ThermionicScott 

The weather is still iffy in my area, so I'm thinking about my bike setup for this rando season. I've just used a cheap Bell handlebar bag in the past and it tended to flop around a little and lean on the brake cable just when I was pooped. A block of wood screwed to a reflector mount worked to stabilize it, but that won't be an option on my new bike. My handiwork, since I'm still kinda proud of it:



I've only done rides up to 400k, so I'm expecting to carry more stuff on the longer rides. I bought a KlickFix-type handlebar bag (and mount) from a buddy for $20 last year, but I'm kinda torn as to whether to go through the effort of installing it and doing rides, or just bite the bullet and shell out the money for one of those small front racks and decaleurs and a good bag now. Have any of you had good experiences with a KlickFix bag mounted just to the handlebar, or should I skip it?

Thanks.

fietsbob

I like Mine ...and you can mount an Ortlieb Bar Bag on the Klick Fix Mounts .. Carradice also uses KF Hardware, as do others .
and you will gain te top ofthe bar knuckle space behind the barbag with it off set a Bit.

1 bike I Have my fork crown mounted Headlight Under It.

NB you can also use additional KF hardware to fit the same Bar bag kit, on the seat post..

unterhausen

on a randonnee, it's typical that the longest ride you will do without accessing a stationary bag is 400k, so you might want to take that under consideration. However I find that springtime or fall brevets often feature wide swings in temperature, so being able to stow clothing securely is a good thing. My one experience with a handlebar bag on a 200k went ok, but I learned to pack a little more carefully.

StephenH

Ditto to the 400k comment. Normally, on longer rides, either they're composed of loops that come back to the same motel, or you have an opportunity to have a drop bag somewhere. I suppose PBP is an exception to that, come to think of it.

unterhausen

the longest you go in PBP without a drop bag (unless you forego the drop bag service) is 440k.

rhm

I have a Vaude handlebar bag with klickfix attachment.

On the plus side, it is very secure.

On the minus side, the bag sits pretty high up. The top of the bag is maybe four inches higher than the top of the handlebar. I would prefer it to be flush with the handlebar or even a little lower; the klickfix does not allow that.

Neither plus or minus, the bag is very easy to remove from handlebar; this takes just a second or so. But I almost never remove it. The easy on, easy off feature is not as useful as I had thought it would be.

RR3

What about the mount itself? Is it easy to remove?

ThermionicScott 

Thanks for the responses so far, folks. I guess my main concern (since the mounting system sounds to be very stable) is having the weight up at the handlebar level. Some people have posted that the handling was miserable until they got the weight down onto a front rack instead.

Guess I really ought to just try it for myself and save up for a front rack in case I don't like it.

unterhausen

I suspect it depends on how tall you are. I think a rando bag would be 4-5" lower on a rack than my handlebar bag, but I'm not convinced that a small load would really be that obvious. Some people are tall enough that it's considerably higher than that, it definitely could be obvious then

rhm

Easy, yes, very easy. But its enough work that you don't do it every day. My prediction is, once the mount is on the bar, it stays.

It's secure enough that the bag and contents don't cause fork shimmy etc, and though it stands proud of the handlebar, my handlebar is way below my saddle height so it isn't a matter of visibility. I just somehow don't like looking at the bag, and don't like the feel of it where my hands usually have all the room in the world. Eh. It's not bad, but its a compromise, dig?

thebulls

Just install it and give it a try, it's not going to be a big time-sink.

My first five years of rando I rode with a Klick-Fix type handlebar bag (LonePeak H-100):
Lone Peak H-100 & H-075 Handlebar Pack Bag

I usually also had a saddlebag, the Lone Peak isn't big enough to handle anything longer than a 200km in reasonably stable weather. Handling with the Lone Peak is acceptable. Standing up, or on climbs, you have more work to do to keep the bike tracking the way you want it. But I rode PBP and a 1000km with the Lone Peak and I know many others who have ridden 1200's with the Ortlieb Klick-Fix bag.

Then I bought myself a low-trail-ish '80's Trek to test whether low-trail would improve handling. It does. Then I bought a front rack and decaleur and moved the bag down onto the rack--handling improved again, significantly. Having gone through those two trials, I decided to bite the bullet and buy myself a Gilles Berthoud bag (GB28):
New Page 1

That let me ditch the saddlebag for 200's, 300's, and even 400's where the weather is stable and I don't need lots of changes of clothes.

It's a better system--less fatigue, more convenience than having a handlebar bag and saddlebag. But it's expensive and only worth it if you're committed to randonneuring.

unterhausen

Nick,
What size frame do you ride? I was eying the Acorn large rando bag, but I think I might be height deficient for that.

Chris_W

I really like using KlikFix bar-bags. I have both small and medium sized models from Vaude, both of which function very well. Unfortunately, they don't work well with aero-bars, so I haven't used one as much lately.

As for putting the mount on the bars, it's not hard, the cable that goes under the stem is the only tricky thing. When removing and reinstalling it, I normally leave the cable attached to the mount and remove the stem faceplate instead and hook the cable under that.

RR3

I am pretty sure a gentlemen who has ridden nearly every 1200k on the face of the planet and who hails from Oldwick NJ area.....he just uses a Bento bag and a large (2.7 L) Orthlieb seat bag. Determine how much stuff you need and then pick the bag size you need.

