Cyclocross - Cyclocross bike on summer road rides

I am building up a cross bike to do double duty for the road bike and commuter. I found a good deal on a GT frame. My concern is it has mounts for one bottle cage, in the summer on my road rides I can easily go through 2 or more bottles in a ride. Does anyone else have a bike with one cage, if so what do you do?

You can always get a seat mounted double bottle holder. Or use clamp on bands for another bottle cage temporarily.

camelbak

camelbak

Handle bar clamp so the bottle cage faces forward. Very convenient and I jam my jersey full with water bottles. Camelbak pack is the way to go for sure though.

the camelbak puts a fair amount of extra weight on your torso which increases the pressure on your hands/arms. 100oz of water is roughly 6.5 pounds, so depending on how aggressive your position is... For me at 135lbs, I notice the extra weight but it's manageable. You might need to get used to it and build up some extra strength in your triceps.

A Camelback would be awful in 100 degree heat

Anything is awful in 100º heat, but I've found a Camelbak can be refreshing. Put the resorvoir in your fridge/freezer so it's nice and cool.

What material is the frame? I've had great success using hose clamps to secure (really secure, not just sorta hangin' on) bottle cages to several steel frames and one aluminum 'cross frame. I wrap a few layers of PVC tape around the tube first so I don't scratch the paint. My preferred cages are the plastic Profile Kages. I drill slots near the existing screw holes, slide the hose clamp through the slot and around the frame, tighten the hose clamp, et voila. Some of my bikes have had cages mounted like this for years and tens of thousands of miles. Do not try this on carbon fiber frames.

Check this out. http://nordicgroup.us/cageboss/

Its an Aluminum frame

Check this out. http://nordicgroup.us/cageboss/

scroll down to see the "back of the helmet" mounted one!! recalls the drunk football fans with beers mounted on their heads....

Its an Aluminum frame

Super. I'd give it about 4-5 wraps of electrical tape under each hose clamp. You can even leave the tape on during 'cross season when you take your cages off.

My commuter/brevet bike came with mounts for one cage. I've added a cage on the seat tube and another one under the down tube with the method I described earlier. The cages haven't budged in years, but I could easily remove them with a flathead screwdriver if I wanted to.

Another option is the Profile Aquarack or similar under-the-seat bottle cage mounts. These have a higher risk of launching bottles on bumps than frame-mounted cages.

A few companies also offer stem or stem cap bottle cage mounts. Here's one: http://www.treefortbikes.com/product/333222364336/813/Andrews-Stem-Cap-Bottle.html

This device could work for you, too:
http://www.rei.com/product/779718?preferredSku=7797180010&cm_mmc=cse_froogle-_-datafeed-_-product-_-7797180010&mr:trackingCode=E796071B-81F9-DE11-BAE3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

If you don't have a mount, go to Zefal, they have bosses on a bar that wraps to just about any sized tube.

I have'em all. I have a camelback, the Zefal (or Bell) bar mount holder, and the Minoura Double Cage Saddle Mount. By far I like the Minoura Double Cage Saddle Mount, and that's what got the permanent nod on my CX.

Just a note, if you have interrupter brakes on your CX, the bar mount holder won't have enough room to mount. I actually mounted it on my steerer tube facing me. That was kinda silly though and just for kicks.

Oh, and what I like about having separate bottles is the flexiblity. I can have each filled with different things. I put my Heed and Accelerade mixtures in the saddle mount bottles, and usually put electrolyte/minerals in the two frame mount bottles.

(Of course this is on my long rides)

so that explains why Sundance's main sponsor is Depends......
(sorry, couldnt resist the dumb joke)

hydrate hydrate hydrate, thats my motto. Nothing worse than being out of fluids or being hungry and not having a granola bar or two in your bag....dumb joke aside, I actually do relate.

Super. I'd give it about 4-5 wraps of electrical tape under each hose clamp. You can even leave the tape on during 'cross season when you take your cages off.

Ya, this will work, but it's a seriously jive way to do it.

