Mounting a tent from your handle bars?

[AlanW]

So the tent purchase is now sorted, well nearly!

But now I'm looking at options in which to mount a tent from the handlebars. Oh boy.....so many options to choose from!!

I quite like (really like) the Tailfin Bar Cage, great looking and has so many options, but of course such luxury comes at a whopping price for sure. The downside with this is that it actually clamps onto the bars, which I'm not overly keen on as I have carbon bars.

Then there are the two racks from Wholegrain Cycles, the Jack the Rack (very heavy option) and Cliff the bike hanger.

The Aeroe Spider A Cradle is another possible?

I don't want a bag particularly maybe just a compression sack with my tent inside that, or even just my tent? Which is why I was leaning more towards a cradle or some sort of "bag" support?

But open to thoughts to those have a lot more experience than I do. Which to be fair wouldn't be hard as I have zero experience......

 

[chriswoody]

Whether you have a bag/harness combo or a dedicated rack, you are going to have a few problems that you need to consider. The biggest is the cables and routing them behind whatever mounting method you choose, then you have the issue of rotation, bags especially will always want to rotate and leave them rubbing against the headtube. The last issue depends on your handlebars, but if you have drops, then you need to make sure that whatever you mount in between leaves room for your hands to safely operate the brakes and shifters.

The system I've adopted after several years of experiments and lots of problems, is to go with a Topeak bar harness with their drybag. To counter the rotation issue, I have a Restrap Bumper bar fitted, which the bag sits against. Not only does the bumper bar prevent the bar bag from striking the headtube, but the cables also route behind it, so preventing pinching issues. Then the last thing I do is use two additional Voile straps to hold the bar bag tight against the bumper bar and prevent it moving.

Hopefully the two photo's give some idea of what I mean. This is a super stable set up and in the dry bag I'll often keep the tent, sleeping mat and a few other things like some smelly clothes or waterproofs.

Here's a little more reading on the subject:

https://bikepacking.com/index/handlebar-cradles/

https://bikepacking.com/index/handlebar-harnesses-and-rolls/

 

[AlanW]

Whether you have a bag/harness combo or a dedicated rack, you are going to have a few problems that you need to consider. The biggest is the cables and routing them behind whatever mounting method you choose, then you have the issue of rotation, bags especially will always want to rotate and leave them rubbing against the headtube. The last issue depends on your handlebars, but if you have drops, then you need to make sure that whatever you mount in between leaves room for your hands to safely operate the brakes and shifters.

The system I've adopted after several years of experiments and lots of problems, is to go with a Topeak bar harness with their drybag. To counter the rotation issue, I have a Restrap Bumper bar fitted, which the bag sits against. Not only does the bumper bar prevent the bar bag from striking the headtube, but the cables also route behind it, so preventing pinching issues. Then the last thing I do is use two additional Voile straps to hold the bar bag tight against the bumper bar and prevent it moving.

View attachment 802840

View attachment 802841
Hopefully the two photo's give some idea of what I mean. This is a super stable set up and in the dry bag I'll often keep the tent, sleeping mat and a few other things like some smelly clothes or waterproofs.

Here's a little more reading on the subject:

https://bikepacking.com/index/handlebar-cradles/

https://bikepacking.com/index/handlebar-harnesses-and-rolls/

Great reply and just the sort of info lm looking for, thank you.

Funny you should mention the Restrap Bumper Bar, as l'd already decided that l would probably need one of those. Its a drop down handle bar set up with Di2, so only the brake hoses to worry about, but appreciate l still need to be mindful of them.

I'll take a look at the Topeak bag and if l could get my tent in it, then it would indeed be a Bruce bonus.

 

[chriswoody]

The nice thing about the Topeak harness is that it will also fit a standard Ortlieb drybag, 10L if memory serves, that increases the capacity over the standard Topeak one. I actually use this set up on the mountain bike. The bonus with the topeak bag, is that it has an air bleed valve, so after you've stuffed your kit in there you can open the valve and really compress the contents before closing it.

The big concern I would have if I were you, is the width of the tent you want to transport. I actually run 500mm wide, flared drop bars, so I can get away with a lot of width on the front roll before it interferes with the controls, so have a little dig into that and check.

I had heard a few online grumbles about the Restrap bar collapsing back against the headtube, but as long as you follow their recommendations for weight and also don't give the front bag an option to swing against it, then in my experience it's fine.

 

[AlanW]

The big concern I would have if I were you, is the width of the tent you want to transport. I actually run 500mm wide, flared drop bars, so I can get away with a lot of width on the front roll before it interferes with the controls, so have a little dig into that and check.

Im just waiting for the tent to arrive, but the pack suit is quoted as being 32 x 13cm.

That said, l have also seen packs sizes quoted larger than that for the exact same tent?

So l need to wait till it arrives and then measure it myself before l start buying mounts just to be on the safe side !

Is it known as the Topeak Frontloader?

 

[AlanW]

I had heard a few online grumbles about the Restrap bar collapsing back against the headtube, but as long as you follow their recommendations for weight and also don't give the front bag an option to swing against it, then in my experience it's fine.

Yes, lve read the same, and its not a cheap item either!!

 

[chriswoody]

With tents, it's really about the poles and the length that they are when collapsed. The rest of the tent is nice and squishy and can be stuffed into some pretty small spaces if need be. I can't actually remember where the bag is that my tent came in, I don't think I've ever used it!

Is it known as the Topeak Frontloader?

That's the one. I've owned mine for 7 years now and it's still going strong. I've got the original one that they launched and I could swear it's 8L, but the new ones seem to be 12L, maybe I'm wrong about the size of mine? I'm intrigued I'll have to have a look at it.

Yes, lve read the same, and its not a cheap item either!!

Restrap is good stuff though, I've got a couple of different saddle bags from them and absolutely love them.