Sturdy handlebar extender
 

So I recently got a Topeak Handlebar Extender that I put my computer (light little cateye wired strata cadence), airzound, and cateye headlight on. Today was my first ride with it on and, at the end of the 2 hours (maybe 30 minutes was grocery shopping), I was maybe half mile from my house and the stem on the thing connecting the extender to the handlebars snapped and the extension dropped down. Fortunately the hose from the airzound and the wire from the computer kept it out of my wheel, but as my rear was overloaded with about 40 lbs (I counted because that's the limit of my rack and if you count my wald baskets I overloaded it) and I was going pretty fast down a hill so I freaked a bit but kept in control. Brand new extender gone.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_O...2/P1040676.JPG
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_O...2/P1040678.JPG
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_O...2/P1040681.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_O...2/P1040682.JPG
I'd thought that stem was metal, but by looking at the cross section that's obviously not the case.

Anybody have some suggestions for one that's sturdier and won't fail on me on the first ride (or hopefully any subsequent ones)? And hopefully won't break the bank?

Or was I just unreasonable in what I wanted it to hold?

Do you have a lot of headtube spacers? You could simply add another stem with a short piece of a flat handlebar on there. Or try the Minoura Space Grip http://www.amazon.com/Minoura-Access.../dp/B000AO5MZY

Unfortunately, I'm running a threaded to threadless adapter, so no spacers or room for a second stem, but tat's a good idea.
Have you tried that? The connection does look more solid than what I had. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

If you've got some hardwood and a dowel laying around, you can make one just the size you need for only the cost of a hose clamp:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=193464
Looking up at my still-cluttered bar, you can't see the clamp hardware from above.

Much better, and much nicer looking, is the Dashboard Genie: http://www.bdopcycling.com/Dashboard%20Genie.asp Comes in several different configurations, and the carbon fiber tube isn't subject to getting squished like my dowel rod.

The Minoura stuff is pretty rock solid. I generally don't like adding attachment junk around the bar and cockpit area but I had two fairly heavy lights I hung from a space grip for years, no issues. I also use one of Minoura knob mounts for a computer mount off the stem on a touring bike, never moves/slips.

The Bdop cycling dashboard genie looks intriguing. I have also seen spacers that that have something similar to the Minoura spacegrip attached, but I can't think of the name of it.

Thanks guys. That dashboard genie is something I'd remembered seeing before but couldn't remember where. I don't like a ton of clutter, but my air zound and the light mount don't fit on the 31.8 mm part of my bars and I ride with cyclocross-style interrupter levers which between them and the angle of the brake housing coming out of them take up pretty much all of the narrower circumference part of the bars. I'm not sure if the biggest dashboard genie (my preference because of the size (I'd like another light up front) and the double supports that the others don't have) would interfere with my ability to use the levers on the tops when I'm up there. For the time being (probably won't keep it though), I squeezed my light mount in the one space I could get it to fit on the bar and the air zound I have around the bit of the support from the bar extender that's left (the base). It's actually not bad as a short term solution, as it leaves the button for the air zound right next to my left thumb if I'm on the tops with my hands at the interrupter levers (I have my right levers running the front). Long term, I'll probably look for something like either of the two options people have posted, thanks.