I've been using a Restrap handlebar harness for a year now – https://restrap.com/collections/bar-bags/products/bar-bag-large
I have found it to be such a pain in the ass. The only hope you have of preventing the drybag from slipping to one side over time is tightening the straps as much as possible. In the process of doing so I even managed to break one of the buckles mid-trip and had to use a ski strap.
I've rearranged my kit specifically to suit the drybag as much as possible. I keep my tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat in it. The weight is as close to perfectly distributed as I can get it.
The problem is that as you go over rough terrain, the dry bag will move around a bit in the harness. So even if it was perfectly balanced at the start, if it gets knocked to one side then it's going to keep slipping down that side.
One improvement I have found is using a drybag with hoops like this one – https://alpkit.com/products/airlok-xtra-dual-20-litre – it's not perfect but I can put the harness straps through those loops to reduce slippage.
I will definitely be changing to a roll like this one when the harness dies – https://www.apidura.com/shop/expedition-handlebar-pack/
by Starky04
12 Comments
I bought one of these but ended up rather sick of using it, putting the dry bag in each day was a real pain. I swapped it out for a Jack The Rack. Potentially a bit heavier but much easier to use
Rockgeist Bar Jam or Rogue Panda Blue Ridge. Ditch the nylon straps and plastic buckles for Voile straps or Austere Manufacturing straps. I really like the Austere buckles with hypalon straps from Original Free Range. A harness and drybag setup is good when done right, but there are a lot of crappy ones out there.
I’m not pleased with handlebar harnesses either. Currently using the one from topeak but it’s so annoying to get it on and off in the first place + strapping the stuff sack to it.
I consider the [Ortlieb handlebar pack](https://www.ortlieb.com/de_de/handlebar-pack-qr+F9923) with quick release or something similar but have to find something that I can use with lights on my handlebar too.
Hell I consider switching to quick release everything because I hate fiddling with straps at all.
Funny, I have the apidura handlebar pack and really wish I would have chosen the restrap one; its so much faster to remove the drybag from the harness and much easier to pack/unpack, compared to the fixed pack like the apidura, where you need to remove the whole pack before you can access the contents, and properly attaching it again in the morning takes quite a while. My girlfriend had a harness-style front roll and it was working really well for her.
Well, I guess both systems have pros and cons. Did you keep your drybag very full or was it still “squishy”? I guess this would make the slipping worse.
I’m very happy with the Revelate one and accompanying Egress bag that flops on top. I used it for two trips, one of which had tons of bumpy singletrack, without any moving around. My last trip my son used it instead and again had no movement over 20 miles of bumpy singletrack and creek crossings. Planning on him using it for our trip this summer as well.
I made my own (using one of those handlebar extenders) . Worked well. Got a discontinued specialized one, worked OK. Upgraded to a Salsa (haven’t used it yet officially but is rock solid and heavy as hell).
Decided I needed an aerobar because 1) wide bars I needed for bikepacking (for the bags) absolutely suck. 2) bars still aren’t wide enough 3) beyond feeling too wide the drag is absolutely miserable on the wide bars.
So new setup. Strap vertical dry bag to aerobars on 70mm risers for anything but technical terrain.
Fixes the drag issue. Fixes the comfort issue. Fixes the space issue. Fixes the mounting issue.
I use the Alpkit Kanga harness, and while I can’t compare it to anything else because it’s the only thing I’ve used, I’ve never had any issues with it.
I trimmed the internal support rods down to get it to sit lower on my bike, but otherwise it’s just been getting on with things without me thinking about it.
https://alpkit.com/products/kanga
I don’t know why anyone would consider anything other than a top loader bag. I couldn’t be happier with the Buffalo bag I have. I’m sure all those carradice or other ones are great too. Such easy access to everything. You could also easily only use two of them for all your things but weight distribution would be shit.
I’ve been using the Revelate one for a number of years and it works great. I can’t vouch for any of the other millions of options, but I’d be skeptical of ones that try to reinvent the wheel.
I’m surprised that the Salsa Anything Cradle is not more popular on this sub. Maybe it’s considered to be too heavy. I really like mine. Especially the rigidity, which makes it easy to attach a ton of stuff, and the fact that it preserves space for my hands on the bar. And I like how easy it is to channel my cables neatly through it.
My Zéfal handlebar bag has Velcro on the dry bag to prevent exactly that situation and it works a charm. I may upgrade sometime but imo it’s the best value handlebar bag. Huge capacity and costs almost half the others I was looking at.
Mini panniers + fork bags > handlebar anything.