Cyclist0108

Seems like any rigid-mount system comes with a warning not to use it with carbon bars. It makes me worry that even others, that hang from straps, might be dangerous. I have a 30 year old Eclipse bag with a wire mount that loops around the stem, which seems like a viable solution, but the bag is old and the stabilization straps are not compatible with my fork. This mount design seems to have disappeared (perhaps it is flawed?).

jefnvk

What about a front rack that the bag sits on?

mstateglfr 

I am no help to your actual question, I just found this comment to be surprising. If a handlebar bag mount could be dangerous...how safe are the bars?


I am not suggesting CF bars are some liability death trap waiting to impale you with shards of fibers after exploding...but if bars cant handle the rub and dynamic movement of a mount system, how can they handle mountainbiking/gravel riding/years of regular road use?
Just seems odd.

fietsbob

The Ortlieb bag's mounting bracket is a figure 8 of plastic coated cable to fit the bar bag mount on the bars..

Klick fix uses 2 plastic U brackets around the bars, then a loop of cable

to keep the bracket from rotating, with weight in it..

Klick Fix brackets will hang Ortlieb's bags from them

Either should be fine with carbon bars, belt & braces wrap some gaffers tape where the wires will go ,

to cover the lacquered epoxy.


I have a wire KF bag support, and found it works with a blue Eclipse bag, I also have..


You can make a way to fit the elastic shock cord to those D rings on the bag , if you try..



Internet seems to kill independent problem solving, I conclude, as I continue to read posts on this Forum.















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shipwreck

Cannot give any thoughts on what bag to use with carbon, sorry. I have several of the old cannondales with the same mounting system, used on my alloy bars. I really really like them.

It would seem that rather than the mount design disappearing because it is flawed, it went out of use because of the flaws and limitations of carbon bars...

Cyclist0108

I agree. I was surprised by it as I was about to purchase a new bag. I can only guess, but I suspect it is the propensity for a user to over-tighten the rigid mount.

Cyclist0108

Except the Eclipse eclipsed a long time ago ... before the Carboniferous period. In any case, the reason I asked about that was that it seems like the 30 year old Eclipse mounting system would be ideal for something like carbon bars (if I am right that the objection is that someone might over-tighten the mounting hardware).

Cyclist0108

Doesn't seem to have helped with reading comprehension or diplomatic skills much, either.

ploeg

Ortlieb says, "The UItimate mounting set must not be used on carbon handle bars." https://www.ortlieb.com/en/technisches/lenkertaschen/

The main concern is that you might apply a clamping force to a part of the handlebar that was not designed to take a clamping force. Sometimes you can apply a clamping force only to a 50mm-wide section of the bar, just barely enough for the stem. Other times, you can clamp things to a much wider section of the bar. The bar should indicate where you can clamp accessories and where you can't. Just be sure that you keep an eye on the bar, because, you know, you aren't following directions.

mstateglfr 

Oh, yup, didnt even think about clamping down too hard. I was thinking wear, tear, and weight was the issue.

jefnvk

I just went through loads of handlebar bags online this past week, and seemingly universally they all warned against use on CF bars. CF can be made strong, but it doesn't necessarily handle all forms of stresses well in all load directions. I'd guess that the area under clamps are not reinforced, it'd be easy to overtorque and crack them.

Tourist in MSN

If you have carbon handlebars, I am assuming you do not have any spare steerer tube where you could run a second stem. I say that because every bike I have seen with carbon bars does not have handlebars up very high. But, if you do you could install a second stem and a short piece cut off of a handle bar or the right diameter PVC pipe in that second stem and then put your handlebar bracket on that. See first two photos.

I am familiar with the bracket you are talking about, I used to use one of those bags, see third photo. I bent up a bracket to fit because the original bracket was sized for a quill stem, the original bracket would not fit on the threadless stem. But I no longer use this bag, switched to the ones that have a quick release as shown in the first two photos. I think nobody uses those brackets anymore because the new quick release design is so much better.

I do not have any carbon components, so I have no opinion on the safety of it.

Cyclist0108

It does make me wonder if this is more about lawyers limiting liability from users who don't use a torque wrench, vs. a real issue.

