Ridley Xfire - bottle cage bosses

TimBaker

I am considering buying a Ridley Xfire but it does not have any bosses to mount a bottle cage.
An 'Elite band' mount is available but are they up to the task or would I be better off with a saddle mounted bottle holder?

andrewgturnbull

Hi there.

Bottle cage, cx race bike? Don't do it!

All in all you're probably better off with a camelback. If you ride off road with a bottle, the spout just ends up all muddy, plus there's the difficulty of finding an opportune moment to take your hands off the bars.

Cheers, Andy

Bart Puss

andrewgturnbull wrote:

Hi there.

Bottle cage, cx race bike? Don't do it!

All in all you're probably better off with a camelback. If you ride off road with a bottle, the spout just ends up all muddy, plus there's the difficulty of finding an opportune moment to take your hands off the bars.

Cheers, Andy

Quite agree with the above....the one time I used my cross bike for a challenge ride where drinks were required I used two old bottle cages which I zip tied to the down tubes with numerous large ties and used inner tube as an interface between the cages and the frame.

Worked great, secure bottles, quick removal and no damage to the frame. An easy temp fix if u need a cage occasionally.

TimBaker

thanks, the bike would not be used off road but would be used for sportives, further comments welocme
Tim

andrewgturnbull

TimBaker wrote:

thanks, the bike would not be used off road but would be used for sportives, further comments welocme
Tim

Hi there.

Am I missing something here? Do you mean you're intending to use the bike for sportives _as_well_as off road. 'cos if you're not heading into the muddy stuff at all then I'd suggest a different bike.

With a carbon frame your options are limited... If it was alu, steel or titanium then you could have bottle cage mounts drilled and threaded into the tube. I did this with my alu cross bike, but regretted doing do.

You could use a triathlon-style bottle cage mounted on your saddle rails. I used to have one of these too, but it did have an alarming propensity of launching the bottles skywards when you hit a bump. Also they're quite awkward to reach.

Cheers, Andy

TimBaker

thanks, I am really looking for a good bike which I can use on the road only. the Xfire appears to be well specced for the money but does not have bottle cages.

regards
Tim

Pirahna

Tim,

The Ridley is a superb bike if you're racing cross or riding mixed surfaces, but as Andrew says, look elsewhere. For the £1500 price of the X Fire you'll get a suberb road bike.

DavidBelcher

andrewgturnbull wrote:

Hi there.

Bottle cage, cx race bike? Don't do it!

All in all you're probably better off with a camelback. If you ride off road with a bottle, the spout just ends up all muddy, plus there's the difficulty of finding an opportune moment to take your hands off the bars.

Cheers, Andy

I never race 'cross with a bottle on. And in training, it likes to pop out of its cage now and again over bumpy ground!

David