I ride a Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Carbon Comp 29er with a frame shape that makes it difficult to attach a frame bag in a way that doesn’t interfere with pedaling. Leading up to the Leadville 100 in 2012, I bought a couple of different frame bags that I thought might work with my bike, but both of them rubbed against my leg.
Then I saw a review of a product on either Velonews or maybe Bike Radar, which led me to the Revelate manufacturer’s web site. It was a company out of Alaska that designed a huge variety of made in the USA bike bags, that I had never even heard of before.
Browsing through their variety of bag designs, I discovered the Mountain Feedbag. It looked perfect! Instead of attaching to the frame, it attaches to the handlebars and then anchors against the fork, holding it in place so that it doesn’t swing back and forth while you ride.
I used this bag in Leadville because you can pack a ton of food in it and easily get to it. I have used it in gravel grinders and other endurance mountain bike races like the Austin Rattler 100 since then. I’ve used it both on my mountain bike, and also on my cyclocross bike (for gravel grinders).
Revelate bags are extremely well made, with quality velcro straps, nice and thick nylon, and a pinch thing that lets you cinch the bag open or closed with one hand while you are riding. The bag is designed so that you can use it to carry a water bottle, or just stuff it full of your favorite food or tools or whatever. You can mount it left or right handed, which allows you to even run with two of them if you wanted to seriously load your bike down for a long, unsupported ride.
The large opening is one big cavity, but there are two webbed areas on the outside of the bag where you can also put stuff if you wanted to carry a water bottle in the main cavity and still add some gels or a tool or something like that.
Here’s what it looks like off the bike. You can see that it has a strap that will attach to the handlebar itself (which can be mounted on the left or the right), as well as a strap at the bottom to anchor it from swinging around. You can also get a pretty good look at the two webbed outside pouches.
This is one of the coolest bags I’ve found for keeping food or water near your handlebars. I’m happy I found this brand of bag.