reynoldsarts

After three frustrating years with this bags strap disengaging I took a few days to ponder the defective post system. I got such of catching my $2500.00 camera halfway down.



got it. Cost me $2.89 to make 100% safe.
2 stainless eyebolts
2 saddles
2 washers
2 lock washers
2 nuts

drill hole (slightly smaller than eyebolt) through post into bag interior. Put saddle on eyepost. Screw into bag through post. Mark length after putting lockwasher and nut on. Then cut to length. Reswrew into post and lnstall washer, lockwasher and nut. I use lock tire to finish up. Two keychain rings on the eyebolt, any clip strap and you’re golden. Many times safer and stronger than original.

djb

first of all, as someone who worked in the field for a long time, I totally get the concerns about an expensive piece of equipment hitting the pavement....always our biggest fear.

Ive had a non magnet Med handlebar bag for many years, the ones with the snaps, and my experience was not the same as yours. Once I figured how to do that final, hard pull and "snap" with my shoulder belt attachment end (maybe it changed with yours) I never had problems if I attached it properly.
Ive done some longish trips, and so have carried my hbag daily over my shoulder for months and months walking through towns and stores, and it was fine.

that said, I was carrying my old Nikon pt and shoot, so I didnt have the same concerns you do.
funnily enough, the one thing I've had concerns about the newer magnet setup is the lid popping open with any kind of fall of either bike or off your shoulder, and spilling out a camera or cell phone or tablet or whatever.

*I also wonder how pickpockety type folks could much more easily open it in a crowd and get their hand in, compared to the older snap system (this is actually a very important concern for me, given some of the places I have travelled through)

I got my wife a magnet model, and was rather surprised last summer when she took a little tumble and the lid didnt open. I really expected it to, given how easy it is to open it with just a little pull on the magnet lid....

for you at least now, you are sure not to have any strap surprises.

timdow

If I carry my bike on my car, it is worth more than my car. If I carried a $2500 camera, I would be carrying a camera on my bike that is more than my bike that is carried on my car that is worth more than my car.

djb

just to let you know that I liked that. I chuckled.
and pretty much why in all my years touring, I've always carried inexpensive cameras, and part of that is from decades of worrying about theft/damage/whatever to my professional equipment , well maybe not worry, but certainly hyper awareness of being careful of. So taking pt and shoots, even back in the film days, was liberating because I just didnt worry that much about worst case scenarios, and is the same today.

but thats a choice, and like I said, I certainly get his concerns about his hbag, and the Ortlieb strap attachment is a bit particular and if not attached properly, can do "oopsies" moments of the strap detaching.

imi

OP! Well done, and this will finally inspire to do same! I tell myself to every time the strap disengages, but then forget it :/

saddlesores

looks nice, but how about waterproofing?
i'd still worry about monsoon rains following the threads into the bag.

did you use rubber grommets, or engine-block liquid gasket?

Trevtassie

Ortlieb need a good boot up the date for coming up with such a crap strap system, mine promptly fell off somewhere. Zip ties and a cheap strap fixed that.

Tandem Tom

So that I am clear are you talking about the handlebar bag? If so I find that the map case attachment system is quite lacking. It was very frustrating during last summer's 3 month tour in Europe.

djb

what generation is your map case?
again, my experiences with map case, as with strap system, has been excellent.
to be clear, my map case is the old one with two snaps.
the best paper map case I've seen, truly waterproof (if folded propetly and velcroed properly) and a useful size compared to many other map cases.

I've found that German designed things have a certain logic to how they need to be used, and the hbag strap attachment system is clearly one that one must use it properly.

my wife's newer magnet hbag doesn't have a map case, so I haven't any experience with it, seems to use little loop thingees right to attach to bag? Is this what you don't like or the waterproofness thing?

yes there are certain niggles with their hbags , but one must balance things against the major pluses of total waterproofness even in total down pours, which i have ridden in many times, and their inherent light weight compared to many other hbags.

I don't have patience with stuff that doesn't work properly, but on the various long trips I've done, I'm very satisfied with the ortlieb handlebar bag.

I'd be very happy to buy your used ones with map cases at a good price if you want to sell them.

djb

Tom, I just properly looked at the newer style of mapcases, and I see that they addressed an issue that was common with the older type like I have, which was on downhills at speed, the mapcase would lift up on the non attached part, nearest the rider.
The new ones with those loop thingees seem to have put an extra set closest to the rider also, so this must stop the lifting thing going on.
On my bike, this isnt a problem because I have shifter cables that loop over the hbag, and effectively stop it from moving up at speed.

Is it the attachment system that you dont like? I'd like to hear your opinion as Ive never used the new ones.

IPassGas

I have had a Ortlieb 6 bag since ~2014 (magnetic closure), used much, and with their map case. The strap attachment clicks on very firmly and has not once come loose. I do find that the strap gets twisted and I have to unwind it around the connector before slinging over shoulder (I always initially unwind the wrong way....arrrgh!). I wish that the strap had a pivoting connection just above the top of bag. I have a sewing machine and could do, but haven't bothered. The map case works great. I always fold at 1/2-3/4 length, place the fold underneath and attach a plastic wire to the front so that it doesn't ride up in the wind.

Tandem Tom

djb, the clips seem to come off on a regular basis. Last summer we spent 3 months in Europe and this was an annoyance. I had a chance to talk with Ortlieb and they are sending me a new set of clip.
I was toying around with the idea of rare earth magnets and some type of attachment.

djb

when you say "clips", are you referring to the clips on the map case?
I just looked more closely at a photo of the map case, and it appears that the clips just hook onto the side of the top part of the hbag. Is that the case, that they dont actually attach to the lid, but just hook onto the lid material?
Is it supposed to stay on securely simply from tension of the what looks like bungee type stretchy material that the hooks are attached to the map case?
Im genuinely curious, as Ive never played with a newer one, only seen one in a store years ago, but didnt really pay attention.
I downloaded a photo of a case, and we can see the clip / hook up in the upper left, it appears it just has an actual "hook" shape that hooks onto the mag lid material?
How does one increase the tension of the hooks?

Im genuinely curious because I regularly open my bag lid to quickly grab my camera, and the old style of two snaps meant that the case would flop forward, but never ever fall off.
thanks

Tandem Tom

Yep that is the map case. To increase the tension you can shorten the elastic cords. Ortl sent me a new set, arrived yesterday, so I will give them a try.

djb

well I am very curious one day to see this in person, although you know what, I wonder if stores have them in stock, because I reckon the percentage of actual map users is pretty small nowadays, especially with anyone under thirty.

reynoldsarts

Im in Vietnam. Cambodia Laos 4 months. 9 months last year with full week or torrential rain. No leaks

reynoldsarts

i drilled a slightly smaller hole than the eye bold. Used pliers to get it in.