We are living through the renaissance of the handlebar bag. For decades the domain of earnest German brands and touring cyclists, this maligned bit of kit has boomed in conjunction with the advent of ‘gravel cycling’.
Now, touring has become bikepacking, the earnest Germans look like prophets, flannies and baggy shorts are the new lycra, SPD sandals are back, and bar bags are the must-have accessory of this giddy age. Evolution.
There’s a problem, though. When you pair most handlebar bags with a drop-bar handlebar and all the 21st Century Shit hanging off it, you start to run out of space. The straps for the bag block your accessory mounts, your cables and brake hoses get squished, your out-front GPS computer and bike light impede access, and you can’t easily get anything out of the bag whilst you’re on the move.
Sure, you’ve got somewhere extra to put things and it’s overall a net gain compared to overflowing jersey pockets, but it’s hardly the epitome of function.
Route Werks, a small firm based in Rhode Island, USA has spent the last two years trying to come up with the ideal handlebar bag - one that would overcome the compromises of most options on the market. They’ve just unveiled it on Kickstarter, where it was funded in six hours. At time of writing, over a thousand people had pledged to help bring it to life.