Handle Bar Bag fitted under Aero Bars
Aero bars were initially designed for cycle touring long before they were used for triathlons (I saw some in 1974). On my last tour on the mountain bike, I kept getting a back ache and would lean forward and rest my elbows on the handlebar grips. I thought to myself that my next bike is going to be fitted with aero bars. However, the aero bars I purchased mounted in exactly the same spot as the handlebar bag mountings.
Just about any bike you purchase in Australia has the neck cut down as far as possible. It puzzles me why they do this, maybe it's to save money by not having to put spacers in. So fitting a second lower stem was out of the question. I had already fitted a neck extender to bring the handlebars up as the frame is a large sized frame, but the neck was cut as low as possible.
I was looking around the internet when I spied something that might help me fit the handlebar bag. I had recently purchased a nice smaller Ortlieb handlebar bag and had never used it, so it just had to go on the bike. In the "clear out" section of one store I spied a pair of speed sticks, and noted the bracket that holds them on.
Speed Sticks, but not for much longer. I immediately thought I could mount them facing downward and cut the bars up and poke them through towards each other and have them meet at the centre, and then mount the handlebar bag. This would only work with the Ortlieb bag, as it's mounting system is designed for any size bar. My other bags wouldn't fit, as they are designed for standard sized handlebars.
They arrived in the mail, and I pulled them out of the box, and tested my theory. It was perfect, but I had another idea. Several years ago, I found down the local bike shop's bargain bin, a set of profile bar ends for $2. They were cheap because half of the mounting system was missing. They did however have hexagonal insides, and were the right length and shape for my little project. I was able to put a washer over the internal bolts of the bar ends, and tighten a hexagonal joiner inside one bar end. When I put the other bar end through the speed stick mount, it went onto the joiner perfectly in the centre, so it had a bit of extra strength.
View from the seat.
In the above picture, what looks like wire wound around the middle of the lower bar is actually the mounting system for the Ortlieb handlebar bag. I had to remove some of the cork, to fit the speed stick mountings in a narrower part of the handlebars. The old barends went through the lower mounting holes, and joined in the middle. As mentioned above I also used a hexagonal shaped piece inside the barends in the middle to give a bit of extra strength.
Once the lower bar was in place, I mounted the Ortlieb handlebar bag. I had to mount it at a slight angle, because it pulls upward to disengage from it's locking mechanism and the aero bars were in the way. This can be seen in the picture below. After that I put the bell back on and the air horn. I also used an old mirror on the right hand side, so that when I am using the aero bars, I still have rear vision, instead of using the lower one which is on the handlebar end on the drop. The old fashioned friction shifters went on the left end of the bar.
Side View of handle bar bag and aero bars.
The above picture shows a side view. Note the angle of bag which is to give it clearance when sliding upwards to disengage from the mountings.
Now I have the aero bars, a smaller handlebar bag, which should also give less wind resistance, and somewhere to mount my friction shifters. This modification cost me a grand total of $31. $29 for the speed sticks (free postage) and two dollars for the old bar ends. This is a lot cheaper than buying new forks and fitting a second stem.
