I have a rack bag on my bike but I would love to add a handlebar bag. There is a problem with this idea. There is light on the handlebar. No way I can fit both. I thought about adding a front rack (To strap the handlebar bag down to.) The only thing is the fork is Carbon Fiber. (Can't bolt anything to a C.F. fork.) Does anyone have any ideas of what I should do since I only need a little more space for my stuff?

How much more are you trying to carry? Considered a frame bag?

Parlee Cycles can add eyelets to any CF fork. Of course you're without the bike while they have the fork.

Ribble Cycles UK sells a couple of different CF forks with fender eyelets. I own the Deda Black Rain. The eyelets are on the metal dropouts. They seem quite robust. There shouldn't be a problem with the amount of weight you can fit in a handlebar bag. Unless you're carrying around gold bars. Downside is you'll also need a 57mm brake caliper. (I have a Shimano BR-R600 I'll sell if you decide to go this route.)

You're in Colorado, right? There are lots of custom frame builders there who may be able to fabricate a custom rack for you. I'm thinking something sort of inverted from the typical design, bolting behind the brake caliper as usual, but with struts coming up to the bars instead of down to the eyelets. I'd start with Renold Yip of YiPsan Bicycles. He's done quite a bit of innovative and award-winning work in transportation cycling.

All i can think of is a rack that mounts on head tube/handlebar and axle. If you have a quick release, probably wouldn't work though.

Steco Transport Handlebar mounted Front Rack

Wald 151 Drop Top Front Bike Basket

- Andy

What about a frame bag?

Assuming you've got room on your fork for spacers, something like this might do the trick:

Thorn Accessory Bar T Shaped 55 mm Extension - £16.99

(I've actually got a spare -- what with trans-Atlantic shipping, figured I'd get one of each size just in case, but I've never used the longer one.)

Look at some options from Velo Orange or Riv bikes. Small rack and bag front options. Benta bag? Sits right on the top tube. Can you put the light down lower on the front? They make smaller handlebar bags that go back toward the rider. Revelate and other make frame bars, lots of options. Larger seat bag? Plenty of variables there too.

I have a phone mount extending forward from the stem and by pure luck it's all my bag needs for it to lay across, strapped to the top of the drop bars with a velcro loop.

Well, it's home-made and likely much sturdier than available phone mounts but it doesn't actually need the phone mounting platform to use for the bag. Just a strip of hardwood strapped under the stem, covered with fake carbon fiber vinyl so as to not offend anyone's sensibilities, is all you need for a bag mount. Some kind of strap and clasp arrangement at the top and bottom of the bag and you're in business. I extended it to one side with about four inches of plastic to cover the headlight, which is mounted under the bar, to keep the bag from drooping down over it.

I have an Ortlieb handlebar bag which attaches to a mounting bracket that takes very little room on the handlebar itself. The one issue I have is that the bag blocks any light mounted on the handlebar, so I got an extender that raises the light high enough to shine over the bag.

I fitted a bamboo stick on my handle bar to get more space and I also managed to fit a homemade front rack on my carbon fiber fork using some hockey tape, metal clamps and oak pieces... I will post some pics tonight when I get home if you want me to.

The whole thing is very very freddish and ugly but it's very strong and effective.

FWIW, I just posted this yesterday:

See also this current thread on the Commuting Forum, “ Commuting with a single (rear) pannier “

I hate to think of what a panda bear would do to this setup.

I'm safe, in canada we only have black, polar and grizzly bears...

I was reading about some high end lights and noticed that a fellow who uses 2 of these lights uses them on his randoneuring bike which has a handlebar bag and then he uses a Topeak handlebar extender upside down to shine the lights from under the handlebar bag; I thought, what a great idea.

On this page, Topeak® Cycling Accessories ? Products - BarXtender?, there is an example of its use this way.

The hockey tape is typical Canadian, I'm surprised you didn't use a hockey stick instead of bamboo.

I tought about it but a hockey stick is square and a bamboo stick is round. Nowaday everything is made in china, hockey stick as well as bamboo...

A Klick Fix Bar bag mount has an additional piece that allows one to add more accessories on a tube above the bar bag itself.

See the 'Multiclip' .. Rixen & Kaul, KLICKfix Adaptersysteme Fahrradzubehör, Solingen, Taschen, Körbe, Werkzeug

Wow, so many great ideals! Thanks everyone. One thought was to get Topeak basket from L.L. Beam and put the handlebar bag in it as needed. Zip tie the light to the side .Topeak Handlebar Basket: Cycling Bags | Free Shipping at L.L.Bean Would this work?

I'm in PA for the holidays. Will anyone remember how to ride the bike after Thanksgiving? LOL (Man, I ate too much already and it's not even the holiday!)

Wouldn't you still have the same problem with the light on your bars?


If I was going to go that big, I'd just go with a pannier. Or those metal folding baskets that attach to your rack but fold up and don't come off the bike.

Did you get a chance to look at the 2 links i posted? I think you might like the wald option, as it is adjustable to different handlebar situations.

- Andy

Not sure if this would work for you here is what I have rigged up for my lunch cooler. It could act as a small "basket" I suppose. I took some monofilament fishing line and sewed the strap on the cooler so the length would let the cooler ride at the desired height when the strap was looped behind the bolts on the stem. My finger is on the excess part of the strap behind the stitching. It is draped over the bars and held tight to the stem with a short piece of velcro. Easy on easy off.

I started another thread asking if anybody knows where I can get those old Norco or WorldFamous handlebar bags that were so prevalent 30 years ago. I got trolled instead.

I have a 35year old 10 speed racer. I changed the drop handles to straight handlebars. I wear my light on my helmet.

What I found about modern handlebar bags is:

1) I really don't like threading those straps in the cold and the dark. If you have a lot of heavy stuff in it, it's a little more difficult threading the first strap. Those bags of 30 years ago had a metal frame and it was much easier to secure onto the handlebar;

2) you have to raise your handlebar high so that the bag won't rub against the front tire - unless you have fenders;
3) don't pull the straps too tightly against the handlebar or you might inadvertently be tightening your brake cables;
4) it's nice to have extra space to carry more stuff, like tools or foul-weather clothing but it's not only extra weight it's extra wind resistance. I do feel the difference when I repack all that stuff into my trunk to carry not two bags but only one. More bags to take off, more bags to carry around when you lock up your bike.

I hang a Minora swing grip under the stem and put my lights under the bag, works good for me.

The Ward basket is super idea but, I have a road type of handlebar (not flat). The basket wouldn't fit unless I do some cutting to make it fit. The Minora Swing Arm is good too but where do you get it here in the states? The LBS is totally clueless when I talked about it with them.