handlebar bag options?

[Melinda Lyon]

What are the options out there for a front rack equipped bike with a threadless headset?  The Berthoud bags are nice but there doesn't seem to be a decauler to work with a threadless headset. 

I don't want to have to hang the bag on the handlebars.  That kind of defeats the purpose of the lovely front rack that I have.

 

Thanks.

 

 

[dau...@gmail.com]

I'm a big fan of the Berthoud bags, and don't use a decaluer. I generally put a bolt through the center of the bottom of the bag into the rack (it was described in an old Riv Reader). This stabilizes the bag enough for me.

Dave

[joshua]

If I understand correctly, You probably picked up a Nitto or some
other pre-made front rack? If so, Velo-Orange.com makes a decaleur
that mounts between headset spacers in both 1' and 1.125". Otherwise,
I'll echo what Jan said, get your maker to make a decaleur for you new
setup.
Joshua Bryant
PDX, OR USA



On Jun 13, 2009, at 7:04 AM, Jan Heine wrote:

>
> At 1:34 PM +0000 6/13/09, dau...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>>> What are the options out there for a front rack
>>> equipped bike with a threadless headset? The Berthoud bags are
>>> nice but
>>> there doesn't seem to be a decauler to work with a threadless
>>> headset.
>>>
>>>
>>> I don't want to have to hang the bag on the
>>> handlebars. That kind of defeats the purpose of the lovely front
>>> rack that
>>> I have.
>

> On most classic bikes, the decaleurs attach to the stem, not the
> headset.
>
> Maybe the builder who made your front rack can make you a decaleur.
> If you have a classic stem with a single, horizontal bolt, you can
> use a decaleur attached to the bolt. (If the bolt threads into the
> stem, use a smaller bolt, and attach it with a nut from behind.)
>
> Beyond that, Berthoud does make a range of decaleurs for a variety of
> stems. They are a bit cumbersome to use, but work fine.
>
> Jan Heine
> Editor
> Bicycle Quarterly
> 140 Lakeside Ave #C
> Seattle WA 98122
> http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com
>
> >

[littlecircles :: mikeb]

VO makes a decaleur for threadless headsets. They seem be perpetually
out and I can't get a straight answer on when they'll have more in
stock.
http://www.velo-orange.com/1hemode.html

I've been using the Acorn Boxy Rando bag on a Mark's Rack without a
decaleur - just the velcro round the rack and some stabilizing chords
to the bars. Love it so far for a 200k and the fleche, and my usual
long rides. It is roomy, not as large as the biggest GB bag, and is
quite stiff on its own. Grocery runs get a bit tricky as the load does
get wobbly... Works well enough with the stiffeners and the chords. I
have discussed with a local frame / rack builder about a custom
decaleur. Might go that route if needed... and I want to spend the $$.

Acorn Bag:
http://www.acornbags.com/boxybag.html

My comments on the Acorn Bag, with some photos:
http://littlecirclesvt.com/?p=194
http://littlecirclesvt.com/?p=337
http://littlecirclesvt.com/?p=519




-Mike

[Leslie Tierstein]

The Acorn bags looked fantastic when I checked the web site. However, they are not taking any new orders until July 1.

I recently bought a Baggins L'il Bag from Rivendell for my Velo Orange front rack. It fits perfectly, especially on my small framed bicycle. (Other bags, which required decaleurs, were much too big.) I was concerned, since the Baggins's bag's sides don't contain any stiffeners, but (1) I saw a fully loaded exemplar at Cirque du Cyclisme recently, and it was standing up just fine and (2) Before I experienced (1) above, I went and made a stiffener, but cutting up a piece of platic made for tracing quilting patterns -- exactly the right stiffness-flexibiity ratio and size. Haven't done extensive testing yet, but preliminary tests are encouraging.

Leslie

[Melinda Lyon]

Is there a Berthoud decaleur that is made for threadless headsets/stems? I
couldn't find one. Peter White's website said that they were considering
making one.

Where do you put the bolt Dave? Do you drill a hole in the rack to accept
it?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jan Heine" <hei...@earthlink.net>
To: <dau...@gmail.com>; "Melinda Lyon" <melin...@verizon.net>;
<ran...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 13, 2009 10:04 AM
Subject: [Randon] Re: handlebar bag options?

> At 1:34 PM +0000 6/13/09, dau...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>> > What are the options out there for a front rack
>>> equipped bike with a threadless headset? The Berthoud bags are nice
>>> but
>>> there doesn't seem to be a decauler to work with a threadless headset.
>>>
>>> I don't want to have to hang the bag on the
>>> handlebars. That kind of defeats the purpose of the lovely front rack
>>> that
>> > I have.
>

[dau...@gmail.com]

When I did this with a Rivendell Mark's Rack, there was a bolt hole near the center of the rack which I used.

