MPH2

If you purchase a bottle cage from ELITE, you can expect as part of "normal wear and tear" that it will break in two and become unusable. What you cannot expect from ELITE is for them to stand behind their product, offer a replacement, offer a repair or even to offer a replacement purchase at a discounted rate.

My wife purchased 2 ELITE CIUSSI INOX water bottle cages for me for Christmas. I like the old-school look of the cages, they look good on my bike and they have worked quite well. The cages are lightweight and made of hollow tubular stainless steel. This summer one of the cages hollow tubes snapped in two right at the point where the attachment plate is welded to the rails.






Naturally I contacted ELITE ITALY for a replacement since the structural failure of the component was from normal use and not a result of a crash or other abuse. They referred me to RENEE SPREADBURY with PRONET INC. for the return. I shipped the broken ELITE cage to PRONET at a personal cost of about $5. PRONET returned the broken cage to me by Priority Mail stating:

“The product is being returned to you without being repaired or replaced. It has been determined that the problem the product was returned for is not covered by the defects in material or workmanship warranty but is “normal wear and tear” expected during the use of any product…”



Quite simply if you use an ELITE cage for its’ intended purpose you can expect that it will break and become useless. The cage’s MSRP is $40. This is not a wonder material it is steel and for $40, I expect a cage that will not break. I have cages sold for one quarter the cost that have lasted longer. The shipping cost alone borne by PRONET and myself probably would have covered the replacement cost, but apparently they don’t want to set a bad precedent by standing behind their own product.

What do you guys/gals think?
Should we boycott?
Can someone offer a suggestion of another cage that will look good on my rig?

jimbud

IMO, I would imagine Elite took into account the length of time the product was used before it was returned. That being said, They could have sent you a new bottle cage for the cost of shipping and everyone would have been happy.

MPH2

If someone has used thier product for years, and went through the trouble of contacting the manufacturer and then shipping the item to the distributor, they could at a minimum offer to replace the item at cost. I have shown product loyalty, they returned that loyalty with poor business acumen.

dtrain

Maybe a little heavy, but I think either color of this cage looks fairly classic: https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...cat%3A%20Cages

You can buy 20 of these for the price of 2 replacement ELITE's.

MPH2

Thanks dtrain. Someone else sent me this link. Nice cage same weight as the ELITE and only $15

https://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...&tbnw=138&prev=

Coyote2

I can't believe anyone would pay $40 for a simple steel bottle cage. With that said: at that price, it oughtta have a lifetime warranty.

Try King Cages for something better and cheaper. www.Kingcage.com

ZXiMan

I bought a 32g per pair carbon fiber cages ($70.00 w/Ti bolts) on ebay and one broke after 6 months of use. I emailed them and told them that it broke....

Then they replied... sight unseen.... did not even ask me for the faulty cage back.... told me they would be sending another one out to me and promptly sent out a brand new replacement that I recieved in 2-3 days.

How's that for service?

www.aspirevelotech.com

mihlbach

So your hollow weight weenie bottle cage broke after heavy use. BFD. Its from fatigue...you flex the cage every time you insert and remove the bottle. Thats called normal wear and tear. I've broken tons of cages that way and I don't expect my broken cages to be replaced for free as long as I get a decent amount of use out of them. Your cage looks like its been through a lot. Buy a cheaper cage and get over it.

dtrain

Yup, all depends on the look and material you want.
Peformance has some cages as cheap as $2-$5, and stainless steel for $10.

https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_id=4342

Shayne

Great, I just bought one. I agree, for the cost of the Priority Mail, they could have just replaced it. My cost on a team deal was $15. That was the shop cost plus a small bit. The cost to the distributor is pretty low.

I do like how it works, that is as long as it doesn't break.

Shayne

Coyote2

I think weight weenie-ism is stupid, but a steel water bottle cage is not a weight weenie item. And, if I'm reading the post properly, the OP only used the cage for about six months.

mihlbach

The cage is hollow stainless steel..its a weight weenie cage. Look at the photos..its very thin.

MPH2

That is good customer service, and they deserve the good word of mouth. Nice company 180 degrees from ELITE's philosophy.

matthew_deaner

My Elite cage broke in the same spot. The welds are sloppy, and there was an obvious weak spot that caused a stress point where it broke. I only used it for 7-months. I was going to send it back to elite, but after reading your post I should probably just cut my losses and get a different cage.

Just FYI - I didn't pay $40 for mine. Got it for $18 on e-bay. Still a lot of money for a cage, but not that bad.

I will never buy another Elite product.

MPH2

So when you buy a handlebar or seatpost and use it in a prudent manner for its designed purpose, you expect it to break in two through "normal wear and tear"? After all they flex everytime you ride on them what is the difference? The reason my wife purchased the overpriced cages was because they supposedly have a reputation for quality. Ha!

substructure

I just replaced these cages because one broke in the same place the OP's did.

MPH2

I believe my wife paid $35 each, but the MSRP is listed at $40.

Coyote2

I don't think a 48g cage is considered "weight weenie" stuff, so perhaps this is subjective, Milbach. But if you throw that term around so lightly, then what would you call this:

https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...ls.php?id=5008

MPH2

That is 3 and counting...anyone else?

clausen

Paid less than $10 for the Massload Stainless Steel Bottle Cage at www.mec.ca. A few grams heavier than the claimed Elite weight but identical in appearance. 5 month and over 5000km with no issues. But like mihlbach said cages do break.
https://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...=1196788053409

clausen

Here is a few more for you. This is why I chose to go with the cheaper mass load ones.
https://www.roadbikereview.com/mfr/el...6_4192crx.aspx

MPH2

Nice out of 9 reviews 5 were bad and 4 people complained of them breaking at the welds. One even commented ELITE told him "nothing lasts forever"; except bad customer service that is...

So I will call that 7 and counting, I am starting to see a trend.

Squint

A friend of mine broke both of his years ago. That's when I found out they have a reputation for breaking. I have two that haven't broken but I stopped using them.

I got King steel cages and have been using them for several years w/o any problems.

chevy42083

Your bottles are too big

Yeah, that does stink... I have the same minora cages that came on my '80's road bikes.... going strong They even look classic

Namenda

Tacx Tao cages in silver would look good on your bike. They're cheap, they're light,
and they're durable enough for most. When I slam bottles back in the cage,
my aim generally isn't very good, and I haven't managed to break one yet.