Triathlon - ejecting bottles !!!

Has anyone found a solution to the 'ejecting bottles' problem facing many of the rear mounted bottle carriers (ie. Xlab wing series)?

I'm assuming the issue is the cage rather than the carrier. Or is it the bottles themselves?

Has anyone found a solution of this annoying problem besides avoiding the bumps !!!

Thanks

Jersey pockets.

What brand of cages and bottles are you using?

I hate those stupid bottle carriers. I was almost taken out last weekend at IM Wisconsin by someone hitting a bump and losing a bottle directly in front of me. I personally us an aerobottle mounted between my aerobars, and one more bottle on the downtube in a cage.

I use the steel King cages. They keep a very firm grip on bottles.

What brand of cages and bottles are you using?

I'm not sure that they are... i'm pretty sure their just a standard generic cage and bottle.

If is is the cage, then i could possibly justify spending a bit more for a better cage. However, in my opinion, buying a $50 carbon bottle cage is possibly one of the most ridiculous and unjustifiable purchases out there !!!

... buying a $50 carbon bottle cage is possibly one of the most ridiculous and unjustifiable purchases out there !!!

As mentioned above. King cages...steel. They are $17

http://www.kingcage.com/Home.html#

Avoid carbon cages. Most are going to be awful at keeping a rear bottle in place.

Go with the Profile Design Kage model (http://www.profile-design.com/products/hydration/kage/). They're less than $10 and are hands down the best conventional gages for keeping your bottle in place. They're rubbery, stay tight, and have a band that goes around them. (The band will probably break after a while, but they still keep your bottle secure.

I agree with bikinpolitico. I use the Profile Design cages and have never had a bottle eject! :thumb:

Avoid carbon cages. Most are going to be awful at keeping a rear bottle in place.

Go with the Profile Design Kage model (http://www.profile-design.com/products/hydration/kage/). They're less than $10 and are hands down the best conventional gages for keeping your bottle in place. They're rubbery, stay tight, and have a band that goes around them. (The band will probably break after a while, but they still keep your bottle secure.

What bottles are you guys using with the Kage's?

Any of the generic bottles that are handed out at races...

What bottles are you guys using with the Kage's?

I use Polar bottles. Not only do they fit very tightly in the PD Kage, they're insulated so your liquids stay cold longer. I did a review of the Polar bottle here: http://austinbikeblog.org/?p=239

Any of the generic bottles that are handed out at races...

Any standard bottle during training. During IM and Half IM races, they pass out 24 oz Gatorade Endurance Formula and those bottles don't have quite as much girth. That's where the King cages excel...they can be be bent to have a tighter fit than the Profile cages.

That's where the King cages excel...they can be be bent to have a tighter fit than the Profile cages.

Good point.

I use Cannondale's GT40 cage http://www.cannondale.com/a_a/gear/08/FW/model-5A03.html#bottles
$10 or less, and you can squeeze them closed if they are starting to eject bottles.

Even with the profile design cages I would eject bottles mounted under the rear of my seat. I started strapping them down with rubberbands. The only time I ever reach back there is when swapping out an empty bottle from my downtube or seat tube with a bottle from back there.

have you guys tried adjusting how the bottle are mounted? Ie. setting them up slanted like they are on the down tube so that when you hit a bump, the forces get transmitted vertically into the cage rather than ejecting the bottle?

+1 on the Cannondale GT40 cage. I don't know what the big deal is...unless you're scrambling to save seconds on the bike leg, I don't see the difference between the seat bottle cages (that pop bottles out) and the frame cage (which I've never had a bottle pop out of).

Any metal cage with the "standard" shape will be fine. Just bend it a bit to clamp the bottle tighter.

My Cannondale bottles are slightly wider than my other ones... they stay more firmly set in my standard cages.

Otherwise get some rubber bands or scraps of rubber and affix to the inside of the cage to add a bit of grip.

I've never had a bottle eject form this setup. Its an xlab with steel cages. I also don't have a problem getting at the bottles.