Originally Posted by
ColonelJLloyd
Yes, it's heavy. It's also just about the biggest handlebar bag out there. As to comments about the bag flopping around; my Ostrich bag came with hard plastic inserts to put in the sides. Do Berthoud bags have a better design without adding weight? A bag maker can't do everything for us, a little ingenuity in securely fastening it to your own bike is required.
The answer is YES... Berthoud does use a better design. To be more accurate, Berthoud uses a better implementation of the same design concept. Both the Ostrich and Berthoud bags use side panel stiffeners to keep the bag from collapsing, but any bag built this way will tend to collapse sideways... sort of like a squashed parallelogram. My Ostrich bag is nice and square at the rear of the bag where it is supported by the decaleur, but it sags sideways at the front of the bag... and it looks like crap on my bike. The Berthoud bags don't sag and collapse as badly.
The Ostrich bag's stiffeners slide into pockets sewn into the bags side walls, but these pockets are open on the top and bottom. This allows the stiffener panels to move and the bag to collapse and sag.
Berthoud also uses side panel stiffeners, but they slide into pockets that are closed at the top by velcro closures. This holds the stiffeners more securely in place and greatly reduces sagging. It still sags... but not nearly as badly as the Ostrich bag.
Now as for your ingenuity remark: I'm an engineer. Coming up with solutions is what we do. I can fix the sagging ailment on either bag and here's why I would choose the Berthoud bag every time.
I can add a single internal brace to the Berthoud bag and have the nice square bag that I want. No sagging or sloppy movement. The brace consists of a single piece of aluminum with two bends in it. If you plan ahead and drill it properly, you can even use the screws that already hold the decaleur to also bolt the brace in place. The velcro closures that hold the stiffeners also hold the brace arms.
Can't do that with the Ostrich. The only way to stiffen this bag is to build a much more elaborate internal frame. And then you must find a way to secure the frame inside the bag... this is already built into the Berthoud. And the Ostrich bag is much more prone to wear at the corners of the bag... the Berthoud has leather reinforcing at the corners of the bag. I'm afraid that installing an internal frame will wear holes in my Ostrich bag pretty quickly unless I am very careful to minimize friction.
So yeah... I bought an Ostrich bag because at the time they cost about a third of what a similar sized Berthoud would set you back. And I regret buying it. I love my Trek 520... I bought her new in 1983. And when I refurbished her I spent $2200 just in parts to get her just like I wanted. She looks fantastic... except for that bar bag on the front... that saggy bag looks like someone threw it on there as an afterthought.
As a matter of fact... I'm going to order a Berthoud bag to go on that bike.