I have several of these because I like the look, but Klean Kanteen 27oz is a limiting factor -- not a great water bottle in the heat.

Anyone else use King Cage Iris? I found that traditional plastic squeeze bike bottles all seem to get stuck and not fit well in this cage, because they're too big and not rigid enough to spread the cage like the metal Klean Kanteen. I've used a 16oz Nalgene bottle in the cage, which works pretty well, but it also isn't great for biking.

King Cage also recommends a 16oz insulated bottle for the Iris, I assume also Klean Kanteen, but the model I'm not sure I can pin down, if you know which they are referring to, please advise. I've also emailed them.

Thanks for any other bottle recommendations for the Iris cages.

I have a pair on my Rivendell Clem. They are very good and I find them excellent especially for riding fire trails etc. They do hold on well. No experience using Kleen Kanteen bottles with them. I've used a few typical plastic bottles with it and not really noticed a problem with any. I have lots a Nalgene bottles but none sized for a bike cage, so haven't tried that. Here it is I believe with a Polar solid color insulated bottle, and a SOMA crystal polypropylene bottle. The SOMA bottles are a bit slippery and tend to fly out of my Nitto cages off road. No problem with the King cages.

Yeah, it's not exactly a glamorous or detailed photo. You can zoom in. My bike was taking a nap at the top of the hill.



I made it to the top

Widefoot Designs makes a Nalgene cage.

My Miyata 1000LT has them. I got them because they were different, I saw a lot of people having them on their bikes and got the feeling people were happy with them. So when I rebuilt the M1000 I got those.

Meh.

Maybe they'll loosen up over time, I'm using Polar bottles and the cages grip the bottles too tight.

When I rebuilt my Trek 720 I got "traditional" style King cages- those are swell.


M1000LT Drivetrain by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr


M1000LT by Dave The Golden Boy, on Flickr

I put King cages on all of my bikes.

The Iris holds a bottle like nobodies business.

Handy when riding on our decaying/ declining infrastructure and b roads.

I think you can loosen them up a bit. I switched out the Iris on my main road bike for a traditional king cage, but it's a little sloppy sometimes. It was tough getting the bottle in the Iris without looking, and sometimes on a long ride it held on a little too well. I'll probably go back to an Iris because that's what I have in my stash

On a recent triple digit ride in near triple digit heat I used a seat post-mounted dual bottle holder. These tilt outward to clear the saddle. My short Ibera cages combined with tall bottles to create one lost bottle and 3 time-consuming U-turns.

Better gripping would have helped. Balancing that vs. my difficulty in access is the trick.

Thanks for the pic and info. Do you find the Polar bottles fit well and don't deform as you fit them in? Did you need to bend the cage to accommodate the Polar bottles? I've also tried Specialized Big Mouth style, Specialized Purist as well as a vintage plastic bottle, all are too wide to fit well.

Thanks for the info and pics. It's telling your cages are empty. Sweet bike. I started buying these cages when a friend showed me how she was using them with Klean Kanteen, but I later decided I don't care for that bottle, at least in the summer, and its finish is quick to mar. Do you find the Polar bottles fit better than others?

Thanks for the info, that's reassuring. What bottles are you using, which fit the best? Did you need to bend the cage?

Interesting, I'm considering switching my Iris cages unless I can find a decent water bottle that fits it well. I think the Iris holds some plastic soft drink bottles ok, as well as Poland Spring water bottles.

Our family has a bunch of Camelback Podium insulated bottles. The 21 ounce size.

We only use them for water, but learned the hard way to keep coffee out of them.

Yes, sometimes I bend the cages a wee bit.

It's no biggee.

The Polar bottles I have fit perfectly. When they are in there is no deformation at all of the bottle. The cage does spread slightly (1 or 2 mm??) when they are inserted or removed. So yeah, they are a bit more grippy than some cages, but that's what you want for rougher roads and fire trails. FWIW it's easy enough that I have no problems pulling the bottle to drink while riding. I didn't bend the King cages - bone stock.

EDIT : Out of curiosity I measured the diameter of the bottle and it is 74mm, same as all my other bottles. The cage is 73mm wide at the opening, so there ya go. I suppose it could be bent open slightly if you prefer an easier fit.

Thanks for the info ... looks like it might be this one: https://www.amazon.com/Polar-Bottle-.../dp/B01M8L4WAH

Most of the bottles I tried that didn't work had circumferences of approximately 24 cm, the Klean Kanteen seems to match what your Polar bottle measures, at approximately 23 cm around.

