OTS 

gugie Have any tips and tricks to share?

Wildwood

My first handlebar bag in decades - this one from Acorn.

Andy_K 

I've got a small bag from Inertia Designs that holds just a bit more than a standard saddle bag -- a decent sized pump, a couple of tubes, some tools, a lock, and maybe a pair of gloves. It doesn't need any support, like the bag @Wildwood pictured. But once you start using handlebar bags, you just want more. The bag that @gugie uses will hold the entire known universe (proof: he always has room for one more thing). I believe @nlerner has one that will double as a dwelling for a small family. The bag from my first post is a bit of a compromise.

I can fit three 20 ounce water bottles in this bag, with room left over for the standard tire change stuff. When the bottles are on the bike where they belong, this will hold a long sleeved jersey or an uncompressed jacket. Plus, when you have space you always find more things that you want to carry along.

sincos

Might work. Using the right bender WILL work (it has channels for each dimension of tubing you use which prevents pinching and collapse, so don't stick an undersized tube in there). Hmm, maybe I should rephrase that -- using the right bender correctly will work.

nlerner

BAB!


Dave Cain at Waxwing does wonderful work. And it's paired with a @gugie decaleur making it rock solid no matter the load.

For much of my road biking that calls for more than a small seat bag, I use a relatively small bag from Outer Shell:


It's super versatile, easily going from bike to bike without the need for any attachment hardware.

Andy_K 

The bar straps on the bag in post #1 go right about where my finishing tape is, so I don't lose the outside flats position. It doesn't fit tight against the bar, so I'm sure I could slide my fingers between the bag and the bars if I were so inclined, but I can understand why you wouldn't want that if you use this position a lot. I do most of my riding on the hoods.

Andy_K 

They lose me at rule #47. I'm happy to drink tripels, but I need to ride triples as well.

gugie 

Oh, I'm serious. I've already posted what you need to do this earlier. I"ve sourced the tubing I used for you. Sand? you might do that for larger diameter tubing, not for 1/4". As noted earlier, the tubing bender will ensure you don't collapse the tubing. If you want to see it done I'm sure there are plenty of youtube videos.

It ain't rocket science folks. Grab some tubing, bend it up. Maybe you'll make a mistake, but the raw material's not expensive.

Andy_K 

Having just reviewed the rules, they actually lose me at rule #1 (Obey the rules), but I think I can claim to solidly obey as many as 29 of the 95 rules most of the time.

tiger1964 

Well that makes it difficult to say I don't have enough info to try it...

BFisher

You might surprise yourself. Ironically, I was at a local antique store just a few days ago and they had a small, handheld bender for 1/4" tubing. I may go grab it "just in case."

As far as sand goes, I've never heard of that. Back in my metal forming/factory work days I ran a big tubing bender for producing cart handles out of 1" 16 and 18 ga. mild and stainless tubing. We used mandrels similar to this one:


Stainless of that size can be a real PIA to form, as the spring back is less predictable and it tends to wrinkle. At the smaller diameter and with a good bender, you should have little worry. And the cost is relatively low.

nlerner

Another DYI-ish approach that doesn’t involve tube bending is the “Pec Deck” from Ronny Romance:

https://bikepacking.com/news/pec-dec-saddlebag-support/

His video is pretty insufferable, but with those Nitto stays and the right bag, it should be easy to rig something up.

Velo Mule

@gugie thanks for the part number. This is the same tubing that I used for shifter cable guides. Bike Forums - Cable Guides That makes it pretty versatile. Custom racks, handle bar supports and shifter cable guides, all stuff I will be working on at some point.

bear_a_bug 

I'll credit the man for cluing me into this rack paradigm. If you've got an old rear rack kicking around, you probably have most of the pieces you need to build one (no reason to build what is essentially a really low-rent rack with Ronnie's $75 collection of Nitto bolts/struts)
"Rack" below constructed with a couple rack struts, a wooden dowel, and some sloppy speedy-stitching on an old Zimbale saddlebag.

