Elite Ciussi bottle cages - anyone know when they appeared?
 

Love 'em, but unsure of the period correctness of them. I haven't been able to find anything definitive on them, with various sources placing their introduction all over the 80's through the 90's. Anyone know for sure?

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Remembering back, I think Elite were around in the 80's but I also think the Ciussi emerged in the 90's. Personally, I feel they belong on the likes of Colnago, etc, they are my favourite cages from that era. Before the Elite cage I coveted the TA and Cobra cages.

Have to guess, but I seem to remember 1995. I do remember that they were all the rage with the pros. Maybe check yearly photos from the TDF and see when they first started showing up on the pros bikes. I would think you could nail the year that way.

why are they so amazing though? i have a celeste one for my bianchi and a bunch of black ones but i figure bottle cages are no more significant that laces in your shoes.

I first noticed the Ciussi cages in the early 90's, but always preferred the simplicity of Blackburn race cages over most others (including the Ciussis) since I first bought them for my bikes in the 80's. Anyway, I also always thought those "bling" buttons on the corners of the cage were sort of superfluous/uneccessary and put too much unneeded attention to the bottle cage....

I thought the buttons helped hold the bottle a bit more securely and helped prevent the aluminum from marking up the bottles.

+1

Supposedly, if you go with a stainless cage, you will also avoid marring your bottles..... I myself never really had a problem with my cages holding on to my bottles in all conditions, but I suspect that there could be cages out there that do not hold on to bottles as well as most do....

+1, probably some of the most appropriate-looking cages for steel bikes.

(As my OCD gasps, I wonder if you'd use cheap athletic tape on a carbon puck-whacker....) :cry:

:D

I often see guys on $3000 bikes with 2.99 cages from wherever they could find them. Mismatched in both type and color. One of my friends has a pair of Tarmacs, 2013 raw carbon/red models, and he was using cheap cages....I couldn't stand it, and bought him matching black Specialized cages with the red rubberized tips. I felt so much better, it was worth it.

Of course, I've been matching cages/bikes/pedals lately, and have now turned to the bottles themselves. I used to forego the bottles and cages so as not to ruin the clean look....

I little obsessive, perhaps. I rants and rants, with Tubasi glue on my pants....but not the rims.

Personally, I like them partially just for looks, and partially because they have a nice combination of being secure without holding onto the bottle with a death grip.

^ This.

Love my stainless steel Ciussis! REI has a stainless cage that pretty much looks like these and is cheap, so I put one of those on my commuter.

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4.99 at CampMor, 7.00 at REI

http://www.campmor.com/wcsstore/Camp.../56983_sil.jpg


I actually thinik they're part of the same company.
The cages sure look the same.

^ Alloy, not stainless. The stainless one is $12 at REI (without their membership), but I can pick it up locally, so no shipping, though tax.

My mistake, but I know of which you speak, the thinner, stronger "wires" are on the stainless?
More elegant than the alloys, I think, and look even better on older steel.

I had one for a while, couldn't find a reasonable twin. It left the building with Elvis on an Ironman Carbon.

leicanthrope, I suppose it was the early '90s that I first noticed the Elite cages. I bought two pair and have transferred them from bike to bike over the years. Right now they're on the T bike and likely to stay. They're strong enough to withstand a heavy battery and gentle on the plastic bottles while still keeping them where they belong.

Brad

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