like the new Dura Ace (this has been in a lot of the cycling press and websites during the past week). I'm sure there'll be a triple version of those.

The campy thumb lever works perfect for me... it is nothing like the one on Sora (which do in fact suck). ...... Have you tried them out on a ride?

I have had them on the tandem for the last year or so. I keep them there only on account of the h'bar bag situation.

I've had many friends make the same remark about "being able to shift from the hoods", and I've proven to each of them that they can't. We found out, however, that we were using different criteria to define "from the hoods", so let me elaborate on mine. While on the bike, grab the hoods with the same firm grip you would have on a fast, technical descent. Now try to shift the right paddle without releasing that grip. You can't. You have to realease your grip and either roll your hand outwards, or slide your hands back up the bars, the "spots behind the hoods" you refer to. And that's what bugs me. That's the ONE time I do NOT want to "relax" my grip on the lever hoods, but you're forced to.

As for the Shimano answer, I agree with you there. I'd rather my brake lever in a fixed pivot as well. So they suck, too! :rolleyes: The answer is a fixed pivot brake system with dual shift levers behind the brake. A company called MicroShift (http://www.microshift.biz/pviewitem1.asp?sn=662&area=50&cat=172#) is heading in the right direction, but:
A. Who the heck are they?
B. Who wants to change out complete drive trains?
C. It looks like they STILL have the cables running out the sides of the levers

Which is where this all started. Space for a handlebar bag. So, no one is making the "perfect" lever. All the pieces are there, i.e., cables under the tape, fixed position brake levers with dual shift paddles behind them, but it remains for some major player to put them all together.

If only *I* ran the bike industry! :innocent:

... While on the bike, grab the hoods with the same firm grip you would have on a fast, technical descent.

Why would you hold the hoods in such a situation? Holding the drops would be far better - it gives you a better feel on the brake levers, and lowers your center of gravity slightly, which makes the bike a bit more stable. If you did this then you may not have the problem with shifting that you report.


... As for the Shimano answer, I agree with you there. I'd rather my brake lever in a fixed pivot as well. So they suck, too! :rolleyes: The answer is a fixed pivot brake system with dual shift levers behind the brake. A company called MicroShift (http://www.microshift.biz/pviewitem1.asp?sn=662&area=50&cat=172#) is heading in the right direction, but:
A. Who the heck are they?
B. Who wants to change out complete drive trains?
C. It looks like they STILL have the cables running out the sides of the levers

First, Microshift claim to be fully compatible with Shimano, allowing you to switch out any individual part of a Shimano drivetrain for one of theirs, so point B can be negated (but A and C still stand).

Second, I think SRAM meets all of your criteria - a fixed brake lever and cable routing under the bar tape. However, it doesn't fit another important criteria for most tandems, which is allowing for a triple chainring - I'm never going to use SRAM road parts on any bike until they address this omission.

I personally have the Nokon cables and run an XL handlebar bag.
Cheaper than a new set of brifters and improved the shifting feel also.

I ran the cables out of Ultegra brifters and created short "D" loop.
I tucked the cables under the tape at I think the third or fourth bar tape loop from the grip.
Plenty of room for the bag.