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btr bar bag

btr bar bag

in the days before digital music, bands and musicians made albums. i get that this is pretty much still the case, but assuming you were into a particular band, it was pretty much all or nothing, gatefold sleeve and everything. though there were obviously many occasions when an entire album was simply joy unbounded, from when the needle landed on track one, until it slid unceremoniously towards the centre label at the end of side two.

compact discs varied the procedure slightly; it was still necessary to purchase an entire album, though singles fared less well in the new digital format. and oddly enough, the cases in which the discs were contained, appeared to have been manufactured from the most brittle form of plastic known to mankind. i had many compact discs sent through the post that arrived with the case in bits. more recently, there have been accusations that the compact disc format is less robust than originally thought, prone to degradation over time.

however, this new digital format allowed a modicum of programming, assuming you had a player that accommodated that feature. therefore, if there was a track or two that slid into disfavour (usually the single from the album, subsequently played to death on the radio) it was sneaker pimps to exclude it form the evening's listening. music downloads have turned the whole process on its head. with the majority of album tracks available for individual purchase, it's now easy enough to acquire only the tunes you like. and if that proves a less economic purchase, buy the album and delete the unwanted tracks.

sadly, any effort the band or musician has put into curating the tracks as an entire album, can now be easily and completely undone. whether we, the listeners, realise that album tracks have been arranged in a specific, listenable order, is not only moot, but quite possibly beside the point. but how many of you anticipate the beginning of track two, just as track one draws to a close?

btr bar bag

but it's essentially the notion that an album can be almost perfect in every way, apart from the one track that you really wish they'd left on the studio floor. and aside from albums, there are many items of stuff that fulfil the same prophesy. in the case under discussion, it's btr's waterproof handlebar bag.

this extremely economic item of bicycle luggage, in tardis fashion, swallows a substantial amount of cargo. it seems to be far bigger on the inside than its exterior would suggest. i took an afternoon bicycle trip with two kids to gartbreck point, both for the bike ride itself and the opportunity for the two of them to faff around on the rocks and seaweed at the small beach. in order to replenish the energy expended in getting there, we filled the bar bag with three packets of quavers, two water bottles and two cheese and ham wraps, all of which were still in pristine condition on arrival. on a prior occasion, i carried a waterproof jacket, spare gloves and a digital camera in its case with room to spare.

though it didn't rain at all during our afternoon exploits, the bag features the same excellent, exterior waterproofing as the recently reviewed btr seat pack. both offer the current trend for roll-top closures; in this case the two clips are situated one each side of the bag, making it a simple enough to open for victuals on arrival. however, it is the means of attachment that brings it inline with that unwanted album track.

on the back of the bar bag are three velcro straps, two of which attach round the handlebars, with a third, lower strap intended for encircling the steerer portion of the stem. only the latter strap, in this case, was way too short. i tried this on three different bicycles: a kid's mountain bike, a road bike with mechanical brakes and a cross-bike with hydraulic brakes. in every case, the cables exiting the front of the bar tape, or brake and gear levers, prevented the stem strap from reaching the stem. granted, the latter two bicycles sport 120mm stems, but the kid's bike stem was shorter at 100mm. but yet again, the cables prevented correct and stable fitting.

btr bar bag

i finally managed to fit the bag to a folding bicycle with a vertical steerer and effectively no stem length whatsoever. but even then, i was unable to fit it to the front of the bars, again due to the cables, so i successfully attached it facing towards the rider, where it currently remains. i have read on the btr website a customer review in which they, having suffered the same dilemma, contacted btr's customer service who sent extra velcro straps to fit the bottom of the bag to their stem. my question would be, therefore, why are such straps not supplied with the bag in the first place? if the lower strap were double the length, i doubt i'd be mentioning this at all.

currently on sale at £14.99, this bar bag is an absolute steal, particularly when it arrives with a shoulder strap, allowing it to be worn about your person when away from the bike. just remember, when ordering, to ask for extra straps to fit it to a cable festooned bicycle.

btr waterproof bar bag

friday 10 july 2020

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................