Tech Question: Handlebar Bag vs. Hydraulic Brakes

[Christophe Noel]

Another thought also is that if one is that far out in traveling wouldn't you carry a spare section of hose and a small amount of fluid anyways?

Not really practical. Most bleed kits are pretty big and complicated. In reality hydraulic brakes seldom crap out in the bush. Oddly enough, my one and only backwood brake failure was with mechanical discs.

 

[AdventureHare]

Nice to see Salsa represented here. Note that it'd be easier to sell the handlebar bag if there were a picture of it actually on some handlebars.

I'm reading this because I recently watched a Trek promo on utube introducing their 1120. What caught my eye was the front and rear racks (being bright orange on a grey frame, they're hard to miss.) The front rack is mounted to the fork crown and looks like a reasonable solution, although I could easily see it getting overloaded (7kg design limit).

 

[Hnoroian]

Another consideration, this one is made by Thule

https://www.thule.com/en-us/us/bike-accessories/rear-bike-racks

Though not budget minded (~$100) I've often wanted to make mine own out of carbon tube and aluminium, it would be a great way to carry extra gear and the weight would be unsprung.

 

[Christophe Noel]

I love Thule. I genuinely do, but when I saw that it instantly reminded me of those days long gone of poor kids with Polio leg braces. Poor bike.

The same concept but affording the use of Anything Cages would be my suggestion.

 

[southpier]

I love Thule. I genuinely do, but when I saw that it instantly reminded me of those days long gone of poor kids with Polio leg braces. ... .

run Forest run

 

[PlacidWaters]

I have long cables to accommodate a front bag, which I consider indispensable. One issue with this is that if you have a light mounted at handlebar level, the cables will cast long shadows in front of you. You can overcome this by using a light mount about 3" high.