As previous, I'm surprised at people who think they get to tell others how they can and can't spend their money. That being said, as ever there are always some questions that need answering, so having tried a tonne of cages out I'll try my best to answer them below. What bottle cage do pros use? More or less, yes. All cycling bottles (or 'bidons' if you're... French) are a more or less identical diameter, and have a little notch at the same height from the base, which helps them clip into the bottle cages. Manufacturing tolerances vary though, and so some combinations of bottles and cages may be tighter or looser than others, but on the whole if they look like they're going to fit, they will. How tight should a bottle cage be? Considering that many new bikes are missing a pair of bottle bosses under the downtube, and there’s no such thing as a suspension fork bottle mount, the USB is a good option. It comes in four sizes: 1 1/8-inch for handlebars and seat stays, 1 3/8-inch for steel frames and forks, 1 5/8-inch for 32mm suspension forks, and 2-inch for aluminum tube bikes and 36mm suspension forks. Note that because the cage attaches via a post mount, the nut goes onto the cage and some bottle cages might not work if they don’t have a recessed channel. Each Barnacle uses an M5 bolt and swivel nut to secure it to the tubing and a brass M5 threaded boss embedded into it. Although they can handle more, Jon suggests loading the Barnacles up with no more than 1,000 grams will have negative effects on the bike’s handling (when mounting to the fork), and should be avoided. Find more at our press release here.

Well, first of all the Sicuro cage is made from high-quality 3Al/2.5V titanium, and is hand-bent and laser welded in the USA. It's pretty light (33g on the road.cc scales, just over the claimed weight of 30g) and being titanium it's also pretty tough. The holder in itself is very light, gorgeous, and the finish looks durable (to be confirmed along the kilometers of course).Now they are standard BHC screws that can be found everywhere but I would have loved that the ones provided were of better quality. Fitting the cage to the bike is easy using the pre-drilled holes, and should the tolerances not quite match up the bottom hole is elongated to allow a bit of adjustment. The Barnacle by Drj0n Bagworks provides a low-profile mounting option for bottle and cargo cages on the fork, downtube, or other locations on a bike frame. The Barnacle clamp is 3D-printed from durable plastic and comes in nine diameters ranging from 25.4mm to 47mm, designed to fit commonly available downtubes in steel, aluminum, and titanium, and also rigid steel and suspension forks. You can also use rubber strips to help accommodate varied tubes. For example, 45mm with a 1mm rubber strip fits a Fox 34 or a Fox 36 without.

The arms held the bottles snugly and adapted well around a variety of different bottles. The lower section of the cage feels quite thin and, though this did not occur whilst testing, feels like it could be easily over-stretched. It's hard to beat the Topeak Feza, in either the 10g road or 12g gravel version. Despite being crazy light, and looking rather flimsy, I've found the G12 model to be dependable, and grip more tightly than far cheaper models. There are lighter ones on the market, just, but you're going to be shopping with boutique brands and spending big dollar to save around four grams. Do bottle cages fit all bottles? Cycle Centre Congleton Limited 2021. Cyclestore is a trading name of Cycle Centre Congleton Limited. All Rights Reserved Company No. 05107467 | VAT No: 593 733 507

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What's more, bottle retention, particularly in rougher races like Paris-Roubaix, is going to be a greater determining factor than weight. Are carbon bottle cages worth it? Silca also says the cage should prevent scratching to your bottle, but I'm not totally sold on that – surely if you have some grit in between cage and bottles it'll mark the plastic when it goes in and out of the cage, Cerakote or not? After one particularly wet and muddy ride this winter, both my bottles were scratched from grit. So, there you go. My only gripe is that the holder is sold with screws with a short head to allow good clearance of the bottle. The fancy screws from my frame stamped with the brand do rub against the bottles when I try to use them so I have to use the Supacaz screws... and they are incredibly soft. You can round the head without using any leverage if you are not careful. And while the potential market for such as product at that price point is very small, it does exist – and as has also been pointed out in the comments, the opinion of people who would be prepared to fork out that much for a bottle cage is equally valid – it’s their money and their choice.

Over the past decade, we’ve reviewed 72 bottle cages here on road.cc and this is far and away the most expensive, costing almost 30 per cent more than the next dearest one we’ve featured. Indeed, all but four cost at most half as much as this one does, and in many cases significantly less.

My bottles are not held firmly and they slide in and out very easily. Great for road riding, mayve not ideal for gravel or behind the saddle installation. Not a problem but a charactetistic to be aware of. Now, as we’ve said previously, price is only one of the things that is taken into account when our reviewers come up with a judgment on whether or not something provides good value – and if you read the review above you’ll see that in reaching the final score a trade-off has been made between what are seen as the product’s plus points, and the cost. On test, the Fly Anodised cage’s open design allowed for simple bottle access. The mouth of the cage is sloped inwards which increases the surface area slightly for easier bottle replacement. Overall, this is a very lovely cage, and the Cerakote protection does appear to work. Obviously it's an insane amount of money, and I'm not even going to try to justify the price, other than to say you'll probably never have to buy another bottle cage again (unless you want to get a second). The only possible negative I can draw, other than the price, is that the coating does diminish the visual appeal of raw titanium somewhat. Verdict Finance is subject to application, financial circumstances and borrowing history. Performance Cycling Limited FRN: 720557 trading as Tredz are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are a credit broker not a lender – credit is subject to status and affordability and is provided by Mitsubishi HC Capital UK PLC. Terms & Conditions Apply.

The top of the cage is stiff, designed to maintain the overall structural integrity, whilst the lower half is more malleable so that the cage can be bent to fit different bottles. If you aren’t up for clamping, strapping, or taping mounts to your frame, there are two ways to permanently add bottle bosses to your frame or fork. Hire a Framebuilder

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While they’re not cheap, Tailfin has created a product with a high level of design, engineering, durability, and finish, and until you actually handle them and fit the SFMs, it’s hard to convey how well made they actually are. We think the SFM is perhaps one of the better and more elegantly designed options we’ve tried for use with a suspension fork. Logan and Virginia recently put nearly 2,000 miles on four pairs in Baja and Oaxaca, with no issues to speak of. We rarely see the pros using superlight cages, as often their bikes are under the UCI weight limit as standard anyway, and so adding slightly heavier cages is no big deal and helps them make the legal limit. The cage has a similar price tag to its competitors, however it is worth noting that the standard colour options are significantly cheaper. In my experience, having compiled a fair few pro bike galleries in my time, is that the Elite Custom Race Plus seems to be the most common, though pro riders' choices are often determined by sponsorship than by free will.