Headlight and handlebar roll solutions?

[Gabriel Amadeus]

Has anyone seen/made a nice solution for running a headlight with a handlebar roll?

I'm thinking of making a minimalist 'rack' to hold the light out in front of the roll and secondarily serve to keep the roll off the front tire.

I don't think it matters but it will be a dynamo setup on my krampus and the rack would attach to the hole in the fork crown.

Open to your ideas!

[roadpacker]

You don't think the light will shine over top of the handlebar roll? I've seen many set-ups where they just put the light right on the handlebars and go with that. In a couple weeks I'll be able to share my own experience.

[Area54]

Yeah, light normally shines over the top of the lot, unless something really big is jammed under the straps.

[Bumbleberger]

I mocked up something out of aluminum for my fat bike, and it wasn't that useful. But now that I'm doing more bikepacking, I am thinking seriously of commissioning a real custom rack that functions similarly on my ECR fork.



(more photos)

[Bumbleberger]

What I really want would look a little more like this:

[Gabriel Amadeus]

What I really want would look a little more like this:

YES! Exactly that, but I don't have brake bosses or anything on my fork legs.

[bmike-vt]

i just snagged one of these:



http://www.amazon.com/CONTROL-CENTER-FOR-31-8-BARS/dp/B006TX9CL0/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0K5RAE8THD6CSMK2YQNH

other options out there. raise it up off the bars and get the light to point clear of the sling / roll / harness.

[bmike-vt]

i run a terra cycle mount on my puglsey: http://t-cycle.com/accessory-mounting-c-71/accessory-mounts-c-71_73/?zenid=k0akbaqpekt6efiov7i8iq3sp3

[RspinnaKing]

Gabe,

I'm surprised that Surly didn't litter the Krampus fork with braze-ons for anything and everything like they do with all their other bikes but that looks like your limiter when it comes to rack options.  I wouldn't trust any kind of clamp-on attachment over rough terrain.  You could fashion some kind of extended bracket that attaches to the hole in your fork crown but to get the light far enough out in front of the handlebar roll and avoid severe tire shadows you'll probably need more points of support.  A long bracket that attaches only to one point would be likely to twist or rattle loose.   

Adding mid-blade rack barrels (like the ones on your La Cruz) would allow you to use a minimal front rack that would get the light exactly where it needs to be and provide a platform to strap stuff if desired. 



I'm sure that anyone with the skills to build you a rack would be able to add those braze-ons as well.  If you don't have this problem solved by July, look me up in Boise and I'll make it happen for a song.

Cheers,

Ryan

[bmike-vt]

I wouldn't trust any kind of clamp-on attachment over rough terrain.

The terracycle mount I linked to above has worked well on 2 bikes. Dirt road / gravel bike and the Pugsley. The last trip on the Pugsley was fully loaded and an overland trail / hike / bike / singletrack / dirt road trip.

I wouldn't put it on a downhill rig. But for singletrack that you tackle while loaded I give it a thumbs up.

The mount can use an eyelet or comes with clamps. 

[Gabriel Amadeus]

I'm not supposed to do downhill on my loaded rig?!?

I've thought about adding braze-ons, or just swapping in an ECR fork, just hoped it might be easier. For now it's on the handlebars with some bastardized reflector mounts, but I don't really trust it.

[bmike-vt]

Well, sure, maybe just not red bull / go pro downhill.



We did some really steep up / down on Pugsleys last fall. That terra cycle mount and my Dinotte didn't budge, even bunny hopping some stuff at speed fully loaded.


I'm runing a dyno and Revo on my Fargo:


for now it will ride on the bars. i think it will be workable as is for light loads - but the moment i slip a jacket or map under my revelate harness i'll be in trouble. i've got aerobats for it, so it will go on a homemade bridge, or it will ride on that FSA clamp I pictured above, lifting the light up a few inches to clear all the crap i can carry.

FWIW, a small Mark's rack with a coupler nut and the spare rack hardware will work too.




and if you have a mid fork eyelet, you can make a small mount with a star nut and piece of tubing:




minoura makes a bunch of stuff too, i just added a mount that fits on the steerer tube (above or below the bars). this is to keep my floppy h-bar bag off my cables / light on my rando machine:



http://www.minoura.jp/english/accessory/accessory.html#lightholder