Handlebar bag for touring

oobydooby

Hello. Can anyone recommend a good bag for the front of a bike for touring? I've no front carrier or anything so it would be just for light stuff, valuables and easily removed so I can take it with me when stopped.

Also does anyone have a front carrier and find it useful? Thanks

Morgan

I've an Ortlieb Ultimate 3 (current model is Ultimate 5 http://www.ortlieb.de/_prod.php?lang=en&produkt=u5plus#). It's very good - easily clicked on and removed, totally waterproof, map case, won't get shaken off if you go off-road.

Supercell

Sorry to jump in - i was going to start a whats the best rear pannier tread.
Morgan whats your recommendation?, I want to be able to unclip it easily so i can do the shopping with it and then clip back on.

blorg

Handlebar bags are very handy indeed for exactly what you describe; I stick camera valuables and anything else I might want to get at quickly in them and can just unclip it and take it while leaving the panniers on the bike in many areas (depending on where you are of course.)

I have a Carradice Overlander which was a budget range from Carradice. Ortleib are very good indeed getting particular marks for waterproofing IIRC.

Morgan

Supercell wrote: »

Morgan whats your recommendation?, I want to be able to unclip it easily so i can do the shopping with it and then clip back on.

I'd recommend Ortlieb again. The Back Roller is the simplest and cheapest option. You can carry a huge load (2 x 20litres) and they last indefinitely. They have shoulder straps for carrying them around but you would't want to be carrying them around all day, if full. They do a single pannier too - the Bike Shopper but you're as well off having two.

blorg

Two is better for balance.

Ghost Rider

I find the difference to your balance between carrying one pannier and carrying two is surprisingly small. Because they are carried so close to the bike's centre of gravity, the lateral moment* of the panniers is not that strong.

As for Ortlieb panniers, I totally second that recommendation. The only downside to them is the relative lack of internal pockets. Otherwise, they're brilliant: very durable, easy to remove/put on and highly rainproof.

* I'm no physicist, by the way, so I'm relying on distant memories of Leaving Cert physics for this term.

blorg wrote: »

Two is better for balance.

blorg

That is certainly true, cycling with a single pannier is actually not bad at all, far less disconcerting than it looks. But if I had the choice I would still go for two rather than one, especially if you are going to be carrying heavy stuff like shopping.

Supercell

Thanks lads ordered these Ortlieb Back Roller Classic Panniers.

I'm thinking of asking my bank to just transfer my wages directly to Wiggle every month

oobydooby

you're not one for browsing supercell. Thanks for the links, I'm seriously tempted to get all that ortlieb gear - might be a bit too valuable to take on the commute but I've seen those rear panniers before and they're so easy to clip on and off after or before a tough day's cycling..

The front carrier seems pricey, considering it only holds about 3kg (3kg of valuables fair enough)

blorg

Those panniers should do you a lifetime.

I got my own current set (Karrimor on back and the aforementioned bar bag) for around €30-40 from a retired cycletourist on Buy&Sell. And by retired I mean "used once." ;-)