handlebar bag / brake hose interference

[morgan]

Howdy. I'm new to bikepacking. I did a practice trip this weekend, packed as I think I'll be packed for my trip next month, using some new bags that Scott Felter of Porcelain Rocket made for me. They're great bags! My brake hoses (Avid Elixir 9) are blocked by the handlebar bag, a "Mission Control" bag. Here's a picture:


Handlebar mounted right; four straps on bar, not two by fnagrom, on Flickr

Am I doing it wrong? I haven't tried putting the bag under the hoses, but I don't see how that would help me. The hoses have strain relief boots on them, and they felt fine. I don't have the bag excessively loaded; maybe 4lbs total with tent, bag, pad, rain gear, camera and some little items in the front pouch. (Didn't weigh it.)

I'd ask Scott, but he's in the middle of a big trip across Australia right now.

Thanks!

Morgan

[Colorado Cool Breeze]

Cable interference is the number 1 complaint about the handlebar bags.
Some put on longer cables to go around the bag, some don't care and let the cables do what they do.
Others switch out their bars for something like Jones H bars. To move the bag forward or mount the bag on top.

hth

[Area54]

Looks like you need to rotate your levers up and strap under the hoses.

[Yogi the Barry]

The foam spacers that Revelate uses on their Sweet Roll works awesome. See the photos at the link below. Perhaps you can tape some high density foam to the bars to give you 1"-1-/2" of clearance between the bar and bag [Assuming the bag doesn't drop so low that the tire hits it when the fork is compressed]. With space between the bar and bag, the cable routing for the shifters [unless you are SS] and rear brake is much nicer on the hoses/cables and you don't have to alter lever rotation on the bar. BTW, I run a slightly longer front brake hose over the top and in front of the bag.
https://www.revelatedesigns.com/index.cfm/store.catalog?CategoryID=3&ProductID=25

[Edit: running the front brake hose over the bag might not work well with your pouch sitting in front of the main bag.]

[morgan]

Huh, those spacers are trick. They have slots in them, through which the straps pass? I might try that with my bag, but I think there might not be enough room on the upper, inside straps on the buckle end. Or I just live with it. I don't think this impingement would actually cause the hoses to fail, he said, unsure that this is true.

Running the brake levers up would make me crazy. I've already trimmed my brake hoses for normal riding; this is also my fun bike, so putting longer ones on isn't appealing.

I did also get a little bit of tire rub on the bottom of the roll at full stuff. This is on a freshly rebuilt, 140mm Rock Shox Revelation running 170psi, which is the rating for a 200lb - 220lb rider. I'm 220. I'll go up a little on air pressure, and also perhaps put something on the bottom of the roll to protect it.

I'm going to do my second bikepacking overnighter in the next few days, will try some of the suggestions here. Thanks!

Morgan

[Yogi the Barry]

On the Sweet Roll, the foam pieces are slotted to be held by the strap that's basically no-load and just mounts [and doesn't compress] the bag to the bar. You might be able to just carve-up two high density EVA foam pieces and tape them to the bars, instead of making them captive by the inner straps [?]. I have the first generation of the Sweet Roll and the foam pieces on the newer version look a bit different than what I have, but function is the same.

Huh, those spacers are trick. They have slots in them, through which the straps pass? I might try that with my bag, but I think there might not be enough room on the upper, inside straps on the buckle end. Or I just live with it...

[Mini Bear]

I have the exact same issue with my bar bag. I run my levers very low, and also have a wicked short front end. Honestly I think the best thing it to just have the bag rest on top of the levers (more or less how you have it set now). I ran this setup for the CTR and didn't have any issues with the bar bag or the levers. I'm of a mind that you run your setup the same way always, no changes just for the sake of strapping crap on.

[redtabby]

I did also get a little bit of tire rub on the bottom of the roll at full stuff. This is on a freshly rebuilt, 140mm Rock Shox Revelation running 170psi, which is the rating for a 200lb - 220lb rider. I'm 220. I'll go up a little on air pressure, and also perhaps put something on the bottom of the roll to protect it.

With you and your bike fully loaded see what the sag is like on the fork versus your
normal day ride load.  Some people take shock pumps along if they will be establishing a
base camp for multi-day rides (i.e. the difference in optimal pressure with front loaded/unloaded
is enough to where you might enjoy your bike the most by setting a pressure for each configuration).