The Miss Grape Tendril 4.10 is a fully waterproof handlebar bag designed to fit road or mountain bikes. The bag offers 4 to 10 litres of space through a very narrow double-ended opening. I found it was not the most stable bag in use, especially on a carbon bar.
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Miss Grape claim the bag is designed more for drop handlebar, road or gravel bikes with a lightweight, 245g bag that offers 4 to 10 litres of space. In reality, when fitted to a drop handlebar bike it will be the lower amount and in order to achieve this, a significant amount of roll within the fabric will be needed as the bag measures 55cm when fully open, which is wider than most drop bars.
The bag attaches with 2 tension buckles that secure a strap with loops that mount onto open hook metal buckles that should allow quick and easy fitting and removal with blocks of foam designed to space the bag away from the handlebar. Overall the quality feels good, although in use I found it quite frustrating.
The straps need to be tensioned in a certain manner, which isn't explained clearly on the Miss Grape website or in any literature with all tension needing to be taken while holding the section on the top of the handlebar, not by simply pulling tight from the end. A quick look on YouTube offers a Miss Grape tutorial here.
Once mounted and preloaded correctly, the foam pads had a habit of falling out of place, which then meant lots of movement in the system. I initially tested on a carbon handlebar, but after having issues with this movement I switched to testing on an aluminium bar, which did at least reduce the amount of movement, although it did not completely remove the issue. Jessica also tested this bag on an alloy dropbar gravel bike and found installation pretty straightforward. As for the stability, there was no more movement than to be expected when riding rough and undulating terrain so it would appear that it doesn't play well with shiny carbon bars.
The bag features a removable fabric strap with a locking closure for securing around the head tube or fork and being removable is a plus point. Personally, I would replace it with a strap that is easier to adjust and secure, such as a simple velcro strap. When using the strap provided, the length will suit some bikes but should you wish to secure around a very deep carbon head tube or fork mount area you may need to source a longer strap.
The double-ended bag has a maximum opening and overall diameter when full of just 14cm, which on the plus side will mean good clearance to the front tyre, even on road bikes with a short drop from bar to tyre, but the narrow diameter also means that the access area to stuff the bag is incredibly small and I really struggled to pack even a lightweight, compressible summer down sleeping bag into the space available.
In use, when mounted and starting the ride the foam pad allows you to continue using the tops of the handlebar, which is great for use on road or gravel bikes, but I found on rough ground the foam pads, simply didn't remain in place, slipping constantly when fitted to a carbon handlebar over bumps which will result in damage to the bar and while things did improve when using an aluminium bar, there was still some movement. It might be possible to add some form of stick-on material onto the handlebar, with the aim of reducing the friction and preventing the strap from rubbing the bar.
The bag material is 210D PVC and all sections of stitching, including the mounting area, are taped over, which should make it good for even the wettest of rides and in use I had no problems at all. The simple design means no quick access pocket area, although the bag does have extra loops on the mounting system that could allow for some external items to be attached, although no straps are provided.
The bag is lighter than most similar bags, weighing 245g, although this is mostly due to the simple design and small overall size.
At £110 it makes it one of the more expensive bags available, the price being the same as the larger Miss Grape 10.7 handlebar bag, which has more features and better fit options.
For a small, simple handlebar bag with an attachment method that is far from perfect, it is hard to recommend, even with a good waterproof fabric. Miss Grape bags, in general, are premium bags made with good fabric and while they are often more expensive they can often be justified, but for the Tendril 4.10, the high price mixed with movement in particular on a carbon handlebar puts it below the competition.