Originally Posted by
jnbrown
When I first built our Calfee I installed two carbon cages. They both eventually broke I think in part due to forcing the bottle in from an angle. It seems that the cage mounting points on our Calfee are mounted higher up than they need to or should be but I am sure there is a story and reason behind that. Sometime ago I replaced the rear cage with an Arundel Sideloader. It seems to be working fine. In the mean time I decided to get Zipp cages for both the front and for my single. After using them for some time I have noticed that bottles (Camelback Chill) fit very loose and often rattle or sit at an angle. I decided to try an Arundel Dave O on my single and really like it. It is easy to get the bottle in and out, holds well, doesn't rattle and seems like it will last. So I decided to get two more Dave O's and found a good deal at ProBikeKit in the UK. Well they shipped me the wrong ones and I had to ship them back to the UK and finally today I received the correct ones. Mounted one on my single on the seat tube and it works fine. Mounted the other on the front of the Calfee. Oops can't get the bottle in without forcing it at an angle and rubbing against the top tube. Turns out the Arundel sits about 1/2" higher than the Zipp, also it is more rigid and a tighter fit to the bottle. So now the options are go back to he Zipp and put up with the rattling, or put an Arundel Sideloader on the front as well. I am thinking the sideloader might be the best option since I have always been putting the bottle in at an angle anyway. Anybody want to buy a Dave O cheap? Did some more looking and it looks like the Arundel Trident might do the trick as the arms for the bottle are set much lower than the Dave O
jnbrown; Any possibility of adapting the frame to put the bottle cages lower? At first thought, I was thinking you might be able to find or fab up a clamp on fixture to add a 5mm mount below the current two and just use the current lower one as the new top one... Other option might be to confer with the original builder to see if you could drill the frame and epoxy in a 5mm socket... I believe those are sold on one of the frame builder suppliers list for a buck or two each (maybe only intended for soldering into a frame tube, but should serve as a glue in well enough). But definately wouldn't do it if the builder is not agreeable to continuing the warranty after you do the mod. Of course if you live close enough, you could perhaps drop in and have them do the mod. ALthough it might look cheesy, maybe a handlebar mounted bottle cage (I put one on a few of my bikes out of necessity and wouldn't rank them as stylish...). Hope that helps /K