There’s a new player in the handlebar-cradle game. Or rather, a new player has combined with an old player. It’s like if Voltron were just two lions, and one is Old Man Mountain and the other is Salsa Cycles. Together, they are the Manzanita Handlebar Cradle, and Travis has thoughts.
Bikes are not wheelbarrows. They’re bad at carrying cargo. They’re complex, unstable objects that a whole human being needs to steer, pedal, stand up, and sit down on. Meanwhile, there are five handlebar diameters, dozens of axle configurations, and countless frame shapes. Every rider has a different body, and rides different terrain in different ways. It’s a wonder that any one cargo accessory is versatile enough to justify mass production. But I think a bolt-on handlebar cradle might be the most versatile
They keep the load away from the frame and (mostly) off the cables. They prevent the bag from rubbing through your paint or vice-versa. They’re sturdy enough for any kind of riding, but can be quickly removed without a trace. It’s an elegant concept that’s seen some evolution in recent years. Rogue Panda, Tailfin, Aeroe, and a handful of smaller brands now have their own take. But the perennial Salsa Anything Cradle hasn’t had a fundamental redesign since it was introduced almost a decade ago. That has finally changed, and in a unique way.
Manzanita Handlebar Cradle Quick Hits
- 8LB / 3.6KG capacity
- Sold with either 9L Top Load bag or 11L Side Load bag (tested)
- 35.0mm clamps with included shims for 31.8
- Accessory mounts on top of each clamp, plus an included removable light mount
- Includes two 19mm x 730mm nylon straps and plastic cam-clamp buckles
- Also fits up to 25mm Voile straps
- Integrates with bag for hands-free positioning while strapping down
- 416 g (cradle, straps and shims – confirmed)
- 268 g (11L Side Load bag – confirmed)
- 248 g (9L Top Load bag – claimed)
- Weight as tested: 696 g (cradle, straps, shims, light mount, 11L bag – confirmed)
- 11L or 9L bag-only: $110
- Cradle and bag: $240
Old Man Salsa
The new Manzanita Handlebar Cradle and matching bags are a collab between Old Man Mountain and Salsa Cycles. It’s like how RUN DMC and Aerosmith teamed up to refresh “Walk This Way.” It worked pretty well in practice even if it was confusing on paper. As the Manzanita press release puts it; “In this challenged environment, brands need to focus on their core competencies. With this in mind, Salsa sought partnership with Old Man Mountain to keep the legacy of Anything Cradle moving forward while allowing both brands to focus on what they do best.” Salsa’s parent company, QBP, is still a logistical powerhouse in product distribution. And Old Man Mountain is growing and innovating at a frenzied but focused pace. I don’t know how they’ll share the costs and profits, but I don’t know how Aerosmith and RUN DMC did it either. I just know “Walk This Way” was the first hip-hop single to crack the Billboard top five.
Design and Construction
The Manzanita Handlebar Cradle offers a similar mix of modern and classic. It’s still got alloy clamps buttressed to an injection-molded plastic cradle. But it’s loaded with subtle updates. The clamps work with either 35.0 or 31.8 mm bars thanks to some wide, secure-fitting shims. The mounting structures are shaped to be mainly above the handlebar’s center, leaving more room down where the cables will naturally be. That hardware also integrates threaded mounts for an extra bottle cage, a bento box, or any number of weird tchotchkes people will come up with.
At the front of the plastic cradle is a removable mount for a light or a GPS, though it’s too narrow for both. A series of slots capture the included nylon straps so they don’t slide when being cinched down. And the plastic cradle can be repositioned on its mounts via sliding hardware to optimize around a wider variety of stem and head-tube lengths. That optimization is helpful for how the Manzanita Handlebar Cradle works with the new included dry bags, which is my favorite part.
The 9L Top Load and the 11L Side Load bags are sold with a Manzanita cradle or on their own, though the cradle itself is currently not sold without a bag. The Side Load bag uses a traditional dual-roll setup while the Top Load bag is a fixed-width roll-top. The build leans a bit on the burly side. Both are of course waterproof, and both have reinforcement panels where the bag hits the cradle, and where it (hopefully won’t) hit the front tire. There’s a mesh pocket on the front and a vent valve on the side. But the coolest feature is the loops that are designed to hook onto the fins at the upper corners of the cradle. They’re brilliant, and they’re the perfect segue into my usability impressions.
