Paul Braithwait

Here is my latest solution to carrying a drinks bottle on a Swift. I have tried many ideas, all of which worked, but none were perfect. I am using a Minoura bottle bracket on the front of the stem riser. I prefer the Rixen/Kaul adaptor because it is much neater but the Minoura allows the bottle cage to be carried lower and its metal plate is more suited to my current set up.

The problem with putting the bottle cage on the front of the riser is the difficulty of getting the bottle in and out of it. This, of course, will depend on what handlebar and stem combination you use. I have tried several different handlebars on the Swift and have now returned to the original ones that came with the bike! I found that wider bars made the Swift too bulky and "swept back" bars (although being very comfortable) put too much weight on the rear wheel causing the front one to lift when I was pulling back on the grips while climbing hills. I find the original bars put my weight over the front wheel which, for leisure riding, works best. However, using the stock bars means that the brake levers are close together and they can get in the way of inserting and removing the bottle from the cage. Even raising the brake levers to be more "out front" rather than facing down does not cure the situation.

The photo's show a Topeak gadget that allows the cage to be tilted left or right to give more room to use a bottle. It is simple to fit and works OK. I must say that I would have prefered more of a tilt - say 90 degrees - but what little swing it does provide is useful. The gadget simply bolts on to your bottle cage mounts and then your bottle bolts onto the gadget! Do note, however, that the Allen bolts provided to hold the bottle cage in place are rather short. They have to be short otherwise they would prevent the front part of the fitting from moving left or right. You will, therefore, need to watch what type of cage you use. In some of my photo's I used a Tacx cage (light grey) which holds the bottle well. Unfortuneately the rear plate of the Tacx uses thick rubber padding which does not allow the short bolts to penetrate very far. I have now settled on using a Topeak adjustable bottle cage which works well with the attachment.

It may not be the neatest arrangement but it does work.

As an addition, I use a Carradice Super C seat pack which has a mesh pocket on one side. I have fitted an elastic closure to it and this, along with the bag's lid, holds a bottle in place. A taller bottle is held more securely as it it covered more by the bag's lid.