The Honaker is the bag you never knew you needed - until you use one. It allows you to carry a full Nalgene®* bottle in the unused space below your down tube, in front of your bottom bracket, keeping water weight low and allowing more space in your frame triangle for food or gear. No under-tube bottle mount bosses needed! The Honaker also does double duty as a handle bag bag for a jacket or extra layers.
The secret to the Honaker's ability lies in careful design. An adhesive velcro strip (included) is applied to the underside of the down tube, and paired with velcro sewn into the bag, keeps the Honaker from slipping down the tube. Rubberized straps prevent rotation or "swing" around the down tube, even when used on small-tube steel bikes, and even on the roughest trails. The Honaker covers a Nalgene completely, keeping the bottle clean regardless of conditions outside (helpful when riding through a rainstorm in cattle country). Installed properly, the Honaker has more ground clearance than your chainring, will not move while riding, and essentially disappears until you need that extra 32oz of water. The Honaker is proven on the Colorado Trail and Arizona Trail, both very rough in nature.
*Nalgene trademark is the property of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. and its subsidiaries.
Due to potential front wheel clearance issues, the Honaker is intended for 29ers and 650b bikes without radically curved down tubes, and 26" bikes with rigid forks. Your down tube must provide a flat surface along the length of the Honaker. Before deciding you need a Honaker, you should grab a Nalgene and your bike, and mock up where the Nalgene will need to sit on the down tube. Make sure you have plenty of tire clearance when the fork is completely compressed. NOTE: You can use the Honaker without the adhesive velcro in a large fork-mounted cage (i.e. Salsa Anything Cage), but you cannot use the Honaker on a fork with no cage.
The Honaker does not often work on road bikes - narrow BB's, Q-factors, and large chainrings don't mix with a wide bag.
If your bike does have bottle bosses under the down tube, you should use a bolt-on cage instead. If you choose to use a cargo cage (i.e., Salsa Anything Cage) you can strap the Honaker into the cage to keep your Nalgene clean.
Step-by-step instructions:
When used as a handlebar bag, the Honaker can be packed with whatever you like; to install, simply install the main straps over the handlebar and use the velcro loop to secure to the head tube.
When used under the down tube, the Honaker should only be used with a Nalgene - this provides the necessary rigidity for proper operation. To install under the down tube:
1) Clean the down tube with alcohol. Mock up where the Honaker should sit - just higher than the bottom of the chainring (for ground clearance) but low enough to avoid interference with the front tire when the fork is fully compressed.
2) Firmly apply the adhesive velcro to the clean down tube. The location you carefully choose the first time will allow you to simply "match up" the velcro on the Honaker during future installation, making it quick and easy.
3) Remove the velcro loop (intended for handlebar use). Attach the loaded Honaker's velcro to the down tube velcro, and thread the straps over the down tube.
4) Lace the straps through their buckles and cinch tightly. CINCH TIGHTLY! Properly installed, the Honaker will not move on rough trail, but you must tighten those straps firmly.
