BTR Bike Phone Holder Bike Bag & Bicycle Handlebar Mobile Phone Mount

The BTR Bike Phone Holder Bike Bag & Bicycle Handlebar Mobile Phone Mount (and breathe) delivers on what its name suggests and the description that BTR gives it on its website. It's not the most elegant solution to front-end/handlebar storage, but for less than a tenner – and just £5.99 for the medium size (all of 0.5cm difference in length and width to the large) – you could do a lot worse.

The thing I like least about the BTR bar bag is its looks. I know, looks are subjective, but... even its mother would have trouble. But get over that, and if you need some extra storage up front on your bike, it does the job.​

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It's very well made – the stitching is neat, and none of the seams 'miss' edges that they're meant to be securing, there's a decent overlap everywhere.

It's lined with BTR-branded fabric, and in the main section you get a key clip and two elasticated straps with easy-to-undo clips, for holding things securely in place.

The base and sides are slightly padded. It's a robust little bag. The piping on the outside is reflective, too, which helps counter one of my criticisms, which I'll get on to in a minute.

The top section that closes with a zip has the phone holder – two padded sections that overlap and Velcro together, very securely, with a wide strip of elastic at the top to accommodate different phone sizes and that'll also stop your phone sliding out if you were to flip the lid right over when opening. The fact that it's not separated from the space below means you can carry a battery pack in the bottom section and top up your phone easily, with no leads having to brave the elements outside.

The touchscreen-friendly PVC cover means you can operate your phone without having to remove it or your touchscreen-friendly gloves – though I was hoping it'd work with non-touchscreen-friendly gloves too. It's a bit hit and miss on that (and doesn't claim to, that was just me hoping).

It's not claimed to be waterproof either – it's 'water resistant' and it does a good job in a short shower, but you might want to wrap your belongings in a waterproof bag if it looks like rain, especially as the zip isn't waterproof either.

The 'sun shade' hasn't been put to much use, I'm afraid. It's shielded the phone cover from driving wind and rain, but should help a bit if the sun ever comes out again.

Despite the build quality and it doing many things without quibble, it does have its faults. A bar bag doesn't need to be elegant, and this one isn't, but its bulk also means that it can obscure your front light, from the side at least, though to what extent (if at all) will depend on your light and how it mounts. The reflective piping on the side helps a little here.

How the bag mounts is another slight annoyance. It's secure once it's on, but you have to fight three Velcro straps that all want to attach to each other while you're doing it. Keeping them done up while you attach each one separately would probably help.

Possibly the most annoying thing about the bag is that there's nowhere to stow the zip ends. My Topeak seat pack has little 'housings' you push the ends into, to keep them silent, but the BTR bag doesn't have any and they rattle like anything, against each other and against the bag.

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These are pretty minor quibbles, though, when you consider the price. Really, for a penny less than a tenner – and just £5.99 for the medium (which would probably be a better bet for my ancient old iPhone 5) – you really can't complain.

With our super-duper new way of being able to narrow down what you're looking at by price and year, I can see that in the last three years of road.cc bag reviews there's very little that comes close to it on price – and most of those that do are also from BTR! The company really does offer very good value for money, and if you like what this bag does and aren't bothered about the looks, it's a bargain.

And, I almost forgot! You also get six puncture patches included. Which is nice.

Verdict

Not the most elegant storage solution, but does the job at a very attractive price