I'm hoping this works for me too.

I just remembered my gravel bike has two Iris cages on it. I use that bike on the road a lot, including this year's 600 km brevet. I use Polar water bottles for the most part. They fit in the Iris just fine. I have one Iris that was a little tight, but still usable.

I have two Iris cages on my go-to bike. They’ve been great, I’ve never had to think about them. I use 33 oz Zefal Magnum bottles most of the time, other times 26 oz Specialized Purist bottles. Lots of rough crap. I’ve never had a bottle pop out, and plenty easy to pull a bottle when needed. Easy and secure.

Just put one on a bike but haven't tried a bottle in them yet.

I have the Velo Orange models as well.

Yeah, that's the one.

Note that the main reason the Polar bottle works well with the King cage is that the 'waist' is perfectly positioned for the cage. When the bottle is put in, it sort of snaps in place. Since a Kleen Kanteen doesn't have this waist/narrow section, I think it's going to be problematic, or at least kind of tight.

I'm going to try the Zefal Magnum too. When I tried a Specialized Purist, it didn't fit well (too big) and was ~ 24 cm outside circumference.

Cool, King Cage recommends the 27 oz Klean Kanteen as well as a 16 oz (Klean Kanteen I am guessing). I have a 27 oz Klean Kanteen which fits perfectly due to it being ~ 23 cm outside circumference and rigid enough to spread the Iris cage just a bit -- but it's a poor water bottle choice in the heat. Bigger 24 cm + circumference plastic bottles kind of just get munged and deformed.

I noted a review on Amazon of the Polar Bottle griping about its narrow waist, I think because it prevented putting more ice in, though I took this to be a possible benefit as you say. I'm guessing the waist is helpful for fit of the Polar into the Iris, but bet the smaller outside circumference of ~ 23 cm (or 74 mm diameter as you measured) is as important.

Well I'd imagine if King Cage says the Kleen Kanteen fits, they've probably tested it. Should be good to go.

I was thinking that someone should come up with a new version of the old REG spring clip cages, for people that like rigid metal water bottles. That's really what they were designed and optimized for. If it worked with aluminum bottles, it should work with modern stainless bottles too. The bent wire cages came out after plastic water bottles took over, as far as I can tell.

AFA the Polar bottle waist being a problem, I didn't realize that anyone put that much ice in. Easily solved by using smaller ice cubes... I might plop a few cubes in on a really hot day, but it's going to be warm at the end of the ride anyway. Since I have dual cages, I will sometimes freeze the second bottle. For me, warm water is fine and doesn't bug me, as long as I have water. I guess I'm used to it because that used to be the only choice BITD.

Sorta OT but just popping in to say that Miyata is drool-worthy. Super clean and a nice build!

Oh yeah I use these exclusively- I actually just got another pair in the mail to go with the Masi Giramondo 27.5 I ordered over the weekend. I love them because I have a strong tendency to ride all of my bikes off road regularly and they hold on well. I also sort of dig that they quickly deliver some character to your bottles (I'm a Kleen Kanteen user- the sport top is fine for me because I'm not doing performance riding- I don't mind slowing down or stopping for a drink)

I received some Polar bottles last night in the model [MENTION=424205]Salamandrine[/MENTION] mentioned, outside the 27 oz Klean Kanteen (which seem precisely 23 cm circumference), these Polar bottles so far appear to fit the best.

I also tried a Zefal Magnum (~ 23.9 cm) which like most others, was too big to fit without scrunching or being slightly munged or deformed.

I also tried a Brook metal CamelBak which also was slightly too wide at ~ 24 cm circumference, though due to its rigidness, could work -- it's insulated, though I'm not sure I like it, or its look, or think it will keep its nice finish long.

I think the key for fit in the Iris is it needs to be ~ 23 cm circumference, the Polar for me measured at ~ 23.5 cm circumference.

I found the 24 oz Polar bottle fit pretty well, even if it did deform just perceptibly. The Iris cage did mar the Polar with its imprint, though it mostly washed off, not a huge deal.

The Polar kept cold water cool over my 10 mile commute, while the 20 oz CamelBak Brook kept cold water cold. I carried the Brook in the net on the side of my backpack.

I'm guessing the Polar might be the best option for Iris cages unless there's a bottle closer to 23 cm, like the 27 oz Klean Kanteen.








One thing to be careful of, the handle around the top of the Polar bottle can hook your downtube shifter if not careful.

There is a lot of useful information on that topic in this thread: Vacuum insulated stainless water bottles