Bottle cages

sexysi

Just a bit advice, just got hold of a new Bianchi compulso and it came with a water bottle cage, but like all cheap cages it marks the bottles. Just bought some new Bianchi water bottles, but loathed to use them as they will get cage marks on them. Anyone got any suggestions on bottle cages that leave the bottles looking good.

Need a nice looking cage/holder that is pretty light, don't mind buying carbon ones, just need them not mark the bottles.

Thanks Si

Wirral_paul

Arundel Mandible's for me - superb!! Cant really say how they would mark bottles though as I use insulated Camelback Podium Chill bottles that have a clear outer and so dont show up marks very well. I guess any cage that holds a bottle properly will mark the colours in time

k1875

I'm not usually a fan of folk posting unhelpful replies when someone has asked for advice, but really.

You're talking about something that's essentially disposable. If you're that fussed about the nick of your bottles then I suggest you leave them at home on your mantlepiece, where you can admire them in all their pristine glory.

You might find a nice, soft, cosseting cage to hold them without scratching, but if you do i'd wager it won't be functional enough to stop your bottle flying out the first time you hit a speed bump or hole in the road.

Oh, and if you've spent enough on a bottle to even give a moments thought to it's cosmetic longevity, you might want to ask yourself if you aren't entitled to expect the company who designed said bottle to have decorated it in a sufficiently robust manner that it can withstand the merciless assault of... a bottle cage.

Deary me.

sexysi

I was just wondering, brand new bike, brand new bottle, 2 uses bottle looks like it is second hand with the paint marked. Ie the best bottle to get is a black one that doesn't show marks.

si

andyparker

Si - understand your point

I just purchased two carbon ones from planet x for £30

Other option could be to line the inside of your bottle cages with some thin felt? Certainly cheaper option

Wirral_paul

k1875 wrote:

I'm not usually a fan of folk posting unhelpful replies when someone has asked for advice, but really.

Where? Mine's the only reply

cornerblock

k1875 wrote:

I'm not usually a fan of folk posting unhelpful replies when someone has asked for advice, but really.

You're talking about something that's essentially disposable. If you're that fussed about the nick of your bottles then I suggest you leave them at home on your mantlepiece, where you can admire them in all their pristine glory.

You might find a nice, soft, cosseting cage to hold them without scratching, but if you do i'd wager it won't be functional enough to stop your bottle flying out the first time you hit a speed bump or hole in the road.

Oh, and if you've spent enough on a bottle to even give a moments thought to it's cosmetic longevity, you might want to ask yourself if you aren't entitled to expect the company who designed said bottle to have decorated it in a sufficiently robust manner that it can withstand the merciless assault of... a bottle cage.

Deary me.

+1. If the thought of a couple of marks on a water bottle really is an issue, this may help.

cougie

My water bottles come out of the dishwasher looking fine.
And I use a few bottle cages.

But yes - just get black bottles if you're precious about them.

nunowoolmez

Very strange, it's a bottle, it really has no consequence on anything apart from holding the liquid to keep you moving! Nobody out there will give a monkeys about the state of your bottles. I mean i've never known someone to comment on the state of anothers bottle, people have better things to care about.

Anyway, Topeak do a very nice plastic cage which is cheap, robust, works perfectly & looks great. Why bother buying carbon ones? Are you really gonna notice the weight difference?

sexysi

Some good replies, some un helpful replies, what did i really expect. I like the teddy bear warmer though lol. Gonna empty one of my orange squash bottles and use that, in fact that is very cheap option and it fits, why do we not all do that...Wait because of this!!!!




I know which one looks better!!!

We do care what the bottle, looks like, i bet YOU out there when you buy a new bike, want a nice new bottle and not a orange squash bottle on your bike!!!

Here endith the lesson.

si

sexysi

nunowoolmez wrote:

Very strange, it's a bottle, it really has no consequence on anything apart from holding the liquid to keep you moving! Nobody out there will give a monkeys about the state of your bottles. I mean i've never known someone to comment on the state of anothers bottle, people have better things to care about.

Anyway, Topeak do a very nice plastic cage which is cheap, robust, works perfectly & looks great. Why bother buying carbon ones? Are you really gonna notice the weight difference?

Funny reply this! So why do we buy a carbon framed bike!! which is 1kg lighter, don't know, because DO WE REALLY NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE.

nunowoolmez

Oh dear, pram...toys everywhere!

Sorry if i upset you but i did actually end my post with a reccomendation for you. My point about the worthiness of carbon cages was this. A carbon frame & the significant weight difference from other frame materials is an integral part of the bike & therefore impacts hugely on the quality of the ride & how well we control the bike. A carbon bike may also assist climbing for example due to the very light frame. Is shaving a marginal amount from your bike by using carbon cages really going to make that much difference to your ride. It really is a small weight difference. Unless you are a pro i don't see the benefit. It's nice to have carbon cages but they won't make a difference. Also, due to the stiffer compound of material, carbon cages are probably more likely to scratch your bottles as thete is less give in the design. Those Topeak ones are the best around & come in all sorts of colours.

thegreatdivide

You can buy new Bianchi bottles for about £4.00. Don't stress about which cage to buy and scratches on a bit of plastic. If anything scratches on your bottles will say 'I ride my bike'.

As mentioned above, the weight difference between a carbon cage and a standard cage is negligible and you're probably paying more than the price of gold for the saved g's. I bought a carbon cage for the bling, but have now replaced it and use classic Taxc Tao Ultralights on all of my bikes. I also bulk buy clear Taxc Shiva bottles.

