I’m after recommendations for bike packing handle bar bags that will fit within 44cm drop bars.

Needs to play well with cables, be a good fit on both my flat and drop bar bikes and be nice and secure for off road use. Yet, I’d also be really keen if the attachments will not rub all the paint off my frame, bars and headset.

Currently considering the Revelate Holster and Wildcat Mountian Lion.

Recommendations please…

Wildcat .. they made a smaller / narrower version of the Mountain Lion, I think it’s just a test sample but I have one and it’s brilliant. Fitted to a 460mm bar here but loads of space on the 440mms on my Arkose. You need under bar tape cables and maybe a bit of re-routing, the harness then just sits in front of them. Maybe check with Wildcat how much narrower this one is to get an idea of how the std version fits, I expect it’d still work well. The straps may rub your forks but you can protect the area if it’s a concern and the stability of the harness is worth it.
The Alpkit kanga works in a similar way and may be worth a look, not sure how it sizes up for drops though.

Revelate Harness and an Alpkit drybag is working for me. I can still attach the front Pocket to the Harness too.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/oE4xXC]P1010496[/url] by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/oE5pLy]DSC_0145[/url] by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/oE5DrZ]DSC_0143[/url] by Colin Cadden, on Flickr

For any bag, it’s worth taping he frame/fork at contact points if you are worried about paint. Or just buy a Ti frame.

You can obviously fit a longer drybag if you’re running flat/riser bars.

For any bag, it’s worth taping he frame/fork at contact points if you are worried about paint. Or just buy a Ti frame.

Is taping the frame more economical than buying a Ti frame? Asking for a friend…

Of course not 🙂

Standard-issue Mountain Lion fits nicely on my 44cm Cowbell bars with a 13l Alpkit drybag.

What brilliant timing! Mid correspondence with Beth about these. Want to get a winter bag in. Sounds like Normal Lion is the easy to go. 46cm Cahbells. Fat Lion probably OTT – volume not necessary and mebbe too wide.

Just need to check the sleeping bag packs into something like 18l.

Loos like it’s down to the Mountain lion or Revelate Holster. Both seem to fit 44cm bars with careful packing and both come in bellow the bars. Any pro’s and cons of either system that nudges one ahead as the way forward?

Seat pack next up and then I’m set.

Any pro’s and cons of either system that nudges one ahead as the way forward?

ime the Wildcat is much more secure as it straps to the fork, this also stops it from rubbing the HT. Cons are that it can rub the fork instead and takes a little longer to fit/remove completely (no different for removing the drybag tho, if anything the Wildcat scores a little there as the harness itself doesn’t move at all). I have the older Revelate harness also and use the Wildcat every time these days, the Revelate is good but the fixing method of the Wildcat is better. I also like how the Wildcat uses a main tension strap over the bar, once cinched down it’s more secure than harnesses or bags that use just a strap to the bar and seperate straps to hold the bags to the harness. That’s a benefit the older Revelate has over the newer one imo but even so I prefer the WC harness.
The same can be said for the WC seatpack, they just fit very securely.

Great, that’s precisely the kind of feedback I’m looking for. 😀

Precisely the sort of feedback someone who’s just ordered the Wildcat wants to see, too!

Meant to mention, one of my two bikes destined to use this has caliber brakes. Does that make a difference to the recommendations made so far?

FWIW, I strap my Revelate Harness to the fork.

^ I guess you could with longer straps or straps off the back buckle? The older version I have has a head tube wrap loop and buckle but I haven’t found it to be much use.

one of my two bikes destined to use this has caliper brakes

Used both on my road/caliper brake bike (deep drops brakes / takes 28 tyres) but the Wildcat fork straps do fit easier to wider fork crowns. It fits around the fork and behind the caliper, it’ll be close between underside of crown/strap and tyre on a race-clearance bike, and maybe not fit as neatly as it would on something with a bigger fork. Check with Wildcat maybe?

Check out the new Alpkit Joey was designed to be a lightweight harness and to work with the Airlok Dual?