Flounce

For long rides and brevets, I used a medium size front bag (Lone Peaks Alta) mounted with a Klickfix mechanism to handlebars of my road bike, worked great:

Lone Peak H100 Alta Handlebar Bag ? TheTouringStore.com


Then I added aerobars, and could no longer use the front bag I had purchased. Other traditional boxy rando front bags (e.g. rack mounted) also appear to go above the level of the handlebars and therefore prevent use of aerobars (unless the aero bars are much tilted upwards at the front, which I don't do).


Something that uses cloth straps and hangs down below the handlebars would work, something like this (I think):

Outer Shell Adventure - Drawcord Handlebar Bag


But that bag is small.

Does anyone have suggestions for a front bag/handlebar bag compatible with aero bars? Looking for the one with the greatest capacity.

OneIsAllYouNeed

There was just a discussion of cheap handlebar bags in the commuter section:
https://www.bikeforums.net/commuting...le-bar-bag.htm
For good or bad, the results are pretty much what you're looking for.

ksryder

Dunno if it has the "greatest" capacity, but this is pretty big. Doubles as a fanny pack. I have the smaller version for commuting, it's good for wallet, keys, etc.

https://northstbags.com/collections/pioneer-12-hip-pack

tyrion

It depends on the distance between the tire and the handlebars. Rando bags often come in various heights so they can fill that distance appropriately.

Acorn bags come in various heights:

https://www.acornbags.com/

One question is can you mount a mini rack up front?

Flounce

Thanks all, I will look at those.

As far as a mini rack is concerned, yes, the bike that I will be getting (not my current one) will be able to take a mini-rack. It's going to be steel frame and fork, Rodriguez or Gunnar or similar.

1nterceptor

I just started using a Revelate Sweet Roll bag on my folder(straight bars). Seems well made and good design.
Comes in S, M, L. How long is adjustable, depending on how much stuff you have:
https://www.google.com/search?q=reve...h=1094#imgrc=_
Bike Friday pakiT from BFold by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

antimonysarah

Emily at Dill Pickle Gear could probably do something custom if that's in your budget.

unterhausen

With a traditional rando bag, it probably is ok, depending somewhat on your rack and the size of your bike/handlebar height. I made my rack fit close to the wheel -- maybe too close. I'm pretty sure I could get a aero bar over my Acorn large rando bag. No problem at all over the Acorn Boxy rando. The Large Rando has straps that hook on the side. I have a Boxy rando from the early days that has a single strap that hooks in the back. That's a pain in comparison.

Saturday's 400k made me think about aero bars some more, and specifically the bag issue. Headwinds for the first half of the ride, pedaling down hills, the whole nor'easter experience

adamrice 

It's surprising there aren't some good off-the-peg options for this, since it seems like an obvious thing. Rob English had a custom bag made for his Trans Am Bike Race attempt. So a template exists, at least.

ThermionicScott 

Reading through this thread, I had trouble visualizing how a handlebar bag could possibly work with aerobars. That is a really sweet solution.

ksryder

Agreed - I had a vision for something like that using an old Dopp kit and some velcro straps (but I abandoned it because my needs changed) but I was also surprised something like that wasn't available off the rack. I guess the market for that is pretty limited, but still. That's pretty cool to see.

unterhausen

that is pretty slick, and orange bikes are definitely faster. I remember when Rob dropped out, he rode out and then went back to his hotel. But I don't remember the issue. eta: Just read his race report, knee. Wise choice dropping out, what a lot of miles he did in such a short time. He seems to have mostly just filled the handlebar bag with food

Most randos use aero bars that sit above the handlebars, not quite so aero as the ones that Rob was using. So a lot of traditional randonneuring bags would fit underneath, because there is no handlebar involvement. I would be a little awkward opening the main compartment on the road, but I rarely do that anyway. I mostly just use the side and back pockets while I'm moving.

fietsbob

https://www.cyclofiend.com/working/im...-1P1010007.jpg

Stacking 2 stems, I have my Bar bag mount on its own stub bar on the lower stem..

Flounce

2 stems, Great idea !

adamrice 

That remind me—Minoura sells a headset spacer with a stub handlebar bracket in front, so you could even do this with a pretty low stack height.

fietsbob

SJS (UK) Cycles makes a T bracket 1 bolt , 27mm of spacer height. welded T is 7/8" tube.

kingston 

I know a guy who straps a big seat bag to his aero bars attaching it to the aero bars instead of the seat rails and the steerer tube instead of the seatpost so what's usually the back of the bag is facing forward. It looks ridiculous.

Flounce

HA! I love it. I'm going to try it.

For some reason, this reminds me of how when my 2 year old asks me to change her diaper, I first fit the clean diaper on her head as a hat and laugh at her and she gets annoyed and pulls it off and tosses it across the room.

adamrice 

Just to update this thread, Apidura is making a "race" bag with sleeves specifically for fitting over aerobars.

shelbyfv

Wonder if OP ever got the new bike?