Third bottle cage
 

My longer rides are getting to the point that 2 water bottles isn't cutting it. My tamland has factory attachments for the third bottle cage. My question is, will a standard aluminum cage hold a bottle securely under the tube, or do i need to look into something a little more expensive?

If all else fails, an innertube pulled between the cage and the down tube (tied off at the right length, of course) with a hole cut for the mouth piece would secure it nicely. The idea being to prevent the bottle from leaving the top of the cage.

Topeak has a cage that holds a 1.5 litre bottle. I think it's a bit big, but it might be worth checking out if you are determined to carry all your fluids with you on your rides.

In a word, yes. The lower bottle on this bike traveled 1500 miles for 5 weeks with water in it every day without issues. It's made many others in the same place.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4579/...77405375_k.jpg
2015-05-03 11.38.54 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

This one did 800 miles

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/784/4...b006168f_z.jpg
My bike 12 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

And this one did 1000

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/790/4...d622215c_z.jpg
Beresford SD 4 by Stuart Black, on Flickr

Just make sure that the bottle fits tight in the cage.

I used a spare toe strap to secure the bottle beneath ..

What about behind the seatpost?

Also a fan of three liters or more - it's weight, but getting off a trail trail on the edge of town, going into town, into and out of a store just to pay inflated prices wastes riding time.

Also with three bottles, buying a gallon jug is cheaper than buying smaller bottles and gives you a full refill, a drink, and a hand/face wash.

I carry two on the frame, and up to two more in a tail trunk if I need them.

I personally do not trust aluminum cages, I only buy stainless steel now. I've had multiple ones snap at the welds on my chipseal roads. If you get alu, get one that isn't welded.

This one isn't welded and would probably be okay.

http://img.dxcdn.com/productimages/sku_56088_1.jpg

I've used fiber filled nylon cages ... for my under the down tube bottle I got a Profile ..
Touring, it was an MSR , with petrol for the stove .. under the downtube..

How dirty does it get being right behind the throw of the front wheel?

Mine doesn't get dirty since I run full fenders. I cannot imagine how dirty it would get without fenders.

I found aluminum cages untrustworthy for the regular mount position let alone a more prone position like the 3rd cage mount.

For a position where if the bottle came out it would drop right in front of the path of my rear wheel, I'd definitely spend the extra $10-$15 on a more secure cage.

Specialized cages have worked well for me on my mountain bike in holding onto the battle regardless of bumps etc ($25) -
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ze...=220070-132481
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ze...=219954-133280
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/ri...=219499-131055

I think some of the posters are responding as if you asked "is it safe to use it" rather than your actual question of "is it safe to use a cheap aluminum cage".

I'd definitely spend the extra $10-$15 on a more secure cage, for sure. They're a lot more secure for a little more money.

How are those adorable twins mounted?

Wolf tooth makes the parts.. https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/

I've fixed a few tubular stainless steel cages that failed at the end of the weld by slipping a steel finishing nail into the tubular cage and silver brazing it together.

I've had Arundel cages for a couple of years now and they're fine. You can't even see the welds. The alu cages that snapped only lasted a few months, and it was always on the down tube, not the seat tube.

If I were to put one on the bottom of the DT like the OP, I would use a stainless Nitto Touring cage. It has a closed loop so the weight of a bottle won't make the outer portion hang down.

https://janheine.files.wordpress.com...totcage800.jpg

I have a third cage (aluminum), and it holds the bottle just fine.

I've done some seriously bumpy gravel centuries with an under-downtube bottle cage (and 26oz bottle) mounted. My cage was steel, though:

https://www.universalcycles.com/shop...351&category=2

Bottle never even budged until I wanted it to.

Under the DT mounts are a really good place to use quality stainless steel cages. For one, the bottle is hanging from the welds instead of sitting on them. Big difference. The good thing is there are not-very expensive, cery high quality SS cages out there; the King cages. King (not to be confused with Chris King of headset fame) makes only bottle cages. Put a King cage on and forget about it.

Edit: the advice above on using a toestrap in addition is a good one, I often do.

Ben

I have third allumium cage

It gets dirty but not as much as you might think. I don't drink directly from it anyway. It's only a reserve to be added to my Camelbak. That bottle had been carried there for about 450 miles including 200 miles of dirt roads and a portion of the Erie Canal.

As for fenders keeping it cleaner, unless you are running fenders with one of those drag the ground flaps, the fenders end before offering much protection to the bottle. In other words, it gets dirty anyway.

While I agree that King Cages are the best (they are on the white bike), the question was about aluminum. Aluminum will work for a very long time. Kings will last a lot longer and they won't leave your bottles black but Kings are a bit expensive...~$20 each.

Those bottles had more than 450 miles on them when I took that picture (they weren't new when I started the tour) including about 200 miles of dirt roads in Ontario and part of the Erie Canal. You can see how clean they are. Bottles in aluminum cages would be dark black under similar conditions.

+1 on the Wolf Tooth B-Rad system. However my favored bottle cages are the Bird Cages from Portland Design Works, they look really neat but the more important thing is they hold onto bottles really well. On my touring bike I have a mount underneath the down tube and I have never lost a bottle with the Bird or Owl cages. However I will note that I do not drink from that bottle just refill my top bottles when I stop because I cannot reach it safely while riding.

I would make sure to use something like the Camelbak Podium Dirt bottles to keep dirt out in case you did want to drink from it and just in general to keep the contents from getting dirty in anyway. Plus Camelbak has some of the best bottles on the market.

Thanks for all the input. Think I'll go stainless.