OTS 

gugie thanks for the assist.
somehow I missed the original post#5......duh
I am going to try it.

tiger1964 

I still want to try this, long-term. But I found a way out, for my use. Saw a Cannondale bag on eBay, with a "stem hanger" bar that holds the bag away from the bar but no real underneath support, for $60. I offered $30 and he keeps the bag, I just wanted the support; the seller accepted. For the shorter day trips I take, a smaller bag will be just fine, I am contemplating a small one from Velo Orange. The stem hanger has forward-projecting arms, I could rig a strap underneath if I needed support. What I really like compared to other bag supports is no hardware bolted to the bike so I can move the bag from bike to bike quickly.

Over 50 years cycling, I have never had a handlebar bag. Even my one week-long cycle camping trip in 1974, everything went into rear panniers -- climb into the foothills of the Appalachians, all weight on the back made for interesting handling of the bike.

That said, the support is a single length of rod/tubing, so I need to come up with something like a think rubber cylinder to get from rod diameter to handlebar diameter to attach the bag. I'll keep thinking...

gugie 

You may or may not need a support for a handlebar bag. As @Andy_K noted, this particular bag doesn't have much form to it, and loaded up it sags down and can rub on his front tire. It also tended to bounce around. The support pretty much took care of the issue, and as you noted, he can move it from bike to bike very easily. I've done several credit card tours with @nlerner. He uses a smaller handlebar bag that doesn't sag much when loaded. it just straps onto his handlebars and, if I remember correctly, some elastic straps that attach near his brake levers to keep it from bouncing around.

Two things were ingrained into my brain at an early age.
1. Handlebar bags are extremely handy on longer rides. It's like having a glove box on a bike.
2. Riding down the Pacific Coast in 1977 on a week long tour, having the load in the back made for a lot of "tail wagging the dog."


handlebar bag, good - all that weight in the back, bad (1977)


2016, eight out of ten bikes in this picture are front loaded

tiger1964 

99-44/100% sure you are right considering the light loads I anticipate; but it allows getting the bag away from the bars to allow the on-the-tops hand position, and for some reason I am fixated on that.

gugie 

You're not alone, that's a very good reason for doing this! I started making my own decaleurs for this very reason (bigger bag, needs a front rack). The commercial solutions available did not meet my need, so I made my own. Most of the handlebar bag supports that resemble Andy's haven't been made for awhile, the randonneur crowd has been driving the front rack + decaleur solution. Smaller bags and the fact that many of us have multiple bikes makes a slip on handlebar bag support an excellent option.

nlerner

In terms of handlebar bags that can go bike to bike without a decaleur or rack, I bought this Ortlieb bag last summer. I like Ortlieb because the do waterproof bags really, really well, and the size of this bag seemed useful to me. I haven't actually used it yet, but it should hopefully see some touring use this coming spring and summer.

Drillium Dude 

You weren't kidding; after 43 seconds I had to bail. Plus, that dude's only 21? He looks like he's in his 40s

DD

tiger1964 

Wow, a weekender case. You and I are in different leagues.

rccardr 

Boy likes his bags.

nlerner

I have this one, too, as Doc saw on our Virginia tour this past summer:

Prowler 

It sounds like you have one of the original C'dale bag hangers, under the stem and over the bars. I have two and like them. However C'dale bags had tension cords (bungees) that connected their bags to the fork ends. I do think that’s a good idea as it minimizes large and tiny bounces and vibrations. Those wee vibrations will “rattle” the hanger on the bars and, as on my bikes, may rub a mark into the bars, I slid some rubber tubing over the hanger to cover the section in the center that goes under the stem and over the bars and now always use the tension cords and place a short piece of handlebar tape between the hanger and the bars. Nice and stable, quiet and secure.

Also, the ease of swapping that hanger from bike to bike to bike depends a lot on how the brake cables are routed on each and how long they are. My bikes have non aero cables, all routed over the bars but some front cables route to DS, some to NDS. The height of the hoops and whether or not they cross and where and if you have computer cables, etc, can make installing the hanger easy or tricky or very tricky. I’ve got to just leaving the hanger on one bike and having a separate bag for each bike that needs one. But then, I seem to be carrying more stuff since, eh, shall we say, the last two years.