Front bag on Allant

[retiredNH]

Recently bought two Allant 8s for spouse and me. Love the bikes. But need a place to stash our wallets and phones when we ride. Under the seat just doesn't work. In the past we've used handlebar bags on our bikes, but these ebikes, with all their cable housings, make that difficult to impossible, not to mention the light right where I'd want a bag. I have an old bag on the rack, but there's a comfort factor in having critical stuff in front where I can see it, not to mention the convenience if I want to stop for a picture. FYI, I ride with two phones. An old one without a SIM card sits in the mount with cobi.bike running, while my other is in a bag. Spouse so far doesn't want a phone in the mount.

Has anyone found a solution? Ideas? Should I post in a general forum for more ideas?

Thanks.

 

[Jimfastcar]

This is what I use

 

[Dallant]

This is what I use. Cheap (Amazon), phone is visible and protected.

Amazon.com

 

[jabberwocky]

Some sort of top tube/gas tank bag is great for stashing a phone and a small wallet. I have several, but like the Revelate Mag Tank and my Apidura Backcountry. Amazon has some cheaper options as well; my wife runs a Rockbros that seems very nice for the price.

I recently switched to a Routewerks handlebar bag that I really like. Downside is it was a kickstarter that took months to arrive (I think they do preorders for batches now, but no idea on timing). Also very expensive. Great if you want a place to mount a GPS or phone (they sell mounts for the top for various things) and hold a decent amount of stuff.

 

[retiredNH]

This is what I use

On an Allant? Is there room for the light? For the cables?

 

[Dallant]

Just a thought...the headlite of my Allant+7 comes from the factory at the top of the fork but I moved it up to the handlebars. The 8s headlite starts at the handlebars but could possibly be moved down to the fork area by the arrowhead. Then the bag might work there.

 

[retiredNH]

Move the light? Interesting thought. I'll check it out. I still need to figure out how to handle the wires!

 

[Dallant]

Move the light? Interesting thought. I'll check it out. I still need to figure out how to handle the wires!

I didn’t move the wires, but then I didn’t use a handlebar bag either.
BTW, we have a very basic Huffy handlebar bag on my wife’s Allant+7 Lowstep and, since her light is in the original position, we just wrapped the Velcro strap around the area where the wires cross.

 

[Dallant]

Move the light? Interesting thought. I'll check it out. I still need to figure out how to handle the wires!

Well?

 

[retiredNH]

Can't see any way to move the light on the Allant 8s. And its power wires are short, so there's probably not enough slack to move it down to the fork, where I'd like to put it. For now, we have floppy bags held by velcro straps that just hang loosely in front of the light. No burning smells yet!

Given how popular handlebar bags are, I'm surprised Trek makes it so difficult to put a bag there. Seems they could have easily put the light on the front of the fender. But no...

 

[Sparky731]

If you have a “soft” bag try strapping it on the inside of your handlebars vs outside among all of the cables. My wife put hers on the inside by mistake and was pleasantly surprised how well it worked.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

If you have a “soft” bag try strapping it on the inside of your handlebars vs outside among all of the cables. My wife put hers on the inside by mistake and was pleasantly surprised how well it worked.

What an interesting idea. I gave up on handlebar bags because they fouled the brake cables on both of my previous bikes; haven't even tried on on my allant+ 8. But this is food for thought.

 

[Old Fart At Play]

You could switch handlebars to something like On One Geoff bars; you can get bags that fit inside the loop thus no problems with cables or lights