REI Co-op  Junction Stem Bag

This was a good addition to my bike to place a water bottle and bear spray when riding through grizzly country in Denali National Park as it was easily accessible.

I’ve logged about 5k miles hiking. First time bike packer. Bought handle bar bottle holders. They work great! Makes carrying 4 liters of water east!

So convenient, easy to grab things from while biking with a good structure. I saw some comments asking for photos/how to attach so I’m sharing here— attaches to the handlebar & stem with 3 velcro straps. I’ve used on 2 different bikes and on one of them the stem was too big for the velcro— but no problem because it still attaches well with 2/3!

Like another reviewer, picked a couple of these up for our Brompton folding bikes, which do not have a traditional stem-handlebar configuration. The straps are mounted in a manner that allows the easy and secure attaching to the handlebars without affecting the folding or folded size. Plus, they have a flap over the drawstring opening that helps keep rain out (we live in the Pacific Northwest). One-handed opening and closing works like my more expensive Revelate bags. A good deal at $30, we just picked them up during a 50% off flash sale, $15 each. The olive-mossy colors are not for everyone, but the function is great.

I bought this right before a backpacking trip, trying to find anything to hold a water bottle up front on a packstrap (like the cool kids do). With a few small pieces from a roll of Velcro One-Wrap instead of the bulkier straps provided, I was able to attach it securely. A smartwater 1L bottle was a very poor fit, to skinny and topheavy. A nalgene of course, fit perfectly. With a nalgene, the outer mesh pocket is unable to hold much at all, things are already stretched to the limit. I look forward to trying it on my bike now, and could forsee moving this back and forth to suit the day.

I wanted to add a frame triangle bag and needed to find a location for the two water bottles it would displace. In-store, tried both the Revelate and the REI feedbags on a store drop bar bike. The Revelate was large enough to slip a Nalgene in and out easily with one hand. The one hand drawstring easily allowed both open and close. It had useful exterior pockets and a yellow interior to make contents more visible. The Revelate had two bid downsides for me though. The attachment straps were inferior and possibly dangerous as another reviewer pointed out. You could modify or replace them but should you have to for $60? More importantly it interfered with too much grip space on my drop bars. I selected the smaller REI bag. It would also accommodate a Nalgene but required two hands to pull in and out. A standard water bottle slips in and out easily. The drawstrings did not fully open and close with one hand as easily as the Revelate, but they would move enough that you can push the bag open in a separate action. The exterior pocket is flat and tightly sewn against the bag so will hold only flat items like empty wrappers. The Velcro straps are suitable and long enough for both stem and bars. The bottom strap won’t fit on smaller frames and might rub anyway, so I left it off. Most importantly, it left enough space on 42cm drop bars to keep the top flat hand position available.

Why I never had these for my bicycles cockpit I will never know. I use 2 of them, 1 holds my phone, wallet, and a GoPro the other is loaded with snacks. 1 handed operation is difficult, but doable after time. Velcro is definitely aggressive. You might be able to tow a car with it. If you run 2 of them you can share a single Velcro strip for the stem and a strip for the front of the bike.

Love this stem bag. Straps are reversable so can mount either side of stem. Has a loop for quick access to pepper spray, or anything else you might want to clip on the outside of the bag. Excellent material. Well made. Good value.

Holds a big 32 oz nalgene on the handlebars -- if your bike doesn't have space for a second bottle cage, or if the bottle cage would get in the way of luggage etc, this stem bag holds plenty more water. The fit for the nalgene is too snug to remove and replace the bottle while moving, so it's basically back-up water that I use to refill the smaller bottle in my cage at stops.

Purchased this to use as a water bottle holder for my Brompton. It does this job well. It is lightweight, and does not interfere with the Brompton's fold.