Road Cycling - Tacx Tao bottle cage (failure)

The Tacx Tao is such a nice bottle cage, in my opinion. Too bad that it does not last... Over the past half year, I have already broken two of them (normal, intensive, use). The LBS replaces them without any questions, but it is a hassle...

Uh, oh. I have two of these. I guess I'll have to baby them.

what on them breaks? its not like there's any
mechanical interfaces.
I've been thinking about getting 2 of these but now,
well, I don't know.

Marty

Originally posted by lotek
what on them breaks?

Marty, the first one broke at the section that is supposed to hold the upper frame bolt; the second break affected the small 'nipple' onto which the bottom of the bottle rests.

It appears that the aluminium cage by itself is strong enough, but that the design is a bit sloppy.

Probably, if you use exclusively--Tacx---0.5 liter bottles (or never never fill the bigger ones to the maximum) and you avoid cobble streets altogether, the Tao will do just fine.

I would not exactly discourage people from buying the Tao, but I thought a warning couldn't hurt. My LBS said that I am not the only one repeatedly demanding replacements...

Given I take at least 1 large polar bottle I'm gonna keep
my standard Cussi elite type of cage.
Somehow 2 .5 litre bottles does not quite seem enough for
riding here.

thanks for the response,

Marty

Mine are fine so far with polar bottles.

I've been using them on my cyclocross bike. Dirt roads, single track etc. with large bottles (full). No problems in close to a year of use. The ones on my road bike have been fine all season as well.

Definitly don't think they are a faulty product.

Originally posted by lotek
what on them breaks? its not like there's any
mechanical interfaces.
I've been thinking about getting 2 of these but now,
well, I don't know.

Marty


The mounting points are plastic. They have a thin plastic lip that connects the alloy portion of the cage to the plastic mounting portion. That is where these fail. It really doesn't take much for them to break. You'll just be riding along and notice one of your bottles bouncing around a bit as it's all of a sudden only being held by one of the bolts.

IMHO they're junk. I've stopped using them and switched to Elite Patao for standard sized bottles. They hold the bottle just as well but are one piece magnesium and very solid.

Are your braze-ons misaligned?

Do you have a clamp-on front derailleur that pushes up on the bottom of the cage?

I've encountered both of these problems and both drastically shorten cage life. For misaligned braze-ons, the best work-around is to use plastic cages.

For derailleur clamp problems, you'll need a couple of spacers to raise the bottle cage away from the clamp.

"It appears that the aluminium cage by itself is strong enough, but that the design is a bit sloppy."

What? There are no aluminium parts...that is the beauty of these, they are CF or composite. That mkes them light weight. I've been using the Tao for 1.5 years and have had zero problems. Are you over-torqueing the bolts or something?

As for mis-alignment of the braze ons, that shouldn't create problems. One of the ways that you can make non-Tacx bottles fit is by twisting the the whole cage and then tightening the bolts.

Originally posted by Tarantula

What? There are no aluminium parts...that is the beauty of these, they are CF or composite.

Hmmm... it would seem that the manufacturer would disagree with you.

http://www.tacx.nl/frameset.cfm?l=en&id=100

Tacx searched for a ‘jewel’ for the bike and found it. The shape of the bike and its technical components inspired the designers. A high-quality metal look was chosen. Every detail on the seemingly simple bottle cage is crystallined. The Tao is punched out of aluminium plate, pressed into shape, anodised for resilience and partly treated with rubber. This not only enhances the design, it improves the clasp and protects the bottle. The innovated production methods guarantee a strong clasp, which is reliable even under the most extreme conditions.

No problems with one on my MTB/commuter so far...