I've found straps worked ok with dry bags on handle bars in the past even if they are a little faffy, but how good/essential are handlebar harness's?

Not essential but very good in my opinion. Mine stops anything rubbing on the headtube and it's less faff fitting a bag.

The benefits are generally greater stability and ease of removal when you get to your overnight stop. You also have more protection for the dry bag against the bike, and to a lesser extent, dirt. I've also discovered extra storage space exists between the dry bag and the inside face of the harness for flat things, e.g. Sleeping mat, folded up waterproof, etc.

Thanks all, i quite like the look of the Alpkit Kanga with it's extra Y piece for fixing to the tops of the forks for even greater stability.
But is this overkill?

I have the Wildcat harness and cant fault it.

There is a knack of knowing how to set it up but once you've worked it out it takes 5 mins to transfer from one to another. One the drybags in there you forget about it. Also the drybag is mounted below the bars so it doesn't obstruct lights etc.

Only once has the drybag self ejected, but i'm putting that down to a slippy silnet drybag* and user error


*I now use exped bags. Not the cheapest on the market, but the outer coating is 'grippy' and the round shape avoids rotation which I've found with other drybags

Always takes me an age to fit my Wildcat harness. Convinced I'm doing it wrong.
I think Ian should stop farting around making nice riding vids and do an instructional video :D

I've recently made a bar harness. I spent hours looking at lots of different designs, scribbling endless mock-ups on post-it notes at work and trying out various strap arrangements.

I ended up with something that looks similar to the Alpkit Kanga, with two lengths of aluminium tubing for stiffeners between bars and fork crown. I used it at Spar n Back and it worked a treat - very stable, no rubbing and dead easy to mount and remove the dry bag.

I'll try and remember to post some pics up when I next have it on the bike.

Dan_K wrote:Always takes me an age to fit my Wildcat harness. Convinced I'm doing it wrong.
I think Ian should stop farting around making nice riding vids and do an instructional video :D

I'd love to, but in between farting about making nice riding vids, most of my time lately has been spent on product development, such as front pockets, large Mtn Lions (for 13-35 litre dry bags), large Tigers (for 8-13 litre dry bags) and Jones H-bar bags.

Ian wrote:Jones H-bar bags.

More info please, before I buy a handle bar harness please

I've not got a great picture of one yet, but you can get the idea here. It occupies the space inside the loop of the H-bar. The straps are spaced to allow a Mtn Lion to be fitted, but it also works on its own. It has single waterproof YKK zipped entry, inside mesh pocket. Ideal for stashing gloves, sunnies, camera, snacks etc.

Coming soon on the Wildcat website...

Looking at that picture, does the Mountain Lion attach to the forks like the Alpkit Kanga?

I do like the frame bag that goes around the bottles I guess these are made to measure and expensive aren't they?

JohnClimber wrote:Looking at that picture, does the Mountain Lion attach to the forks like the Alpkit Kanga?

Actually, it's the other way around
Wildcat originally introduced the concept of attaching the harness to the fork crown to isolate it from the frame and increase stability.

I do like the frame bag that goes around the bottles I guess these are made to measure and expensive aren't they?

Perhaps not as much as you'd think, but you can price one up here if you're interested.

The wildcat is great in use I can't fault it at all once it's on.

The problem I have though is that every time I've finished strapping it on I think "great I've got it now". Then every time I go to put it on again I have to refer to the instructions again. Probably a good job that you never need to take it off once you are out and about. :?