dr_lha

I rode 3500 miles last year on a bike with Camelbak Podium Chill bottles and these cages:

Amazon.com : Ibera Bicycle Lightweight Aluminum Water Bottle Cage, Black : Bike Water Bottle Cages : Sports & Outdoors

They don't drop water bottles, are light, sturdy and <$10.

Sy Reene

Is there any concern with using aluminum cages that a spill on the bike is more likely to lead to frame/cage damage than a softer material like nylon or carbon fiber? Any anecdotal experience in this vein?

dr_lha

By "a spill" do you mean crashing? People have been using steel bottle cages for decades, I never heard of a cage causing frame damage. As for cage damage, who cares if they're cheap?

Sy Reene

Yes I mean a crash. Seeing how an aluminum cage sticks out to the sides of the frame I was envisioning potential for a hard tubed cage, for example, mounted on a CF frame, damaging the frame or cage mounts in a crash.

Right nobody cares about cage damage. So wouldn't a cage that bends or breaks apart on impact be safer bet than a rigid material that doesn't?

KenshiBiker

I think those are the ones I have on my fixed gear. Over 5k miles - no problems, no ejections. 21-oz Podium Big Chills here.

pdedes

I'm a fan of RavX stainless steel cages.

redtires

For any and all who have suggested stainless steel...+a million. I've been using them for years.....and years. They DON'T leave marks on your bottles, they DON'T break and they always look classic, even on my CF bike. Also, they can be had for a fraction of what CF cages go for, and in most incarnations, are very light. I have used the TA brand for many years, but I'm not sure they make them anymore however. I have a set that I got at Performance for I think less than $20. They've been on three bikes now and although I don't recall exactly, pretty sure they somewhere in the 30-40 gram range each.

Tickstart

Anyone who chases grams on these kinds of things is quite comical to me.. If you save 20g on something, what's that equivalent to, carrying a smaller-than-average candy bar with you? And a normal person weighs, say 85kg, 0.02/85, little over 0.2‰ of your body weight, is it worth the extra 10, 20, 30 dollars?

seymour1910

To me, no way. But to some guy's it very much is. I ride with a guy that wanted both bottle cages (bolts included) to weigh less than 40g, he actually found some 15g cages and really light bolts but boy did he pay for it.

Tickstart

I'd say he has some compulsive disorder but on the other hand, I can be that way myself about other things I guess. To each is own.

Fly2High

in price or in the ribbing he was given .

AS a model glider pilot, I can attest that grams do add up but her I think a diet works far more than the weight saved on a bike in lighter components.

As the OP, I just want something sturdy. light is a bonus but do not care much about it. Ridiculously heavy is not an option but all the cages listed all seem reasonable. Ijust do not want to be down the road again of having a broken cage from nothing but standard use. Unless you have anaccident, these things should just work for a really long time.

this is what has me nervous.
plastic can break/crack sometimes easily
carbon is expensive (except for the Chinese ones on ebay)
Aluminum can flex and you'll lose the bottle but they can be bent and re-tightened.
Stainless/titanium/ metal might scratch the bottle (who cares, really?) but are harder to become bent and loosen in use but can be heavier depending on design. old school looks.

$12 for the ebay carbon specials sounds nice and maybe I will have to place an order and see how they are.

Otherwise I will look into the Elite Race or Tacx Tao cages. The question is whether anyone has broken these during regular use.

I know I can always put a bottle in a jersey pocket but I am not thrilled when I do. I did this in one jersey whose pockets were not that deep and thank Heavens I had a windbreaker with a cinched bottom over it. the bottom was nearly empty and it worked its way loose and popped out of the pocket. the next thing I noticed is a lump on my side which was the bottom working its way around to the front. Not very comfortable riding when you hit a bottle on every stroke of your legs.

seymour1910

I don't remember the exact figure but I know it exceeded $100 for two cages.

OP, lot of good choices here. I have never heard any negative comments on the Elites, or the Tacx Tao's. I don't think you could go wrong with either. I prefer the Lezyne Flow because it is not cheap flimsy plastic, doesn't look traditional, holds the botte well and I get 2 for $20.

The Chinese carbon cages have been great, they are really light, but they work, and they look nice.

D1andonlyDman

I have never paid more than $5 for a bottle cage in my entire life. Oh dear, so my bike is carrying 20-30 grams more than it needs to.

kbarch

Or if 30 grams of extra weight is an issue, just take a sip from your water before you put it in the cage and your setup will be just as light!

bbattle

Stay away from the carbon fiber ones; way too pretentious and only useful for going to Starbucks.

The plastic ones just look too cheesy and cheap. NO

The stainless steel ones are classy, look great and no residue/rub marks on your bottles. Can be pricey but so what?

Aluminum ones are light, cheap and produce these lovely residue marks all over your water bottles which impart mucho street-cred points from those in the know.

If you want to impress your riding buddies, and we know you do, you will get the same aluminum cages that everybody else gets from the local LBS and go ride your bike.

bbattle

Velo-orange.com has some nice stainless steel cages. Perfect for the older bikes.

Rivendell is another

Salsa has a nice SS one

This Page has a ton of bottle cages and parts and even some Titanium bottle cages. Wow, won't your buddies be jealous when you show up with that kind of bling. Make sure you tell them, otherwise they probably won't notice.

nymtber

Specialized aluminum road cage. $7 at the LBS. I get the color that matches my bike or goes with it

Never found a use for any other cages...

Wanderer

I've been using Specialized plastic cages for 6 years. Never had a bottle ejected, never had one fail.

dr_lha

Yep, this is what I put on my new bike, because I wanted the classic look.

PiLigand

Columba Plastic Water Bottle Cage | eBay

I have two of these. I like them better than my fancy-pants Specialized cages. Plus they're cheap AF.

Hiro11

Yeah, stainless all the way. I have a Ti frame: the <$20 Perfomance Strada stainless cages look great on there and work well. I've tried several carbon cages and the Elite Custom Race cages, all were worse bottle launchers (at least for me) than the cheap-o Performance stainless cages. The Elite Gel Cuissi alloy cages absolutely lock a bottle in, I use them on my gravel bike.