I just bought a Swift paloma handlebar bag for cleaner asthetics.....might ditch the seat bag and the Reveleate Gas Tank that work just fine for me but I only carry a gore tex shell, vest, reflective leg straps, arm and leg warmers, one tube, multitool, patch kit, chain and spoke repair stuff, one set of 186500 spare batteries, TP, laniseptic, band aids, and a little food. All in with two water bottles goes 28 pounds. I could shave two pounds off but then again I have twenty around my gut.

I have not mounted it yet but I bet it is like a wine cellar, you will always find a way to fill any sized container.

I think of a 400K no differently than a 200K. Completely same gear especially this time of year because it is possible that it starts and/or ends in the dark so lights should be on the bike. I did a 200K last week that ended in the dark and one guy did not have full lights but they did not check at the final control nor was there a big check at the start-interesting how each RBA does things differently. For instance, they are really serious in DC....the safety inspector made me get my helmet from my hotel room....I never bring my helmet to an inspection and some don't require a helmet anyway. Wait, i am off topic. If a spoke or chain breaks, I want to fix it. If rains, I want my goretex shell and maybe my SHowers Pass helmet cover. It is probably a good practice to ride with full gear all the time but I always wonder what other riders could possibly have in those cavernous Carridace bags especially the transverse saddlebags that clearly just catch a ton of wind.

unterhausen

If you mean Bill O., that's a pretty big bento bag. In addition to the ortlieb, he has been known to ride with a Carradice.

thebulls

Between 56 and 58 depending on frame geometry etc. I have the largest GB bag and it is still well below handlebar height (which I have set to be exactly the same height above ground as my saddle). I do have my front rack as low as it can be mounted so that the front of the rack bolts directly to the front of the fender with just a 1mm cork spacer.

thebulls

I agree with the first part of that sentence but not the second. The transverse saddlebags are usually fairly-well shielded by the riders legs. I'm pretty sure that the wind tunnel studies that Jan Heine did find that there is slightly more wind resistance with saddlebags than with something like the GB28 handlebar bag, but not much. And the GB28 had only neglibly-higher resistance than no bag at all--the bag is blocking air that would otherwise have been blocked by the rider. Loose clothes and saddle position have far more effect.
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/...orld-bicycles/

I've never noticed any difference in wind resistance between whether I'm riding with the saddlebag or with the handlebar bag or both.

As to the DC safety inspectors ... that's how it's "always" been done here, at least since I started in 2005, and I'm always surprised when I ride somewhere else that doesn't do strict safety inspections. I'm pretty sure that was me sending you back to get your helmet :-)

Nick
(RBA for MD:Capital Region and DC Randonneurs)

unterhausen

checking for helmets is a really good idea. I know someone that almost missed the start of a brevet because he had to go to Walmart and get a helmet

the single pannier I rode with last year added noticeable drag at times. Not planning on repeating that this year. Lots of fast people I know ride with the Carradice, you have to be pretty skinny for it to have measurable drag.

RR3

Jan does not provide the data in the link other than to say, "...front bags were more aerodynamic than rear ones. A handlebar bag was more aerodynamic than a Carradice saddlebag..." I took this to mean the handlebar bag was less lossy than the read saddle bag.

The rear shot shows the bag extending several inches outside Jan's hips and legs. This is a lot of drag to me.

None of Jan's findings were all that surprising.

This surprised me....

RR3

I remember the Potomac Pedalers Safety Inspectors actually making riders show your extra batteries back in the day....maybe 1992 or something like that. Not "Do you have extra batteries"....show me your extra batteries.

I hope to get down there for a ride this year.....such beautiful courses and good nice riders

RR3

Took my first ride today with the new handlebar bag. Found a complete set of high quality box wrenches in the middle of nowhere. Also found a good deal on Pont l'Eveque cheese and local bacon.......thankfully, it all fit into the new bag.

The mount is pretty easy to take off if you want fit in with certain types of riders and rides.

unterhausen

that's an interesting use for a bag. I rarely see anything by the side of the road, probably because I am not that interesting in some of the disgusting things I might see

RR3

Bought some farm fresh eggs today that made up for the horrible rain and sleet. I am happy with the bag especially since it is made in the USA. It only weighs 560g and allegedly holds 7 litres of stuff but I suspect this is a bit optimistic.

I mostly just see a lot of dead animals (also live ones....saw a Yote in Southern California recently). I have found tools before, knives twice, a credit card, a wallet, and an F350 duelie stuck in a ditch.

LWaB

There will be some parallax error with that photo that exaggerates the bag width.

My Carradice saddlebag has no side pockets and is narrower than my hips (I blame my mother for giving her son childbearing hips). I can't see there being noticeable additional aero drag with that setup.

RR3

Cool setup. Looks like it works for you. I have huge hips too.

I have only seen the Carradice saddle bags with the extender pockets.... with my own eyes and they are below the hip and wider than a typical rider's gait. Parallax error is usually under 1 MOA; so, I neglected it. Under 25kph, the point is moot. There is no difference between the two aerodynamically. I think what Jan meant was a handlebar bag causes less additional aerodynamic drag then a saddle bag.....at around 33kph....where he tested. I just don't see the Carradice saddlebag as a common bag for fast riders. I might do some counting and collecting data. I might be wrong. Just an opinion based upon observation because it seems slow riders use them and it seems slower riders have bikes and gear that probably push 50 pounds. Who cares.

I am starting to like my new handlebar bag although I am not sure if I need that much volume on a Brevet. The mount is brilliant. My circa 1970's Kirkland would not fit new bars and I could only use it on vintage bikes. The new mount can go from old narrow 26.0 bars to 31.8mm new standard with a simple change in the clips.