The custom rack on my Tournesol had holes on either side around the middle of the rack, so I used one of those. It basically prevents the bag from going up or side-to-side.

More comments by me and others at

http://search.bikelist.org/beta/ViewMessage.aspx?id=239946#239946

Dave

[Orin]

On Jun 13, 7:39 am, "littlecircles :: mikeb" <mike.bega...@gmail.com>
wrote:

> VO makes a decaleur for threadless headsets. They seem be perpetually
> out and I can't get a straight answer on when they'll have more in
> stock.http://www.velo-orange.com/1hemode.html

I'm trying the 1" Grenouille version on my Rambouillet (it has a low
trail threadless fork from Tom Matchak) with an Ostrich bag.

Note the cable routing on the picture at VO. If your stem is longer
than 10cm and you have aero cable routing, cable routing is going to
be a problem. I'm using a 10cm stem and have routed the cables
between the arms of the decaleur.

I couldn't put the VO decaleur as the lowest spacer, the welds stand
out and I had to put a narrow spacer under it. This, with the head
tube length and headset stack height meant that the bag mount had to
be right at the top of the leather tabs on the Ostrich bag. I
strongly recommend doing some measurements on your bike and proposed
bag/rack before going this way to make sure the bag mount would
actually reach the bag!

Orin.

[Steve Palincsar]

On Sun, 2009-06-14 at 12:20 -0700, Orin wrote:

> I couldn't put the VO decaleur as the lowest spacer, the welds stand
> out and I had to put a narrow spacer under it. This, with the head
> tube length and headset stack height meant that the bag mount had to
> be right at the top of the leather tabs on the Ostrich bag. I
> strongly recommend doing some measurements on your bike and proposed
> bag/rack before going this way to make sure the bag mount would
> actually reach the bag!

That's very true. With my 59-61 cm frames, I can only use the largest
size Berthoud bag, the GB28, for this reason. The bag has to fit the
space between the rack and the decaleur. If the space is tall, so must
be the bag. In fact, the Ostrich is too short to fit on any of my
bikes.

[Emily O'Brien]

For those who are inclined toward the DIY, you should be able to
fairly easily make your own decaleur from steel rod available in a
variety of diameters from many hardware stores. I made a mount for my
(non-rack-mounted) handlebar back that is essentially a rod bent under
the stem and then over the bars, then out to the sides and down, where
it holds a 1" dowel that I mount my lights to. To make a decaleur
that way, you'd bend it around under the stem and over the bars and
straight down; then out to the sides at whatever height is appropriate
for your bag. If your bag bolts onto the decaleur, you can attach it
there, or you can then bend it forward to fit into the sleeves if
that's what it has. It takes some careful bending and some time spent
tweaking to get it right, but no special tools. The steel rod is
cheap and you can make it fit whatever combination of bag/rack/
headtube height you need. Even if you had a small bag on a large
frame, you should be able to make a decaleur work this way. I wrapped
the portion of mine that goes around the stem and bars with bar tape
to make it rattle less, and stay put better. I keep it from bouncing
with a velcro strap, but if you're doing this with a bag that's also
attached at the bottom to a rack, the velcro shouldn't even be
necessary. Also, if it's just a decaleur and doesn't support the
entire weight of the bag, you can make it out of smaller-diameter rod,
that will be easier to bend and adjust (although then you have to be a
little more careful not to bend it when you carry it around).

Honestly, I don't know why more handlebar bags don't attach to the
bars this way; it's simple, secure, and easy to put on and take off
without un-screwing anything or requiring any extra hardware to remain
on the bars, and it doesn't take up much handlebar space.

Emily "DIY" O'Brien

[Orin]

FYI, I figure it's picture time:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/dSbShtQgaUbnqztmOq62Fw?feat=directlink

It's a 58cm Rambouillet.

Orin.

[Orin]

On Jun 14, 5:19 pm, Emily O'Brien <emilyonwhe...@emilysdomain.org>
wrote:

I like this idea.

I've had a couple of handlebar bags with mounts similar to this. The
first I used in the '80s when I was commuting in London, England. It
had a steel mount pretty much as you describe that continued on
underneath the bag (getting it in place on the handlebars was a
challenge) and a strap that went around the head tube. Other than
using it on a Bob Jackson bike that didn't particularly like a front
load, it worked fine.

On the second, the mount went through sleeves at the side of the bag
and the bag had long straps at the bottom meant to attach to your
dropouts/rack. I didn't like it as much.

Orin.

[Lynne Fitz]

I have the Acorn Bag and a VO Decaleur-compatible front rack. I did a
complete review of this bag for Road Bike Rider - it may still be the
most recent review, so you can see it for free at roadbikerider.com.

Short version - I used the velcro straps on the bottom to attach it to
the rack, and threaded the rack's back loop through the leather rear
loop. No actual decaleur used. Works fine for me. I have my
handlebars up higher, so no interference there with my narrow baby
handlebars.