gauvins

(I would rather have a smallish top tube bag rather than a bag dangling from my butterfly handlebar.)

The are dozens of models. What to look for? Recommendations? (to store keys, battery pack and a couple of chocolate bars, I would think).

fietsbob

This is a pretty small one https://www.ortlieb.com/en/produkt-d...ndlebar%20Bags

Its narrow enough to fit between the front curves of Most trekking Bars .





I stacked up 2 stems on my threadless steerer 2nd Lies Just Below the Trekking bar
I Could have used the T mount above WB Bicycle Gallery: Robert Clark's Koga Miyata WTR

and It has The QR mount for a Handle Bar Bag.. nothing "dangles".. It is all solidly Fixed .




Link to some of the ones you are considering for criticism for your benefit.

gauvins

I like your setup but I don't quite understand what you did. OK for stacked stems -- but what exactly did you put on the second one? A length of tubing?

fietsbob

Yes ...1" Aluminum Tubing .

Tourist in MSN

I think fietsbob did something like I did. I have a few examples here.

This is on my LHT from my Pacific Coast trip, I used a small piece of PVC pipe in the lower stem to hold the handlebar mounting bracket. This lowers my handlebar bag and frees up a little bit of handlebar space for other stuff like my GPS bracket.



The one below is on a bike I am just finishing up. (Yes that is snow in the background.) In this case I sawed off part of a handlebar instead of using the PVC pipe like I did above.



But, this obviously holds a lot more than keys and a few bars to chomp on.

hochflynn

I love this bag https://www.amazon.com/eoGEAR-Century.../dp/B00DP1H5P4 Very well made and holds my phone (on/off on the top, other bags were too tight and shut it off, this has a little more length w/o being too large), keys, bar, charger and more. Also has a place for a pen which for me is nice - convenient to jotting down notes.

Doug64

I'm thinking you are posting about the type of small black bag on the top tube.


This one is a Profile Design, but Nashbar makes a twin to it. They are OK for snacks etc. However, many of them have mesh tops which are not good in wet conditions. I saw a waterproof one made by Topeak that looked like it would be more useful: Topeak Tri DryBag - REI.com

I wouldn't miss it! I usually store a snack and my saddle cover in it. However, on tours I have my bar bag which is a lot more handy. I didn't bother with putting it on my bike for a 2-month tour last summer.

jonc123

My wife has this one, it does look nice and is lightweight:

https://www.revelatedesigns.com/inde...ockpit/GasTank

saddlesores

i'm travelling (not by bike this time) away from computer with
all my photos................

i've got an easydo brand bag with quick-release clip that fits nicely
inside the curves of my flutterby bar that i use for touring.

around home i use a spare quick-release from the last easydo bar bag
that died to mount a much smaller bag. was orginally the velcro loop
type....just cut off the loops...came with it's own little protective
rain cover, too. is just large enough to carry wallet, cell phone
and keys. solid and stable and not a bit dangly.

prefer it to the top-tube bag. QR wont' scratch the paint, and is
easy to unclip for off the bike shopping experiences.

jrickards

It seems to me that they are moderately common in bike packing setups and furthermore, I've seen some setups that use 2 of them (see image). Sometimes, if you have a long enough seat tube, you can orient the bag vertically facing down to the top tube instead of horizontally and facing the seat (but that's your choice depending on what's in it and how often you need to access the contents while riding.

hochflynn

I had the topeak bag you mention prior to the one I mentioned. While the top does keep things dry, I found it a very inconvenient top - not easy to maneuver. The EoGear one I subsequently bought might not be water proof per se, but it has a zippered top, one zippered side and one velcro side and I never had a problem with contents getting particularly wet. Then again, I don't normally ride thru heavy rain for hours. Other than a phone that can go in a zip lock bag, nothing else in there would be an issue anyway if they got wet.

tarwheel 

I have a Timbuk2 top-tube bag that has functioned well for me. I selected it because REI had them in stock and it has a sleeve on top where you can put an iPhone. I didn't want a big bag, just something large enough for some gels, granola bars and camera. It looks like they have changed the design a bit since I bought mine, but here's a link to the current model:

Timbuk2 Goody Box Frame Bag - Medium - REI.com