Slightspeed

I never gave bottle cages much thought, but on a hot day, I'm glad they're there. Here's mine. No idea who made the one on the Legnano bars, had it forever. The Raleigh one is marked Arundel, a swap meet find. On really hot days I use the REI clamp on mount for an extra bottle, which is pretty ugly.

Andy_K 

I keep forgetting that cyclists in the heroic era didn't need to replace their electrolytes. My "water" isn't period correct. Neither is my rear derailleur cage. I realize the judges will deduct points for these things. This bike does have excellently vintage bosses for the bottle cage though.



Too bad they're covered up by my unsightly modern bottle.

Andy_K 

I can certainly agree that clamp-on bottle cages are ugly. I've been looking for a solution to this problem. So far the only solution I've been happy with is having @gugie braze on bosses and having the bike repainted. That's not a particularly scalable solution. I had high hopes for the King Cage hose clamp solution, but the clamps are still very visible. Maybe if I can apply touch up paint to match them to a bike I'll be satisfied.

I do kind of like the Showers Pass option that @rhm shared.

Dfrost 

DMC707

Camelback for me -- almost every ride and every situation --- enough water to keep a fat Clydesdale hydrated, plus room for keys, tools, tubes, phones, headphones, pocket knife, a small selection of first aid supplies etc.

Salamandrine 

+1 on the Camelbak insulated bottles. They are my favorite after trying a few. Mostly I like the fast flowing valve that you can flip open. Great design. Insulation works pretty well too, at least for the first part of a ride. They could work a bit on the ugly. I like my King cages too.

I used to like those SOMA crystal bottles, because no taste and they look pretty good and semi retro. However, the valves are hard to open and slow flowing, and the tops don't prevent fruit flies from crawling in during the summer. Not sure how they manage this, but it's gross. Also, they fly out of cages easier than other bottles.

Wildwood 

BritishV8

Charles Wahl

So the next thing is an oxygen canister, and a catheter bag hung from the top tube. Oh, and a motor powered by lithium batteries -- a two-wheeled marauding wheelchair. "I'll stop riding the bike when they pry it from . . ."



Relative to OP's gripe: classic to me is the venerable TA bottle cage, either band-on or braze-on mounted. Agree that plastic ones make my skin crawl. Some of the more expensive metal ones are OK.

P!N20

Perfect.

My only problem is I can't run two bottles at the same time:

Wildwood 

Some might say there are other accessories, harder to carry on oneself than water, that add to elegance.



And it's one dialed ride, too!

greg3rd48 

Slightspeed

On the green Super Course above, when I had it painted, it needed several braze ons done, so I added bottle mount bosses on the down tube, thinking that would be enough. I didn't want to disturb the Carlton decal and stripes on the seat tube. After realizing how much fun this bike is to ride, I should have added a second set. All I can say good about the REI mount is that it has a thick rubber pad that protects the paint, and it is reversible 90° for handlebar mount, which is even uglier. I do like the leather padded Zefal on the blue Peugeot above. I'm building a gold Pug PY10 (?) than might look good with those. The gold paint is nearly pristine. Is there a way to add screw thread bosses without a repaint?

Salamandrine 

The Zefal reissues are pretty nice. We're lucky to have them. Chrome quality is not the greatest, but good enough. Buy some spares.
Looking good on my Peugeot.

My favorite cage was the old style single clip TA. I had one on my first PX-10, and I still miss it.


I live in a semi desert. Water bottles are required.

*

colbz111

very nice

La Brea Bike

Alright, I want to clarify that I am not questioning anyone's C&V worthyness (how that was construed was a head scratcher) by running vintage bottle cages. I use them when actively riding a bike, but for storage/display purposes, I think empty cages just take away from the beauty of a bike (and my plastic bottles are REALLY not sexy). I do have to admit I'm digging a few of those cages more though. Oh, I put the bolts back into the frame when not holding cages, and they all live inside in So. Cal..

HTupolev

So get some better-looking bottles.

Also, considering that this is an aesthetic criticism thread, are you going to post some photos describing your bicycles' ugly cage situation or what?

La Brea Bike

Here's an example of my situation. There is no situation.

HTupolev

I'm not sure I agree. You're concerned about the aesthetics of empty bottle cages, but you're using socket cap bolts on empty bosses. Those things draw way more attention to themselves than well-selected empty cages do!

If I was so against empty cages that I removed them between rides, I'd at least use button-head bolts or something to cover up the bosses.

repechage

For the bikes with braze on mounts, the Cussi Inox look the part even if they are not vintage.
For bikes without... Period TA, Steel or aluminum. Way Way back on my first road bike I went with the TA Criterium cage as it only used one band clamp.

I also have a bike with a pair of King ti cages... I forget what I paid (on Purpose)

La Brea Bike

To each their own I guess. I'm more comfortable with my hideous bolt heads... Give my regards to rest of the folks at the bottle cage factory .

exmechanic89

I don't like or use cages, either. Prefer to carry a water bottle in my jersey pocket.

Giuanin

A road bike without bottle cage is like a car without gas tank.

tiger1964 

That's fair. In many cases, a bike with otherwise exquisite components (i.e.: Brev Camp) would be let down by a $2.99 water bottle cage.

I had a cage break a couple of months back, picked up at the LBS a nice one in stainless steel, I don't think there's a name on it... should last a long time. This is on the only bike I own new enough to have bosses.

Colnago Mixte

Agreed, but some people have old cars they never drive. There is absolutely no need for a gas tank on a car you don't drive. Could 'splode or something, probably safer to remove it.