T-bar to mount handlebar bag OR large computer, both with upturned U mount

[Andre Jute]

My Altura handlebar bag and my pedelec's control readout both have upside-down U-mounts intended to fit on the handlebar with one leg either side of the knuckle where the stem clamps to the handlebar. One won't fit inside the other, or across the other.

Help! What else do you know that will mount on my handlebar and provide mounting space for either of these necessary items?

[Danneaux]

Andre,

Since the two occupy the same real estate at present, you'll need to provide a second tier for attachment. The most likely alternative would be a Thorn Accessory T-bar (available in two lengths) to mount the HB bag lower, keeping the default handlebar location for the pedelec controls.

I...sense you have already considered this, and something is keeping you from it. Do you lack the vertical space below the handlebars and above the headlight to place a Thorn Accessory T-bar in this location? Does you n'Lock's swing interfere with stacked brackets?

I used a Thorn Accessory T-bar *below* my handlebars to mount my HB bag, and another *above* to mount my Rohloff shifter, inclinometer, and GPS, but I have a goodly amount of uncut steerer to play with that allows this, and no locking stem.

Best,

Dan.

[Bill C]

i've used a pair of these for extra bar room on the xtc and sherpa, pretty sturdy shifters mounted on them and no problems on the alloy or carbon one





tall stack stem and how many spacers 



though the nitto bar mount is far sexier

btw if you go the acor way like the one  i posted, the carbon ones are better as they are more adjustable, the clamp can fit any part of the carbon bar so you can have both bars inboard of the mount
 the alloy ones you can't alter them so are like the picture of the sherpa with a large gap

[David Simpson]

I've done something similar to what Bill did, except that I cut a length from an old handlebar and used a single bar between the two  mounts. That allows me to mount items between the mounts, and also makes the bar a bit sturdier.

- DaveS

[Bill C]

Hi Dave

the nitto bar mount that i mentioned up post as being sexier is one bar and two clamps, I'd of preferred one myself but at the time i couldn't get one, still would like one but the acor is doing fine ,
and the Nitto is pricey, maybe for my birthday 



nitto http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/nitto-lamp-holder-2-260mm-prod36700/

[mickeg]

I really do not understand what the problem is, a photo of why the mounts do not work the way you want them to would have helped a lot.

I use the Thorn T bar on my Nomad.

On some other bikes, I use a second stem and either a short piece of handlebar or a short piece of PVC pipe for handlebar mount.

[Bill C]

hi mickeg

I really do not understand what the problem is

Andre seems pretty specific to me

My Altura handlebar bag and my pedelec's control readout both have upside-down U-mounts intended to fit on the handlebar with one leg either side of the knuckle where the stem clamps to the handlebar. One won't fit inside the other, or across the other.

his mounts interfere with each other

What else do you know that will mount on my handlebar and provide mounting space for either of these necessary items?

he wants something to mount on the handlebar to get around the brackets clashing

[Andre Jute]

Bill's right. I want something to fit on the handlebar, and the rest of you are right too, whatever that fitting is must then provide a horizontal bar perpendicular to the centreline of the bike to mount another unit on, as in the examples on Bill and Dave's bikes. To answer Dan, you're right too: for a variety of reasons I don't want to disassemble the stem/n'lock/ahead-to-quill conversion, two of the most important being that I wouldn't be surprised if the quilt is stuck in there, and that my health is such that I can't bend over the bike for more than ten minutes at a time -- I ride better than I work on the bike! That assembly is solid as a rock, but I nearly gave myself a stroke getting it done to that standard. Also, now that I think of it, the stopper/locking assembly of the ahead gubbins with a ridged seatpost clamp (there's correspondence elsewhere on the forum about this if anyone doesn't grasp what I did) is relatively critical within a millimetre or two, and if any extension I fit in the place of a steering height spacer isn't exactly the same height as the spacer I take out, my bike could be at a standstill until I source the right size of adjusting spacer and wait for it to be delivered to darkest West Cork, just when the weather has turned (great ride to today, even if still in long underwear). That's not all: my bike's gear cables and brake hydraulic tubing are at maximum stretch and, while I have spares on hand because I intend recabling/retubing the whole thing and raising the handlebars another 5mm next winter, I don't want to be forced to do it now, because I just do not know how long it will take my fave bike off the road if working stints are only ten minutes long. (Don't even suggest I let the LBS do it. I like my life too much!)

