Securing Handlebar bag to front rack cross posted to RBW

[Bernard Duhon]

Gang ,

I have two acorn handlebar bags both with Velcro closures.  Which I love. but 

These have proven unsatisfactory securing the bag to any number of racks.

You guys got any suggestions that I could adapt ?

Would like something that is easy off & easy on.

 BTW I have a decaleur ,

I

[Andrew Letton]

These clips are also sold in the US by Dave at Waxwing:  

https://www.waxwingbagco.com/store/p3/RaClips.html

I bought a set, and they look good, but I have to admit that I've not yet installed them.

cheers,

Andrew in Sydney

[tnort...@gmail.com]

I also have an Acorn bag. It has 2 velcro straps on the bottom that have to be thread underneath the rack between the mudguard!  It is definitely not a quick process.

These look like a great solution! 

Tom

NE Ohio 

[lena...@gmail.com]

I removed the velcro straps from my older Acorn Compact Rando Bag and put a single small voile strap instead. After enough practice, I can now thread the strap under the rack in a few seconds. The tombstone and single strap hold the bag securely for all-road conditions.

Lena
Bellevue WA USA

[Alex Walton]

RaClips (from Waxwing or GrandBois) are perfect for this, as long as your rack has 5/16" tubing (Nitto, VO, and Soma rando racks all will work) and room on the side rails. Note that the bulges where the rack's cross-piece is welded to the sides (and, obviously, the cross piece itself) limit where you can locate the RaClips on the bag, particularly if you want to be able to move the bag from rack to rack. (In one application I have filed the plastic of the clips to accommodate the weld for the cross-piece.) Having an appropriate sized punch (a bit over 5mm) is extremely helpful for installation: you need to be able to make a clean round cut in the canvas of the bag, as well as the stiffener. The Waxwing instruction booklet documents the process well. I've never had a RaClip come loose, on either side; clips + the leather slip-piece on the tombstone are shockingly solid even off road. Very fast on/off too. A nice finishing touch: a piece of high density foam (5-10mm thick?) cut to size of the bag's base, which gives a flat and quiet 'floor' to the bag once compressed into the top part of the clips.

AW in MA

[Alex Walton]

Also: I have only done this with the older-style Acorn bags, which have velcro straps directly attached to the canvas. It seems to me it might be tricker to get the placement right on the newer style, where the straps are set on two strips of thick leather. I imagine that in this case you could add a little shim of leather to even out the bottom of the page where needed, but I haven't seen it done. The advantage to the newer mounting is of course that you could remove the now superfluous straps altogether (whereas the old style are sewn on). 
AW / MA