A convenient way to carry often-accessed items or very small loads. Moruya Bicycles stocks a range of Topeak Handlebar Bags available on-line or in-store.
Handlebar Bags Need a Mounting Bracket - Since bikes now almost universally have gears, the days of the cheap, simple, strap on handlebar bag are pretty well over. A handlebar bag now has to leave room for control cables, so needs to be mounted on a bracket that holds it clear of the handlebars.
There are two problems with mounting luggage out from the handlebars.
a). The weight has to be rotated when steering, so handlebar mounted loads have a significant effect on steering feel. (Weight carried in front panniers has a lesser effect as it is carried closer to the steering axis).
b). The handlebar bag always wants to sag and droop. It's difficult to simply tighten any bracket sufficiently onto the handlebars to prevent this. Some sort of mechanism is needed to limit the sag, or rotation around the bars, of a handlebar bag. This was easier twenty years ago when handlebar stems were all pretty similar in design, but now, with such variety of stem shapes, the only reliable system we're aware of is the adjustable cable of the Ortlieb and Deuter handlebar bags. This is a cable that locks at either end into the handlebar bag bracket, and in between it passes over the handlebars and under the handlebar stem. Very simple, very adaptable.
Drop Handlebars - These limit the width of any handlebar bag used, making the Tioga bag with side bottle holders too wide (unless you don't use the side pockets...).