Slowroad wrote: ↑9 Aug 2022, 6:05pm
what's stopping me is the cat's cradle of gear and brake cables which get pushed down by the bar bag and make the mudguard rub the tyre... but they do all need replacing and I can maybe do them a bit shorter.
If you decide to fit bars like the Ergotec EWG or Mollymawk, you will need significantly longer cables than you have now. I would suggest delaying fitting new cables for the moment, and similarly not buying a new seatpost just yet (it looks like you have plenty of scope to adjust saddle setback with your current post).
I would check and if necessary adjust saddle position first. Only once I was satisfied with that, would I turn my attention to hand position and the bars. With regard to shortening your current bars, you should be able to judge if that would be better for you before actually cutting them. On my first MTB I rode a lot with my palms covering the clamps of the bake levers, because I found that more comfortable than the grips of the relatively wide bars.
Your bar bag sounds like it is one of the traditional models with a wire puzzle support designed for a quill stem. If so, it might make sense to replace that with the newer type which uses a bracket. They position the bar bag higher than the wire puzzle type, which you may or may not prefer, but which should interfere less with your cables. From what others have posted, I understand the Rixen & Kaul bracket (as used with the Carradice bar bag) is a bit easier to transfer to a new bike (or new bars) than the Ortlieb bracket, because the Ortlieb retaining wire does not suit being repeatedly re-used and re-clamped. Unlike Ortlieb's universal bracket, the Rixen & Kaul bracket uses parts specific to the handlebar clamp diameter, but I think the Carradice bar bags are supplied with a R&K bracket kit including both 26mm and 31.8mm clamp diameter parts, so could be fitted to your currrent bars and if necessary be transferred later to bars with a wider clamp diameter, like the Mollymawk.