Dealing with Handle Bar Bags

 

Too many things happening on those bars

I love a handlebar bag simply because it gives me quick and easy access to a variety of things I need. Getting a bag that is easy to remove is also nice so you can put items like you money, ID, camera tooth brush, etc. that you need when you go into a cafe, store or the like. The problem I had was my STI shifter cables did not have the clearance needed to allow for the bag. In addition, my headlights did a great job of lighting up the map (and blinding me) but did nothing for safety).

Arkel's site (the brand of bag I have) has a variety of tips for getting around this. I used one of their tips and invented on of my own.

The pictures below show the set-up that ended up with. I used two of Avid's Rollamajigs® per cable and dropped my head lights to the forks. This seems to work well except the my cables still are a litte tight for room. But it does not seem to affect my shifting.

The pitures below show how this looks.

A close up of the Rollamajigs® in pace.

The top roller.

The bottom roller. Note the location of the headlights.

Bag in place and still poor clearance on the roller.

Bag in place and still poor clearance on the roller.