Miss Grape Moon Handlebar Bag

The Miss Grape Moon Bag is a high quality, weather-resistant two litre handlebar bag. It can fit almost all styles of bike, it's useful and reasonably easy to access, and it's extremely well made.

Miss Grape promotes the Moon Bag for urban, road and gravel but this could equally be used on virtually any style of bike. The narrow design means it fits between the drop-bar hoods easily, and still leaves space to grip the tops.

I even managed to fit this on a gravel bike with narrow, widely-flared bars where the titled brake hoods make other bags hard to fit.

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It's incredibly simple and quick to fit: simply wrap both cam lock straps around the bars, then secure the elasticated toggle around the head or steerer tube. It takes seconds, though if you have an out-front mount you might need to angle it upwards slightly.

The Moon Bag sits just below the handlebar, and is more secure than I envisaged from the first look. The elastic toggle holds it with enough tension to prevent it bouncing around too much, although this strap rubs the frame when turning – I strongly recommend protective tape where it makes contact to prevent it wearing paint away.

Key to the design of the Moon Bag is the plastic sleeve that supports its barrel shape, and makes dealing with the contents much easier (although it can be removed if you prefer them floppy – things will rattle annoyingly if not packed well).

The two litre capacity might not sound huge, but it's enough to store a waterproof, extra clothing and food. It's stable too, even on rough tracks.

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The position of the zip means that access on the go is quite easy, and the strong puller really helps. The zip isn't waterproof, but the fabric (including the zip-covering flap) is water resistant enough to keep all but the very worst weather out. I never had water get in during rain.

The mesh pockets on either end are a useful touch, as is the reflective strip (above) across the front and Velcro loops (below) for lashing on a pump or similar.

Value

Bikepacking bag prices can seem like they have their own rules at times, with some costing far more than others with very little difference in style or materials. While the Moon Bag is fairly priced for its quality and performance, the Mack Workshop Bar Bag is less than half the price at £30 and very good, if not as weatherproof.

On the other hand, the OrNot Bar Bag is £85, while the Outer Shell Adventure Drawcord Handlebar Bag is £72, so the Miss Grape is hardly topping the pile.

Overall

The Moon Bag is really well made, impressively weatherproof and ideal for gravel or long distance road rides. Yes, you can get cheaper ones, but this is worth its asking price, and easily rivals more expensive options too.

Verdict

High quality handlebar bag that is suitable for virtually all styles of bike