EMBARGO UNTIL MARCH 20th, 2026

Introducing Manzanita Handlebar Cradle

The Manzanita Cradle is Old Man Mountain’s first handlebar cradle! It was designed in partnership with Salsa Cycles, building on the success of their legendary Anything Cradle. The Manzanita Cradle is a bracket mounted, rigid handlebar cradle built for all riding conditions from rugged shredpacking to champagne gravel. Highlights include easy bag mounting and a plethora of accessory mounting points on the top of the cradle.

Old Man Mountain and Salsa aligned perfectly with the bag mounting system for the Manzanita Cradle. Old Man Mountain’s goal is to engineer simple and reliable solutions that won’t leave bikepackers stranded. This translates to designs made with confidence inspiring attachment systems that have as few components as possible. The Manzanita Cradle’s bag attachment could not embody this more. The Cradle has hooks on the corners and the bags have loops to hang the bag like a jacket on a coat hook. Effortless, reliable, and silent!

Now that the bag is mounted it can be strapped down and held securely to the cradle. This is normally an annoying step with cradles, leaving users to want a third hand. Not with the Manzanita though since the bag is already hooked in place. Old Man Mountain thought about the stretch front pocket too and how the compression straps go right over the pocket limiting it’s usable space. Another simple and elegant solution, OMM added routing holes to run the compression straps through the pocket, securing the bag without blocking the stretch pocket.

On top of the arms of the cradle there are six M5 mounting points for lights, computers, phones, trackers, water bottles, whatever you need to carry. This moves these items off of the handlebars, preserving those hand positions and cleaning up the entire cockpit.

The Manzanita cradle comes with two bag options; the 11L side load option geared towards flat bar bikes and the 9L top load version. Both bags have the same features aside from the location of the closure.

Key Question:

How did this come to be? Why is Old Man Mountain releasing the evolution of the Salsa Anything Cradle?

The bike industry is challenged in the wake of a pandemic-fueled boom and bust cycle. In this challenged environment, brands need to focus on their core competencies. With this in mind, Salsa sought partnership with OMM to keep the legacy of Anything Cradle moving forward while allowing both brands to focus on what they do best. Salsa and OMM both share a mission of inspiring adventures by bike. Salsa’s expertise is in adventure-focused bikes and OMM complements this with their innovative cargo solutions.

Key Features:

• Mounting hooks on the cradle and simple loops on the bags make mounting your bag easy and quick. So easy it can even be done one handed.
• Quick stash, stretch pockets provides easy access to snacks, and essentials you need while riding.
• Six accessory mounting points on the top of the cradle provide plenty of room for computers, lights, and other accessories.
• Dual bolt handlebar clamps provide ample grip to prevent the cradle from slipping, rotating, even the roughest trails.
• Handlebar mounts protect brake and shift housing to maintain smooth functionality.
• Angle adjustability makes tire clearance on small bikes a breeze while maintaining an ideal mounting angle.
• Waterproof fabrics and roll top closures keep your gear safe and protected in harsh weather and stream crossings.
• Air purge valves make it easy to securely compress your gear to save space and stabilize your load.
• 9L Top Load bag and 11L Side Load bag options for refined fit on every bike.