Those are nice, tidy jobs, Bill and Dave. You don't say where you found the doublesided clamps, Dave. If I have to buy the one-sided Acor Bill uses, I think it likely that I will fit the barbag, as the heavier item, directly to the handlebars, and the pedelec computer to the Acor L-bar.

Thanks for helping out, gentlemen.

[Bill C]

DIY?
if you have some straight bars to cut down then this is the cheapest way I've seen to get some clamps

use the code and get a further 50% off , makes them a fiver plus post


http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/HB3TTIRA/3ttt-tiramisu-bar-extensions

[David Simpson]

You don't say where you found the doublesided clamps, Dave.

I'm embarrassed to say that it is nothing special. I just bought two of the same Acor mounts that Bill has, then threw away the stub bars that came with them. The single bar that I use is from my old aluminum handlebar (a straight bar, similar to the Thorn Flat Track bar that I now have). I cut a long enough piece from one end of the bar. It cuts nicely on a table saw, provided that you don't let the aluminum "saw dust" accumulate in the teeth of the saw.

- DaveS

[Bill C]

 I just bought two of the same Acor mounts that Bill has, then threw away the stub bars that came with them
- DaveS

did you buy the alloy ones? as mine aren't just straight tube, there's a ridge on the bar for the clamp,
the carbon ones are parallel

[David Simpson]

did you buy the alloy ones? as mine aren't just straight tube, there's a ridge on the bar for the clamp,
the carbon ones are parallel

Bill, are you talking about the mounts or the bar? The mounts are alloy, and so is the bar.

About the ridge on the bar, are you talking about the handlebar that I cut down? I used the end of the bar, where the bar is completely straight without any ridge or bulge. The bar that I used was this one:
http://www.mec.ca/product/5021-121/mec-620mm-alloy-mountain-riser-bar-6-degree
It is similar to the Thorn Flat Track bar that I now have, except that the Thorn bar is more comfortable because it has a 10-degree sweepback. The MEC bar has on a 6-degree sweepback. The difference is noticeable.

- DaveS

[Andre Jute]

You don't say where you found the doublesided clamps, Dave.

I'm embarrassed to say that it is nothing special.

Don't be. Cycling was once the workingman's sport par excellence. Now that we ride bikes on which single components often cost more than a working man could have earned in several weeks, the least we can do is to discover something universal and make it serve a double purpose.

[Bill C]

hi Andre
bit of sniffing around ebay.uk and i found these, bargain price at just under a tenner with free post,
should be more than strong  enough for an electronics display
bar clamp 31.8mm so might need a shim for your use



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GUB-Double-Handlebar-Extension-Mount-Extender-Holder-Bike-Light-Speedometer-C5R5-/252319998253?var=&hash=item3abf71a12d:m:mpO7BJnVcaGFiaZMl8LdPjg

[Bill C]

did you buy the alloy ones? as mine aren't just straight tube, there's a ridge on the bar for the clamp,
the carbon ones are parallel

Bill, are you talking about the mounts or the bar? The mounts are alloy, and so is the bar.

About the ridge on the bar, are you talking about the handlebar that I cut down? I used the end of the bar, where the bar is completely straight without any ridge or bulge.

- DaveS

hi Dave might be a moot point now i have seen the gub ones at a tenner

i meant are the stub bars alloy and if they are alloy are they a bit of straight tube, like a handlebar grip area, as mine aren't they have a ridge like a built in shim so they fit the clamp, that's why i couldn't do what you have done with a cut down handlebar
i bought the alloy barred clamp set roughly 5/6 years ago.

the set i later bought with carbon stubs  don't have the shim bit they are just straight pipe, i could use a bit of handlebar in these, but i put them on the xtc and only need my shifters mounting on it so never bothered