Gear reviews, Personal setups » My handlebar harness / sling
by WhistleHi … I’m Andy , got the tag Whistle after playing in a diddly band for years and years …
Since the band has now disbanded (Hahaha LOL) I am returning to previous interests and hobbies , principally Photography … Landscape and wildlife … but I hate walking so the bike is an ideal way of getting into areas of interest and as a load carrier when a little stealthy overnighting is required !
I have been browsing Bikepacking site for a while now and have been very impressed by all the MYOG gear …
and I thought I’d like to try …
This is my take on making a handlebar harness / sling …
I needed something completely versatile as I have 3 bikes and use them all at different times …
I have been very impressed with Military Molle webbing systems as a flexible adaptable system and thought that would be a good starting point … I enjoy the simplicity and ease of use of Velcro and thought that would enhance the Molle capabilities too …
One thing other people seem to have trouble with is the harness interfering with their controls and cables and found MYOG gear by JerryW from this site, that used a foam block to space the harness away from the handlebars… My take on that is to use modified saddle bumpers or buffers or whatever you call’em …
on an old Brooks saddle they used to be called springs … You’ll recognise them anyway …
Having problems down loading photos … my first post on this site !
so will leave the url to my Flicker photo share site hope you’ll be able to view them there !
You can see how the molle and velcro works and how the straps and handlebar spacers can be moved accross the molle webbing field … the harness is completly flexible and can be adapted to take small dry bags , exra large dry bags , tents , bedrolls even my Camera bag !!!
More photos of construction and design can be seen with anotation on my Flicker site …
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whistle5/sets/72157629157542345/with/6808917465/
Cheers Whistle
ScottM on 
Dylan on 
AmosIv on 
Preston on 
Jesse on 
Martin on 
Rod on
Looks awesome! How long did it take you to make and how sturdy is it?
Hey, that’s a pretty sweet setup. What are the dimensions? I’m assuming you have another velcro strap that goes around the headtube to keep the sling from flopping around.
very cool!! Also just what i have been looking for. I was about to start making one of these when I came across yours. Love the molle set up, just the inspiration i needed to make one kick ass pack. (I was like “molle, of course, why did I not think of that?”) Thanks for the great idea and posting. One question, are the velcro straps on the main pack facing down? Did you add any backing to them to add strength?
Hi Guys … Thanks for the interest and comments …
Dann c … It took longer to plan the build and assemble the parts than the time it took to make ,
Actual build time in terms of marking , lay up and sewing probably no longer than three – three and a half hours … as to how sturdy it is only time will tell , though I have trusted it to carry my camera bag fully loaded with Canon 7D , wide , mid , and 70-300 tele zoom plus spare batts , filters , cf cards etc … Weighty enough to induce shoulder ache after an hour or so !!!
No I have not bothered with a headtube strap Piratefrankie … when its loaded its quite stable and does not ”flop around” as you might think , only a gentle swing forward being noticed under hard braking , though with the molle it would be possible to easily add one !!!
Dimensions of the Harness are 16 inches max width by 24 inches , the molle field is 12 by 24 inches …
Wiseone .. All the self gripping velcro straps are arranged furry ( loop ) side up with the spikey ( hook ) side down , the self gripping velcro was used as supplied with no additional backing though care was taken when stitching to spread the needle holes by using a 4-5 mm wide bar tack and care taken not to over sew.
this to prevent over perforation and possible tear lines …
Hope this answers your questions …
All the best , cheers Whistle
MOLLE is one of the best ideas since velcro and sliced bread; excellent job, dude.
It’d appear you and I have arrived at the same solution independently. Your use of velcro for webbing solves a couple problems I’m having with the polypro webbing I used in my prototype.
Curiously, wasn’t your handlebar attachment wobbly? Obviously it attached to the bars well, but it looks like that roll would shift a fair bit, no?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tehschkott/sets/72157632993229733/w...
sweetbike.org/articles/handlebar-syste
Anyhoo, nicely done.