Side Effect as a Handlebar Bag

[dorayme]

I needed a solution for my new bike, the basket that I use on my old one wouldn't withstand the bumps and jostles of trail riding and my new bike can. After looking at various handlebar bags on the market I was not satisfied, most of them lacked something that I was looking for:

durability
function
style
organization
appropriate size
responsibility/consciousness of the company

The Side Effect started to be a contender, but I wasn't 100% sure if it would work until I read Lani's review. I got one before I got my bike and was then unsure of how to attach it to the bike in a way that was both secure, but non marring to the handlebars. My original though, that I sadly quickly dismissed, of two key straps into the end o-rings did the trick!




The bike came home tonight, hence the nasty garage photo, and I got to strap it on. The fit is perfect. Tomorrow I will give it a test and see if everything rides/wears like it does in my mind. My only concern is that the bag either bounces too much or slips and slides around. I will be using it for some things that won't matter like my wallet and a mini first aid kit, but for my iphone, it will matter.

I love how Tom Bihn bags are versatile enough to have multiple uses. Many bags that I have owned in the past were good for one purpose, to try to make them work for other uses left something lacking. So far, many of my Tom Bihn bags have many applications in which they are useful. To me this just adds value and makes me fall in love the bags even more!

Thanks Tom! :D

eta I temporarily forgot how to post pics, sorry.

[Moose]

Hi dorayme,
What a wonderful idea! If you find the bag bounces or slides around maybe a long (or long and short) key strap through the waist belt portion of the bag and around the post of your bike would work to keep it in place. The color of your bike is amazing as well.
Ride safely,
Moose

[ElenTikvah]

Fantastic idea, I'll be glad to know how it turns out!

~Tik

[backpack]

Please share the result of your experiment, your bike has indeed an amazing color.

We need more pictures, of the Dorayme/bike/Side Effect trio!

[dorayme]

Well we took our first ride today and I loved the Side Effect on my bike, it held everything so nicely and looked much more streamlined that my basket. I did end up reversing it over the handlebars so that it was front facing in front of the cables vs. sitting over the stem facing upward. The cycling computer app I was using on my iPhone worked just fine even when the bag was zipped closed. I couldn't see the phone and simultaneously keep it secure, and I would like to be able to do that to access GPS and or see my speed/distance, so I will be getting a Koki Mozzie stem bag for that.

The SE didn't bounce excessively and since I will be using it front facing vs. laying over the stem I don't need the bottom attachment of a key strap that was ingeniously suggested.

I will work on getting some more pictures. It's kind of hard though to stop and take them when the adventure is to ride. I'm not good at Panda's yet either.

[dorayme]

ok, so I lied, I was updating my phone and I couldn't remember the pictures I had captured so I actually have a pseudo panda (the bike isn't moving, I'm just stradling it) and a picture later on of the SE and me at the playground part of the park :P



please pardon my weird expressions I was experimenting with my phone camera and having a hard time getting it to behave, for some reason that causes my face to contort into unnatural experessions.



and instead of detaching the key straps, I linked the two open ends together and made a short strap that was perfect to sling over my shoulder as an armpit clutch while pushing my daughter on the swings. This way I didn't have to figure out what to do with the key straps either.

[backpack]

Very cute pictures Dorayme :)

Are you going to be another contender for the title of "Purple Loving Lady"? :)

[dorayme]

Are you going to be another contender for the title of "Purple Loving Lady"? :)

contender, I am the Purple Loving Lady! But I also love green :)

Thank you I wish I had done better on the pictures, but I was not as focused as I wanted to be. I forgot, we used my Ultraviolet Large Shop Bag to hold our camelbacks and a jacket for me in my daughter's trailer.



My only regret was that I wasn't video taping my daughter squee WHEEEEEEEEEEEE with delight as dh raced past me pulling her in her little trailer. That was the true kodak moment from our ride!

[TXGirl]

What a great idea! I'll be soon purchasing a bike so this gives me an excuse to buy a Side Effect as well.

[dorayme]

I totally thought I would primarily be using this as my handlebar bag, but I took it on my trip to Seattle as my micro purse and I haven't stopped carrying it. See even while swinging wildly with my 12 year old niece it's so securely attached that it's become as close as a part of my body. I guess that's just a Side Effect of a great bag!



It's easy and quick to grab and go
relatively light weight even with all of my junk
it seems to go with whatever I am wearing ;-} That may have to do with the fact that I try to wear purple every day.
it holds my essentials:
iPhone 4
Dr. Brach Rescue Pastilles in tin
2 extra key straps to use as handlebar bag
FOT pouch (inhaler, tide to go pen, mini first aid kit, mini tube of Advil, Burt's Bees Hand Salve tin and Moon Valley Lip Treat Tin)
vHemp/RR clear organizer wallet (Driver's Liscense, $22 behind the clear window, 4 cards behind the olive divider and 8 cards plus my geico car insurance info behind the cayenne divider)
baby Namaste Oh Snap (The Republic of Tea mini tin, assorted hard candies, Orbit cinnamint pack of gum, Ricola drops and hand knit sock monkey reusable cup cozy).

And the best part of all, it is easy to carry within my larger bags to keep my purse essentials separate from my knitting, or things for the kidlets. I need one of these in black ultrasuede. . .

[makingmark]

Just for variety, another picture of the Side Effect as a handlebar bag. This one is in steel, and is attached to my 31 year old brown rusty but trusty Raleigh Sports.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[dorayme]

@makingmark, I don't kow how I missed this, but thank you for posting this picture, I love it!
Care to share your packing list in your handlebar Side Effect?

[LJW]

Dorayme,
It sounds like you found the perfect Tom Bihn solution. If you ever need bicycle-specific (e.g. built specifically for bikes and not something found at Tom Bihn), you might check out Arkel:

Arkel | Bicycle bag | Pannier bag

They are a Canadian company that sells quality Canadian made goods. I do not represent them in any way. I am just a satisfied customer.

Cheers,
--L

[dorayme]

Thanks LJW, those bags look as though they are built very well.
If I need another bike bag, I'm looking at Pocampo. :)Chicago made, and a gorgeous feminine style.
I also use a Koki Mozzie Stem Bag to hold my iPhone and a few bike tools front and center. Since I use an App as my bike computer, it's nice to be able to check it during my ride for speed, mileage and my maps with a few taps.

[maverick]

Hi!

Has anyone tried this with the Lead's Pocket + ice axe straps (or lash straps, but they may be a little long)?

You could run the two straps through the webbing loops where you attach the annex clips in order to fasten the Lead's Pocket to the Guide's Pack, and then run those straps around your handlebars. Yeah?

Add to that a coyote brown waist strap, and you can take the Lead's Pocket with you around your waist as you walk away from your bike (is that waist strap available separate from the Guide's Pack?).