Originally Posted by
vja4Him
How much weight can you carry with your Ortlieb Ultimate Plus handlebar bag? I'm looking for something that will easily handle 10-12 pounds or more, and as waterproof as possible. I want to be able to carry tools, large digital camera with extra batteries for the camera and for two headlights, so that's at least 12AA batteries, plus tools, camera, and extra room for inner tube, patches, glue, food bars, first aid stuff, and maybe something else ....
I also need a map holder on the bag ....
You won't want to overload it; handling gets very sketchy.
Right now I've got a tube, levers, couple of hex keys, multi-tool, phone, bluetooth headset, wallet (in the interior zipped pocket), lock keys (clipped to the bag's key snap-buckle with a carabiner), couple of energy bars, several wool skull caps & a neck gaiter. Also the attached shoulder strappage (the lid fits OVER the exterior attachment points with the strap attached - it's pretty cool).
Before I mounted a bracket for the U-lock on the frame, I tried carrying it in the bag. After only going about 15 feet, I took it out & forced it into back pocket of jacket. Even though it was uncomfortable there & banged the back of the saddle, it was MUCH better than the scary handling it produced riding in the bar bag. More weight = much more wheel flop.
That said, I'm glad I got the Large instead of the Medium b/c there's room to carry all the lights (2 PB Blaze, 3 PBSF) & computer (Garmin Edge) in there when I go away from the bike. There's still room for stuff like warmers or a thin wind vest.
I got the map case for it & it seems fine, although I've only used it to hold a lite-rail schedule. I have no other map case or bar bag experience to compare it to.