NB - I think most professional riders only have carbon cages on their bikes because it's what the cage manufacturer wants them to use so it shows off their brand. Teams have to keep shoving weights down seatposts to meet UCI regulations, so a carbon cage is not there to save weight.

nferrar

My plastic Spesh rib cage and Elite race cages don't seem to mark bottles but some alloy ones I have do. Can also be down to the conditions you ride in, if it's wet/mucky you're going to get grit on the bottle and in the cage so good chance on any cage you're to end up with scratches.

giant_man

Imo it's only a water bottle, which are easily replaceable. If you do go for a black one, I'm sure this will also wear off due to going in and out of the cage in time .....

PhilPub

I think I'd be lying if I said i didn't give a hoot about the aesthetics of both bottle and cage on the bike, but in all honesty a few scratches here and there on the bottle really wouldn't bother me, so once the choice is made it's made. IMO the only reason to buy a carbon cage is if you really feel like the aesthetic joy of the thing against your carbon frame is worth the money, otherwise weight saving is negligible.

I've just bought a Lifeline alloy bottle cage for £4-odd from wiggle: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-alloy-bottle-cage/ which, in the grand scheme of things, weighs f*ck all - probably lighter than a lot of carbon ones.

sexysi

Coming in this morning this happened.


Went round a damp corner too quick and lost the bike. And guess what the first thing to fly out and go skidding across the floor was the water bottle, now really don't give a s**t about the bottle now, my leg hurts though.

Sitting at work now in shorts to stop the bloody soaking my jeans.

si

ugo.santalucia

sexysi wrote:

Coming in this morning this happened.


Went round a damp corner too quick and lost the bike. And guess what the first thing to fly out and go skidding across the floor was the water bottle, now really don't give a s**t about the bottle now, my leg hurts though.

Sitting at work now in shorts to stop the bloody soaking my jeans.

si

Accidents happen, best thing is to forget about it as soon as possible, or you'll get paranoid about damp corners... only advice is keep your tyres pressure lower in winter (kind of 90 PSI) and get tyres with a bit of grip

Your blood looks very rich in red cells... do you use EPO?

MattC59

Bontrage race lite cages:
http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/bontrager-race-lite-cage-.html
£5.99, they hold your bottle very well, don't scratch your bottle and look fine. They've got no molding lines to scratch your bottle, just smooth plastic.

Or you can buy the carbon version:
http://www.pedalon.co.uk/acatalog/bontrager-race-xxx-lite-cage.html
This will do exactly the same job, but will cost you £34.99 each and save you 21g per cage.

Personally, I decided on the plastic cages and I just remove 21ml of water from the top of each bottle to compensate for the weight difference. I then pocketed the £58 difference for two cages.

MattC59

sexysi wrote:

nunowoolmez wrote:

Very strange, it's a bottle, it really has no consequence on anything apart from holding the liquid to keep you moving! Nobody out there will give a monkeys about the state of your bottles. I mean i've never known someone to comment on the state of anothers bottle, people have better things to care about.

Anyway, Topeak do a very nice plastic cage which is cheap, robust, works perfectly & looks great. Why bother buying carbon ones? Are you really gonna notice the weight difference?

Funny reply this! So why do we buy a carbon framed bike!! which is 1kg lighter, don't know, because DO WE REALLY NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE.

You buy a carbon framed bike because it's 1kg lighter, a difference you will notice. However, I'd be amazed if you noticed a 21g difference in bottle cage material.

sexysi

Good answer Matt, Just what i wanted, well done mate

Will order up some Bontrage race lite cages now.

Just ordered 2 white cheap ones

Thanks

MattC59

sexysi wrote:

Good answer Matt, Just what i wanted, well done mate

Will order up some Bontrage race lite cages now.

Just ordered 2 white cheap ones

Thanks

Exactly what I've got. They've not scratched or dropped a bottle in the two years that they've been on the bike, and to be honest, I've not noticed the weight difference, but I did notice the £58 difference (all be it briefly, as I bought another jersey )

rolf_f

You have to love this forum. As has happened before, a bloke posts a thread asking for recommendations for a bottle cage that won't scratch the bottles. Seems reasonable - why buy something that makes your kit look messy when the same money would buy something that doesn't?

Anyway, result = significant flaming from the from the scratched bottle crowd.

Someone else posts a thread having found the bike he wants at a 1k discount but only in red. Result does not equal lots of flaming about an issue that is even less significant than the bottle cage issue - rather a high proportion of the posters tell him that he definitely shouldn't get the bike! (Fortunately he sees sense and ignores them).....

sexysi

Lol nice one Rolf, got to agree with you. Even though it was a silly little request from me, I got there in the end and in fact have bought on that recommendation. Shame there was the odd crappy post in there as well. Some of us take pride in our bikes, after all we spend our hard earned cash on them and why not. So what it is a cheap bottle that can be replaced, but the bike looks mint and why not keep it that way.
"I would have bought the RED bike as well. Jesus a grand saving.... no comment"

si

nickellis

ugo.santalucia wrote:

sexysi wrote:

Coming in this morning this happened.


Went round a damp corner too quick and lost the bike. And guess what the first thing to fly out and go skidding across the floor was the water bottle, now really don't give a s**t about the bottle now, my leg hurts though.

Sitting at work now in shorts to stop the bloody soaking my jeans.

si

Accidents happen, best thing is to forget about it as soon as possible, or you'll get paranoid about damp corners... only advice is keep your tyres pressure lower in winter (kind of 90 PSI) and get tyres with a bit of grip

Your blood looks very rich in red cells... do you use EPO?

I'd be asking if he's had any blood transfusions under UV lights