Oh, your rack suggestion is a good one -- my Enve cyclocross fork is the problem. (The fundamental problem is I am trying to decide if I should get a touring bike or stick with my custom "adventure road" bike. It is a nice ride, and I gave my 1990 Trek 520 to one of my grad students about 10 years ago, since I thought I might never tour again.)

Cyclist0108

That's a brilliant idea. I think I might have enough room for it, and I just today found an extra stem rolling around in the car.

Here is how the bike looks: https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/10...tour-bike.html

niknak

What about a bikepacking style roll? No clamps necessary. You can tape the spots on your bars where the straps touch. On my last few tours I've just used toe straps to lash the tent to the bars and put a Revelate Pocket over it all. The Pocket holds my phone, camera and some snacks.

shipwreck

True, I didn't think out the cheap carbon shot before jumping on it.
Today I put a bag mount on a bike with a threadless stem from a quill. Had to get a new cable at the hardware store. They did not have the coated cable, so I got some tubing to go over it. You could double up the cable coating for more protection possibly. My bag is the same as tourist in mn's middle bag. Honestly if that wore out a carbon bar then that's ridiculous. The clamp cannot torque down tight enough to stress anything.

Cyclist0108

Aluminum bars are not without their own set of problems and limitations.

linus

I've used handlebar bag on my S-WORKS carbon bar without any issue. The handlebar came with warning sticker not to use any clip-on aero bars with it too.

shipwreck

Curious, could you list a few? No snark, I have no interest in the carbon debate really. So far the only problem I have had with Aluminum bars is not being able to stick things to them with magnets. A couple of my bikes have 50 year old GB bars on them, get ridden pretty hard and I need to know if they are going to explode on my next ride. Seriously though, I just wonder what the problems and limitations that you refer to are.

fietsbob

your same weight weenie opting for a super thin wall light weight drop bar of aluminum , is potentially, the issue.

get a more substantial bar made in thicker tube wall aluminum..

Name dropping : Nitto , heat treated, after forming, bars will be .. reliable..


don't count grams there, its not a hill-climb-time-trial




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Cyclist0108

I've heard you are supposed to replace them every 5 years or so, or after an impact, due to the possibility of them snapping without warning. Having said that, I have never replaced any, including my 1987 Modolo bars (which came with a stem that was recalled), until last year.

Cyclist0108

I just got the Nitto for my Bianchi (decided to ditch the 1987 Modolos, mainly because they were stuck in a stem I no longer wanted to use). These carbon bars on my "adventure road" bike are actually more comfortable than even the Nitto noodles. Basically, I want to leave this bike as it is. I blew a wad of cash getting a custom (steel frame) bike that fits perfectly, and it does (anything I change is almost always for the worse). If I change out the carbon bars, I should also get rid of the carbon stem, the carbon fork, the electronic shifting along with the Di2-imposed limitations ... I'd rather just invest in a zero-compromise touring bike and put exactly what I need on for the bars, fork, wheels, brakes, shifting, etc., while leaving the "adventure road" bike unmolested.

It just never occurred to me that mounting a front pack would be an issue until I went to purchase a new one today.

ploeg

This comment would apply more to carbon than to aluminum, since carbon is a layered material and you won't necessarily see damage to internal layers. Personally, I think that it's excessive to replace parts without any indication that the part is defective, but certainly there's enough inattentiveness and denial out there that I can see where a risk-adverse corporation might want to err on the side of caution. (Risk-adverse humans too!)

I had to replace an aluminum handlebar after 15 years of service because the bar corroded around the clamp area. In that case, there were actual holes in the bar, so you could see that it needed to go.

fietsbob

By the way, shoppers, SJS Cycles in UK makes a 1 bolt stem like piece with a T of 7/8" aluminum welded on
for mounting bar bag mounts..

it will occupy less steering tube spacer height, than using a regular threadless stem
with a stub of tubing in it..

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linus

If you want the same level of fork with eyelets for racks and fenders, checkout Niner carbon forks. Fyxation also makes forks with eyelets, but tapered version will be not released until May.