Salamandrine 

Any of you remember these? Once referred to in semi hushed tones as a TA Black. I seem to recall at the time they cost something surprisingly absurd, like 10x what a standard TA cage cost (?)*. This one was original to the bike, and has over 100k miles on it. Which is probably obvious by the looks of it...

These are not at all the same as the much cheaper TA alloy cage that came out in the 80s. Those tended to break after a year or two, and would not have lasted 1/10 as long as this one. I suspect these early TA were made from 7000 or similar aluminum and properly heat treated.

(Yeah I know it's probably time to clean up the old Masi. )



*EDIT: looked it up and it's $8.98 in the PA catalog circa 77/78, so about 3x the cost of a regular TA cage, or about $37 in today's bucks. Add about 15% for regular LBS price.

bulldog1935

anodizing was lousy then - literally only a dozen atoms thick.

steelbikeguy

hmm... yep, I've got one on a bike right now. I bought the bike used, and the cage came with it. Seems to work fine, and it goes with the bike's paint scheme.

Now that you mention it, it does seem to be holding up much better than a lot of alloy cages that I've used. Most other brands would wear enough to leave flat spots on the cage's tubing.

I never did get that excited about TA's down tube cages, but have always been fond of their handlebar cages. I've got them on 3 bikes right now. It seemed like the best option for carrying a second bottle on bikes with the pump mounted on the seat tube.

Steve in Peoria

Bad Lag

I had one. It broke. At the time, ebay wanted over $50 for a replacement. I passed and bought a modern, black cage for under $10. It's fine.

Dave Cutter

Interesting trivia! When restoring a bike I generally use an aluminum (non-painted) cage... you know... to look more original. I had been unaware of the... TA Black. Thanks.

rootboy 

Believe I've seen them in the way past... But the glitter gold plastic top clip always kind of put me off.
Looks classic now though!

repechage

In 1975 at the shop for which I worked, the steel TA cage was $2.95, the TA alloy unit was $10.50
Not cheap, but they did not rust and were cool.
With an employee discount, a no brainer purchase.

Also came in silver too.

repechage

That could be changed out...

Salamandrine 

Glitter gold? It was the 70s after all.

Sure you could change it out, but then it would look like the later cheaper 80s TA cages that broke. Those had black clips, IIRC.

andr0id

Never used them, I always went cheap and bought Blackburns. Now I only use King cages.

Cages have 2 jobs, hold the water bottle and don't break.

Salamandrine 

Blackburn cages didn't exist yet when this was made, AFAIK.

gaucho777 

Maybe remember isn't the right word for me. These were around before my time (born in '73), but I have one of these stashed away in my parts bin. The cage itself and anodizing are in great condition, but the plastic cap at top broke in half soon after I mounted it. I tried super glueing it together but it didn't hold (hence white residue). I was planning to use it on my Speedwell with other black anodized bits. Will probably use it with a replacement black plastic cap eventually. I picked it up on the cheap as a BIN option as about a year ago, as I recall.

repechage

The first real alternative was the ones by American Classic, a bit later.
There were others, Cool Gear- useless.
Also a bit later Cobra from Italy, very flimsy, parts clamped fit together, no welding which required heat treatment.

Salamandrine 

Yep, the American Classic was the first alternative I remember as well. Seems like that was around '82 or '83? Blackburn weren't far behind, followed by countless others. Cobra, yeah. IIRC they had a gruppo too, but I don't think it was ever imported. Then there were those horrible Rhode gear bottles with the plastic clip...

cyclotoine

What about REG? Didn't they have some early alloy ones? I have not experience with them and they're probably not very good.

Chombi1 

Yup, Glitter Gold should only be found on fiberglass boat boat hull gel coats or on plastic grips and banana seats on Schwinn bunny bikes from the 60's. Otherwise it's just plain tacky like the golden sandals and the gold flecked eye makeup that my mahjong playing, moo-moo wearing matronly aunts of mine wore when I was a kid.......

rootboy