Bar Bag and lights !?

Neil Fat man on a bike

I'm just wondering are there any problems with conventional bar mounted lights and bar bags.
I've never used a bar bag before and have just bought an Ortlieb.
Will the lights clear the top of the bag?

I was going to get something like these:-

http://www.ayuplights.co.uk/content/view/34/101/

Very small and neat, very light and also good for mountain biking.

cycladelic

Take a look at these...

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/category-Fro ... ts-783.htm

There's also a cheap plastic thing that bolts through the fork crown, but I can't find one online.

pneumatic

Well anticipated! Yes, there is definitely a problem with an Ortlieb bar bag and bar-mounted lights; the former obscures the latter dangerously.

I had to buy one of those extension thingies (t-shaped) to lift the lights high enough to see over the bag.

I've often wondered why nobody at Ortlieb has thought of using the mounting bracket as a light-holder. You could design a powerful headlight and battery combo to clip in there and it would be very elegant and secure (IMHO).

Obviously that would be instead of the bag, rather than aswell as it, although a very clever boffin might find a way round that.

nwallace

I use a Space grip but it is annoying me.
The bolt that holds the band on the bars has too soft a head and now can't be turned.
The band isn't holding on to the bars as well as i woudl like and give it a bit of a blast on cobbles and the light is soon pointing the wrong way.

I like the look of the Nitro holder on this site
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/light-mounts.asp

Looks like a proper clamp rather than a tightened aluminium band

Neil Fat man on a bike

pneumatic wrote:

Well anticipated! Yes, there is definitely a problem with an Ortlieb bar bag and bar-mounted lights; the former obscures the latter dangerously.

I had to buy one of those extension thingies (t-shaped) to lift the lights high enough to see over the bag.

I've often wondered why nobody at Ortlieb has thought of using the mounting bracket as a light-holder. You could design a powerful headlight and battery combo to clip in there and it would be very elegant and secure (IMHO).

Obviously that would be instead of the bag, rather than aswell as it, although a very clever boffin might find a way round that.

It's a totaly bonkers oversight. I would say the vast majority of lights use handelbar mounts......surely the bag designers are aware of this and should come up with a suitable design soloution. Maybe an underslung lighting bracket........

Anyway the result is that I've ordered a T- extension bar made by Topeak, this will carry the lights and hopefully a wee computer too.

Neil Fat man on a bike

nwallace wrote:

I use a Space grip but it is annoying me.
The bolt that holds the band on the bars has too soft a head and now can't be turned.
The band isn't holding on to the bars as well as i woudl like and give it a bit of a blast on cobbles and the light is soon pointing the wrong way.

I like the look of the Nitro holder on this site
http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/light-mounts.asp

Looks like a proper clamp rather than a tightened aluminium band

Yeah the Nitro looks pretty burley.

Some lighting rigs on that link.....made me think of Jimmy the mod in quadrophenia

nwallace

:-)

Once overtook a Mod on the Tay Road Bridge (was driving)

Parak jacket,
Loads of Mirrors and lights
Looked Proper.

Cunobelin

My answer is a modified Space Grip

Fit the "U" shaped bracket to the fork crown and then fit the end of the Space Grip in the normal way. A secure bar bag free method of fitting the lights.

nwallace

That picture is confusing me, either the brakes are behidn the fork or the space grip is behnd the fork, brakes are always in Front yeah?

I didn't think the T bar was wide enough to allow a light to be mounted so it's to the side of the forks and am suprised there woudl be enough room to avoid fowling with the Down Tube

Neil Fat man on a bike

Disc brake maybe?

pneumatic

No, you can see the calipers to the right of the picture, but which way is the front, I wonder.

BTW, my "t-shaped thingy" so precisely defined above, turns out to be a space bar!

Neil Fat man on a bike

Right enough you can see the brake when you schrole over, and also the rest of the bike.
The brake is facing backwards ! And the " T shaped thingy" facing forward

rouhage

Faced with the same problem, I came up with a simple, if a somewhat agricultural solution, by fitting a head torch right around the bar bag.(Over the top and bottom or around the sides) Fiddle around with the lamp at the front and it will eventually point in the area you want it to.
Rouhage

pneumatic

rouhage wrote:

Faced with the same problem, I came up with a simple, if a somewhat agricultural solution, by fitting a head torch right around the bar bag.(Over the top and bottom or around the sides) Fiddle around with the lamp at the front and it will eventually point in the area you want it to.
Rouhage

ingenious! Thank you for that. You could even put the headtorch on upside-down so that it shines below the bag (or maybe that is what you did?).

alfablue

The Ortlieb bar bag and the Topeak Bar X'Tender works fine on my girlfriend's bike. The Topeak is more robust than the spacebar.

Neil Fat man on a bike

alfablue wrote:

The Ortlieb bar bag and the Topeak Bar X'Tender works fine on my girlfriend's bike. The Topeak is more robust than the spacebar.

Yep got one on order .......

alfablue

I wrote to Ortlieb two days ago about this issue, they just replied:

Dear Richard,

we will work on a solution as soon as we start developing a new handlebar bag line; this will be probably for the 2011 season. We know that the bags often interfere with handlebar lights and that the space on the handlebar itself is limited.

With best regards

Rolf Kathrein-Lehmann
- Productmanager -

Great company!

Cunobelin

Sorry - this bike has the brakes behind the forks!





The bar is big enough to mount lights, I have a USE Exposure Enduro MAxx on one side and a backup Dinotte on the other

Neil Fat man on a bike

alfablue wrote:

I wrote to Ortlieb two days ago about this issue, they just replied:

Dear Richard,

we will work on a solution as soon as we start developing a new handlebar bag line; this will be probably for the 2011 season. We know that the bags often interfere with handlebar lights and that the space on the handlebar itself is limited.

With best regards

Rolf Kathrein-Lehmann
- Productmanager -

Great company!

Haha Quality response.
I got the T-bar and Ayup lights set up and it works just fine.
Thanks for the advive.
The only negative was one of my neighbours complaining the lights had burnt a hole through his curtains I must admit they do work very well indeed.

I'd say that the Ortlieb folks could do a simple exstension peice from their handelbar mount, or just drop the position of the bag a little. A design soloution should be quite simple.

Thanks for your responses guys

simon_adams_uk

The Altura bar bag I have came with a T-shaped attachment that mounts directly on the underside of the bag using a simple quick-release bayonet style mounting. It therefore replicates the space normally used on your handlebar for mounting a light, albeit lower down.

It's very useful indeed - I presume all manufacturers would have included one as standard(?).

S