aidanpringle

So I'm looking for some retro bottles for my newly finished bikes but I can't find any reasonably priced in the UK.
I'm looking for some kinda like these,


I figure if I got a bottle, cork and 'eye bolt' I could make my own. At only about £8 each
I will steel wool the bottle logo off.






I'm going to get a cork that will fit into the hole where the screw in lid goes.
As you should be able to see in my 'highly technical' drawing, this is the basic idea.


There will be string attached to the eye and bottle like the first photo.
I'm just checking before ordering the stuff that there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with my plans.

rootboy 

Looks OK to me. That lanyard ring in the cork looks like it could be made a little more discreet with a large cotter pin perhaps. And that would save you the unenviable task of trying to drill a clean hole through a cork. Good luck if you happen to try that. No need for a nut and bolt. Just bore a tight hole in the cork with an awl then glue in the cotter pin, maybe with a disc of leather glued to the top of the cork, surrounding the pin. For a finished look. Fun project.

Chombi

Make sure you use a stainless steel eyebolt nut and washer.....
Try to get the highest grade SS if you can so you are sure the end exposed to the liquids inside the bottle won't corrode or affect the taste of your drinks.........

Chombi

puchfinnland

I only use stainless bottles...aluminium is no good for you...plastic always tasted awful.

aidanpringle

yay, it is stainless steel

AZORCH

I've had some success at scrounging stainless steel martini shakers at flea markets for this purpose. They've a little wider mouth, which I prefer, and with a bag of large corks from Michaels they wind up costing three or four bucks. You have to source the straight sided models rather than the versions that flare out, otherwise they won't fit the cage. I don't tie my corks to the bottle because (a) I'm too lazy to add that detail and (b) it's a cleaner look. With cork, I don't uncap and drink while I ride anyway, so it's not a deal breaker for me to stop and slurp with the cork in my free hand. Your preferences may vary from mine, of course!

One other note on this subject: I obsessed over the look of the bottles for quite some time. Metal is great for looks and short outings - especially events like tweed rides, but when the weather gets hot, and the rides are longer, the water gets tepid around here. They are far from retro looking but I prefer to carry a Camelback (or similar) insulated bottle to keep a little chill on the H2O when conditions get warm.

Clydesdale Scot

repro bottles here
and they have the repro bottle cages

aidanpringle

Those are in america and cost $30, and there is no fun in buying them !

rootboy 

Can you find some smallish eye bolts there in Scotland, Adrian? All the ones I have seen here stateside are way too big for your application.

aidanpringle

*Aidan. And yes I'm going to use stainless steel eye bolts. These. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/M6-x-60mm-...item4abf3e6e7e

rootboy 

Ah, sorry Aidan. Those look nice indeed.

aidanpringle

No problem , yes very shiny indeed!

ScottRyder 

I've got a couple of different ways to solve the problem, one is cheap, two are not.

First, a $4 dollar martini shaker, stainless steel:






An Italian bottle, this one is either vintage or a repro, I have three of them and they're identical:



It came with the attached string but it drove me nuts. Replacement corks (if needed) are pennies at the hard ware store.

This is another type I have:



https://randonneur.jp/bottle/

He sells on eBay, great guy, worth every penny. The one I have now is brushed steel, he now has them polished too. The little cup comes in very handy.

Scott

Clydesdale Scot

fixed that.
The threaded neck on the DIY bottles always distract me. I have tried them, then retired them.

ScottRyder, have you looked at the stamp under your Italian bottles? Mine has the same as this

aidanpringle

oops, still in a different country...

sailorbenjamin

I found out that the angle is different on the corks they sell today from the ones they used in the old Stanley coffee thermoses. A little narrower in the old kind so it won't fall out while you're under way. I don't travel with mine, though so the modern one works fine. Sits kinda high on the rim, though.

sailorbenjamin

I also found out the hard way that water bottles are a bad place for drillium.

ScottRyder 

Hey cool, two of mine do! Those must be the repros then? What does that symbol mean?



Scott

Clydesdale Scot

rather than hijacking thread, PM sent

Sixty Fiver

Those wired / soldered cages would not be that hard to fabricate... the design is rather simple.

ScottRyder 

Thank you, PM returned ..

Scott

mudboy

Honestly, looks like someone shoved one of these https://www.made-in-china.com/showroo...00-04401-.html into a cork and called it a day.

Chombi

Easy....just freeze the water and don't go to far....

aidanpringle

Corks arrived, just bottle and bolt too come, hope this works.