Manzanita Handlebar Cradle Usability Impressions
Normally I’d have to hold my bag in place with one hand while threading a strap with the other. Hopefully I get it tight enough that it’ll stay put while I attach the other strap. But thanks to those clever hooks, the Manzanita Handlebar Cradle can “hang” the bag in place while I attach the straps with full use of both hands. This is uniquely helpful with the Manzanita system because the straps route underneath that front stretch pocket. It only takes a second, and makes the pocket more usable.
“Usability” seems to be the goal here. Convenience can be pretty soothing on a multi-day ride. Beyond just those hanging hooks, I appreciated that the straps don’t slide out of position. I never have to wriggle them back in place to keep the buckles where I want. Those buckles are a little suspect, though. The hinge structure doesn’t have much overlap in its plastic tabs. Even if it’s dead center, they get barely a millimeter of insertion. Thankfully, you can swap them out for 20mm Voile straps with all the same convenience benefits, but to be fair, I had no issues on the three rather aggressive-terrain overnighters I did while testing the Manzanita Handlebar Cradle.
Manzanita Handlebar Cradle Ride Impressions
The cradle’s orientation keeps the bag remarkably bounce-free. It’s meant to attach to the upper-rear “quadrant.” Compare that to the Blue Ridge or the original Salsa Anything Cradle, which mostly just contact the bag’s rear quadrant. That offers little support for the bag’s bulkiest half. The Manzanita Handlebar Cradle vertically overlaps the bag’s centerline. A perfect solution might be full vertical overlap, but that would require a lot of extension and/or a long stem. This new design is comfortably secure without having to make the straps uncomfortably tight.
The front pouch makes for good “satellite” storage. A firm elastic band, connected at the center, keeps bulky items in. It was snug enough to hold my phone for my first ride, but I later did some redistribution. I’d still prefer a feed bag or top-tube bag for things I’ll need regular access to, or that I want safely behind a zipper. So, I used the Manzanita bag pouch for empty wrappers, and for keeping my headlamp within reach when dusk turned to dark.
I opted for the 11L Side Load bag because I find they make it easier to tightly cram the lightweight items I reserve for my handlebar. It easily fit my sleeping bag, my down jacket, and all the clothes I change into when I get to camp. To comfortably mount it between the hoods on my 54cm gravel bars, I did have to sneak an extra roll on the “bottom” closure after fully loading the bag, but that’s an advantage to dual-roll bags. Plus, the vent valve makes it easy to purge excess air when chasing down those last few cubic centimeters of space.
Accessorizing
I can’t wait to see how other testers used those upper mounts. The only application I stuck with was an extra place to put my Wolf Tooth B-Rad bags, one of which has my flat kit and the other my every-ride essentials kit. But neither of these need to be so front-and-center. A bottle cage would make sense, but that’s a lot of weight to put so far in front of the steering axis, especially on top of all my softgoods. Plus, a bottle would collide with the light mount. That light mount is clever, though. I wish it were wide enough to also carry a GPS, but you could always get a second one and mount it “longitudinally” to the aluminum clamp. There’s definitely potential here. I’ve already got a Tinker Tantrum in mind for it…
Beyond its thoughtful design, the Manzanita Handlebar Cradle delivers on the promise of the premise. I used this thing on three different bikes during testing. And aside from temporarily replacing my 22.2mm DOOM handlebars (cheaper than buying two sets of 31.8 shims), I had zero compatibility or collision issues. It bolts on and bolts off in about 90 seconds. It’s a full-featured cargo carrier that was good for every one of my bikes. Which is a good thing, because of course, none of my bikes are good for carrying cargo.
Pros:
- No-fuss loading thanks to integrated hooks and loops
- Stable, bounce-free bag connection
- Ample optional accessory mounts
- Robust bag construction
- Thoughtful accommodation for various cockpit setups
- Bolts and shims are “captured” in the clamp hardware
Cons:
- Some might prefer Voile straps
- Not sold cradle-only
- Accessory mounts don’t seem to have a defined purpose
See more at Old Man Mountain and Salsa Cycles