Bottle cages recommendations
 

I've got a new bike merida cyclocross 600 that's going to be my new commuter bike.

I'm going to be commuting on that bike in all weathers including snow and ice therefore I want some sturdy bottle cages bike but I'm not sure what to buy.

Any recommendations?

I like the coated metal ones best myself. I have a cheap bontrager one I like.

I like King cages.

Personal preference, but I don't like the traditional looking cheap metal cages. I do have a cheap carbon fiber/plastic cage which has worked really well for all conditions, and a metal side-loader that was OK (but being me, I modified it with a nylon mesh). If I had to choose, I'd pay a little more and get one of the racy-looking carbon fiber cages. Mine has held up well and has never launched a bottle. If you go too cheap on it though you can break it with a cuff or accidentally stepping on it.

I put a set of these on my road bike and have been really happy with them so far. Most bike shops should have these or something similar in stock.

Cannibal | Elite Cycling

I put an Arundel Looney Bin on my commuter. I have a very short commute and don't need to carry water, but coffee is important the coffee at the office is disgusting.


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I have the cheaper metal MTB type cages on my MTB and hybrid frankenbike...they last for years and work with a variety of bottles (bend them a little to add/relieve tension). I have plastic Bontrager cages on my road bike that are easy to use when riding...need a regular bike bottle for them (longevity unknown, have only have them a month or two).

I like the Salsa stainless cages. They hold about any bottle and I use second one on each bike to hold my tool rollup. They hold up to Michigan winters quite well.

Marc

Just get some cheap anodized aluminum cages. The cost about $5 or so online, maybe $6-$7 at REI and other places. Brand name doesn't matter, they're all the same. They're lightweight enough you'll never notice the difference.

Put the money you save toward an insulated water bottle, Polar or Camelbak. Fill 'em about a third full the night before, freeze 'em, then fill with water before riding. They'll stay tolerably cool for quite awhile. Or use ice cubes.

Big difference between insulated and non-insulated bottles for cold retention. My non-insulated bottles begin with cold water but it quickly becomes tepid and then hot during Texas summers. If I haven't drunk all the water within the first 30-60 minutes that bottle gets shifted to the seat tube cage for squirting on my head and torso later in the ride. It's just too hot to drink later.

The tension can be adjusted to suit just about any bottle, including disposable bottles of water or whatever cold drink you buy at the convenience store. The aluminum will withstand minor tension changes -- we're not talking about extreme bending back and forth.

I use three different brands of aluminum cages on my hybrids. They're all the same. Never lost a bottle using 'em no matter how rough the roads.

My road bike has lightweight plastic cages. Cute but I doubt I'd notice any weight savings. And the tension isn't adjustable so I'm either yanking to free a bottle from one or worried about the other cage losing a bottle on a bump.

plastic bottles; metal cage , metal bottle; plastic cage.. fiber filled nylon is durable.

Though I liked Specialized plastic bottles with their own fiber-nylon cages, for ease of removal, & inserting of the bottles..









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Stainless seem to grip the bottles better after a while, and don't start rubbing anodized aluminum black marks onto water bottles after a few years.

All three bikes have standard metal bottle cages and I use plastic water bottles. I have never lost a bottle ever including 25 years of serious commuting. I ride down to 10F and the only issue I have is when the water begins to freeze in the bottle. If it gets too solid it is difficult to remove the bottle from the cage. However, if that happens, then it's usually too frozen to get more than a few sips from that bottle.

"Polar" water bottles have some insulating properties that seem to prolong the flow of water. Eventually they'll freeze up though.
Steve

Plus about 1000. Made in the US (Colorado, actually:thumb:) and they don't mar bottles like aluminum can. These bottles are in the stainless version and have had about 1000 miles of rattling around in the cage by this point. The one with the orange Gatorade in it has been used on at least one other tour of about 1200 miles as well as other uses.

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King

Ampelmann Wasserträger by SIGG of Switzerland in the backpack if need be.

Also have a dark blue Klean Kanteen that I got as a gift

[MENTION=21724]cyccommute[/MENTION], you like to invest in expensive bottle cages but you like cheap, replaceable headlights. Why the different approaches? I'm sure you have rational reasons, but I'm curious to know them.

Specialized Rib Cage

The plastic ones are nearly as light as carbon, come in a range of colors (the red ones are only $7.99 on the Spec website right now), and hold your bottle super securely. Never lost a bottle in years of commuting and racing the craptastic pavement of Northern California.

Another used of King cages. They work. I am not a fan of aluminum cages. They blacken bottles, but worse, it you use them long enough, they will break on a ride. Not maybe. With a steel cage, the odds are good that one day you will be working on the bike and notice one of the welds is breaking or has broken.

Failures found in the shop - good failures. failures that happen on the road - bad failures.

Ben

Bottle cages don't change much from year to year. Lights are going through a rapid development phase so that the expensive light from 5 to 10 years ago is hopelessly out of date. Even the "cheap" $80 Magicshine I rode 5 or 6 years ago had a lower output than the $20 Magicshine clones you can get today.

I have no problem spending money on quality bike parts but I'm not a fan of spending money on bike parts that will rapidly go out of date. If something comes along that is a radical improvement over existing technology...threadless headsets, suspension forks and external bottom brackets, for example...I'm an early adopter. If it's only a marginal improvement...like disc brakes, dual suspension and >8 speed drivetrains...I'm much slower to adopt.

There are somethings that I won't adopt at all, like U-brakes (I was right that they were a total disaster), 29er mountain bikes and junk saver saddles. Those don't make anything better.

I'm still waiting, by the way, for any LED light that could match my old overvolted MR16 halogen lights.

Carbon Fiber Bike Glass Water Bottle Holder Cages-black M3K4 I usually buy the .99 alloy cages but$2 for cf seems ok

[MENTION=21724]cyccommute[/MENTION], thanks. It makes a lot of sense.

Reading the customer reviews, seems these are plastic which makes sense at the price point. Generally positive reviews nonetheless but personally, I wouldn't use one on a commuter rig.

In winter you are going to ride in long pants and the most convenient location for a bottle is on the down tube. With this you should choose a cage that will not catch the cuff of the pants, when empty. Most cages fail the requirement. Profile Design Kage works well as an example.

P.S. The mentioned Rib cages look good with that respect. In Arundel I am not sure about the knob that could catch the cuff.