Pearson100

Are there any companies that make a front light with a hook? My handlebar bag precludes mounting a light on the handlebar but the bag does have daisy-chain webbing in front. I could put a light there if the light had a hook similar to my Cygolite rear lights.
Thanks.

Koyote

Most handlebar bags tend to move around a bit as you are riding, which makes them less-than-ideal mounting points for headlights which need to be aimed properly. So, even if you find a headlight that attaches to a handlebar bag, you should ensure that it won't be bouncing around as you ride.

Rick

Send pictures of your bicycle. You could mount off of the fork crown or off the front rack or even on the handlebar with a tall mount to go over the handlebar bag.

Yan 

If your fork crown has a hole I would consider mounting there, or failing that, on your helmet.

Tourist in MSN

If it is a light to make you more visible to others, such a hook may work. But if your headlight needs to be aimed properly, a hook on fabric strap might not be ideal.

I think the front wheel axle is too low for a good mounting point, but that may be better than a light on a fabric strap. They make light mounts that thread onto a skewer. But fork crown height as mentioned by Yan is better than axle height.

chaadster

It sounds like we’re talking about a “hook” as in what is commonly called a clip, as in a belt clip.

If I have that right, the Specialized Stix headlights have an optional clip that can secure the lamp to straps, webbing, a pocket edge, a shoe upper, waistbelt, or anything thin like that.

They’re awesome little units as marker lights; if you need a light to illuminate a pathway at night, you’ll want something else, and probably a different mounting method since dangling from a clip is not going to allow for aiming and all that bouncing around would get really annoying awfully quickly.



EDIT: Haha…I now see many have noted that bag mounting is a generally poor method; sorry for repeating that. Stix are quite light though, so should be the better performer in that placement than a heavy unit.

Pearson100

On closer inspection of how the bag attaches to my bike, I see that the daisy-chain does not point straight ahead so a light with clip (hook!) will not work (unlike the photo at the company website where the daisy-chain does point straight ahead). I use the light to be seen, not to ride in the dark..



The issue with attaching a light to the handlebar around the bag straps is that the cables interfere with either the light straps fitting around the bars, or prevents light from pointing straight. There is no hole on the fork crown and in any case, there is not enough space between the bottom of the bag and the tire. (I have a very small bike).

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I appreciate your taking the time to help.

chaadster

The aforementioned Specialized Stix are what you want to be working with here, for sure. They're light and compact, and very bright, so ideal for non-standard placement jimmying.

I use velcro to attach Stix to the headtube on one bike-- and have done so since '15-- and to the front of the stem on my son's bike; they're light enough that the velcro (or DuoTec) holds fast and securely.

You could attach a square of Velcro/DuoTec to the front of the bag, and another to the Stix and just pop it on. I'm not certain of the adhesive strength of the velcro on the fabric bag, so you might want to use a supplemental adhesive. I cannot recommend one, but a little Google shoulld provide some insight. Or, it may not be necessary; there are some heavy duty self-adhesive hook-and-loop out there, like the 3M DuoTec which I have been using lately. Or, if you're handy with a needle and thread, a few stitches on the bag piece would do the job.

You said the bike was small, but if you have some exposed head tube below the bag, a piece of velcro will put you in business in seconds. The Stix can be oriented perpendicularly or horizontally, so options there.

Other than that, Stix come with rubber band seatpost mounts, and you may be able to fit one of those to the leg of your fork, or maybe even the crown. If the fork leg is wide enough, you might even be able to use velcro there.

Years ago, Tacx made handlebar end lights which replaced the end plug. I have a pair on my mini-velo. They're decent, but no longer available (except maybe NOS somewhere). More importantly, they suggest to me thatt you might be able to rig up a mount solution for Stix in that same way, say by securing a short, slim bracket to the end plug. Maybe it could be mounted between the bar and the plug cover, or if thin enough, inserted between the expander and the inside of the bar. Turning the exposed end-- only need about1"-- down, perpendicular to tthe road, you could use the ol' velcro and Stix trick to get forward firing light. Definitely a hack, but...

Rick

Pearson100: There is room on the handlebar for something like the Velo Orange Handlebar Accessory Mount.

tcs

Minoura makes all kinds of light mounts.

chaadster

Hot tip! I like the bar end mount!!

Kontact

The underside of the bar drop is another place a round clamp light can be afixed to.

Pearson100

The Specialized Stix option looks promising. Thank you!

I looked at the photos of the mounts and don't see how they avoid the problem I have with my lights -- the cables prevent anything from going on the bars (it is tight where the cables go under the tape).

Rick

Pearson 100: I looked at the bars and the space between the cables. I could make the mount I linked to work on those bars. The Minoura mounts tcs showed would easily work for this. I suggest you go to a bicycle shop and ask for some help. I'm thinking you may lack the experience needed for the task at hand.

Leisesturm

I took a look at the RR handlebar bags on the product website. It does appear that your bag is meant to be rotated more forward than on your bike and then the accessory loops would face more forward. Are you securing the back loop that holds the bag tight against the headtube of the bike? With that done there is no swaying of the bag, and IMO there would be more than enough stability for a 'be seen' light. That said, I don't have a ton of faith in clip mountings. In your situation I would use a helmet mount for a headlight. Actually, if I wasn't going to be riding in the dark, like you aren't, I would have no need for a 'be seen' light at all. When I wear this latest b'day present from the DW, I get brights flashed at me by the cagers, and shoppers in the supermarket ask me if I can turn it down. No batteries to replace, and no charging hassles whatsoever. Comes in summer weights as well. Highly recommended.

Pearson100

I can't rotate the bags more because the cables protrude out which prevent the bag from dropping down more. My stem is only 600m so unlike other photos I've seen, the cables don't nestle more under the stem. (And I do notice that company website photos of many handlebar bags always seem to show bikes with no cables or non-intrusive cables!.)

Again, thanks to all for offering suggestions. I did order the Specialized Stix and the clip so I will go back to more experimentation. (Trying to find ways to attach accessories on an extra small bicycle with not a lot of free real estate is something I'm very experienced with!)

Tourist in MSN

If you need to reroute the cables, it can be done but might be more work than you want to do.

The older Shimano brifters ran cables straight out the sides of the brifter units, which put the cables right where your handlebar bag would be. A friend of mine had a solution for this, the photo is over a decade old, I cropped this from a much larger photo to make the V brake noodles more visible.




That said, if you were going to put some time into a project, a different mounting point for the light might be a better solution than the time spent on cables.

biker128pedal

I see you have the Trek Blendr stuff. I have a Burrito bag but shift it down so it is below the lower mount and light. I also use the Garmin out front mount for my GPS and when I need a brighter longer lasting light mount it below the GPS using a GoPro type mount. Also I’ve use the plastic GPS Blendr mount like you have and my Edge 1030 moves too much with rough road vibrations. The Out front is more rigid. Or use the Blendr Aluminum GPS mount. This I have on my Checkpoint.

Like this but on my Domane. Domane is hung up because plan to ride the Checkpoint tomorrow.

noglider 

Here is my solution. I mount the light to the side of the fork. I made this for one of my bikes. I made it again out of PVC pipe.

Link to album