If you have any skill with a drill, then get some things called 'riv-nuts' and put 2 in the frame and mount a cage. It won't weaken the frame or anything, in fact it's the way most manufacturers do it. http://www.mcmaster.com/#rivets/=9kd9ps (http://www.mcmaster.com/#rivets/=9kd9ps)You don't have to buy them here. A good hardware store with a bunch of the little yellow bins with odds and ends will carry these. Fastenal will as well. Any good shop can do the work for you if you decide it's too much for you. Honestly, no big deal and maybe 10 minutes of work.

If you have any skill with a drill, then get some things called 'riv-nuts' and put 2 in the frame and mount a cage. It won't weaken the frame or anything, in fact it's the way most manufacturers do it. http://www.mcmaster.com/#rivets/=9kd9ps (http://www.mcmaster.com/#rivets/=9kd9ps)You don't have to buy them here. A good hardware store with a bunch of the little yellow bins with odds and ends will carry these. Fastenal will as well. Any good shop can do the work for you if you decide it's too much for you. Honestly, no big deal and maybe 10 minutes of work.
sorry, that just screams "stress riser" and "impending catastrophic failure" to me. It might be valid for manufacturers to do that, but they're the ones that designed the frame to begin with and probably had that in mind when they selected/formed the tube. It might be safe on some tubes that are overbuilt, but I wouldnt make that call over the internet.

Here's a website (http://www.nordicgroup.us/cageboss/) documenting almost all known solutions - there's lots to choose from.

Umm, why can't you just put an extra bottle in your back jersey pocket?

The jersey pockets are for the third and fourth bottles. We're discussing where to put the second.

no, Who's on second. Third is What.

just get a seat tube adapter for one bottle cage and carry extra water bottles in your back pocket. What exactly is the definition of a longer ride for you? At the Huntington Challenge Race, I rode my X bike. I had one bottle in my back pocket and two on the bike and that was a two day race and 70 miles each day.

I don't suggest a camelback for a road ride. I used to race MTB with one and unless it is a 60-100mile MTB race then I found that I could just do without it. A camelback on a road ride is fredtastic and puts weight on you that will take a toll on the longer rides.

no, Who's on second. Third is What.

Who's on first, what's on second, I don't know's on third, ya cretin.

Here's a website (http://www.nordicgroup.us/cageboss/) documenting almost all known solutions - there's lots to choose from.

Dude, look at my post earlier in this thread.

If you are drinking more than 2-3 bottles in a ride do you have to stop and use the bathroom? if you're riding like 60+ miles there has to be a place some where to stop and refill bottles.

so that explains why Sundance's main sponsor is Depends......
(sorry, couldnt resist the dumb joke)

hydrate hydrate hydrate, thats my motto. Nothing worse than being out of fluids or being hungry and not having a granola bar or two in your bag....dumb joke aside, I actually do relate.

Ha, Depends? I'm in the desert here. Your pee will evaporate before it hits the ground.

Ha, Depends? I'm in the desert here. Your pee will evaporate before it hits the ground.

actually I saw where you are from and I did think about that. The "Depends" part was being a smartass but the rest was serious. Out here when we cross-country ski in the winter, the air is really dry, especially when its -15, -20c and we have to hydrate just as much as when biking in hot weather (but its very common in the cold for people not to drink enough). I have only been in desert dry a few times, but was amazed by the dryness.

You can duct tape a bottle cage on. Call me crazy but Richard Sachs hisself does it ;)

sorry, that just screams "stress riser" and "impending catastrophic failure" to me. It might be valid for manufacturers to do that, but they're the ones that designed the frame to begin with and probably had that in mind when they selected/formed the tube. It might be safe on some tubes that are overbuilt, but I wouldnt make that call over the internet.

Regardless of what it screams to you, it's what many manufacturers do and I've done it as well. If you dress the holes so they are clean without sharp edges, the stress riser issue is smaller, yet. The weak link in the chain is always going to be the weld, generally at the root or heat affected zone. The stresses in the middle of the tube are relatively low and there is a reasonable safety margin in any bike.

Now if you can provide a few pictures of bikes that have broken in the middle of a tube due to an endurance failure, with or without riv-nut bottle mounts, I might have to rethink my position. There are enough examples out there that there should be relatively easy to find. Every AL Cannondale has bottle mounts done like this, for example. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen an AL bike that didn't have bottle mounts done like this. Steel bikes often have braze-on mounts, but that's probably more fashion than function.