One of my Zipp carbon cage has broken this summer (the lower carbon part which stabilize the bottom of the bottle) and I had to glub some aluminium part I had at home to give some stability but I lost all benefit of the low weight purpose of these bottle holders.

Now i'm building a bike for my girlfriend and I will prbably trsnfer my old Zipp cages to her bike and will buy some new ones for my road bike.

What would you go for, in your opinion, what is the best weight/price/quality (holding the bottle firmly) carbon cage in the market these days?

Tacx Tao

Ebay carbon cages are virtually identical to the branded stuff and a fraction of the price. I've got these and they are very secure:



("D3 carbon bottle cage")

I got a pair of ebay carbon cages from China for $20 shipped. Work like they should and they were cheap. I don't understand how people can spend upwards of $50 for one carbon cage from the known brands.

Agreed on the ebay carbon cages, they are a tremendous value.
I picked these up last year for $24 shipped to my door.


Strong, light, affordable. And they look damn good on the bike(which lets face it, is why we buy them) I cant think of any reason why you would need to spend more. I haven't had a single ejected bottle, if anything they are a little "too" tight. Just a great value.

Allright, was orginally reticent to buy those China carbon cages but since you guys are telling me they are of somewhat respectable quality I guess i'll go for them.

The only thing is that the red/white/black color of the FSA K-Force bottle cage and Bontrage ones is fitting perfectly the color of my BMC SLC01 red/black frame and it fits perfectly my brand new Merek saddle. So i'm hesitation to go with the color/paint too for a cage at 25 grams

A pair for $22.88
https://cgi.ebay.ca/Full-Carbon-Mount...item4aa7605f2a

Because a no name brand looks cheap on a $10,000 bike

i got some bontrager holders on my trek because they look awesome and i can! lol but yea the Chinese ones look good on my other bike and basically are the same thing.

Arundel Mandible FTW!

You could buy about 6 ebay cages for the price of 1 Mandible, but it's the best and there "is" a difference in how they're made.
I've never, I repeat, I've never read/heard anybody ever complain about owning one. And they are gorgeous.
I've seen them go on sale for about $100./shipped sometimes.

This. I have a pair on my Damocles and it is so much better than the Specialized cages and various other designs I have tried.

What is the difference?

Yup....Got 3 pairs shipped to my door for just over $70US...I figured if they had a durability issue I would just toss and replace...

I've owned Tacx Toa's and some carbon branded cages...They have all failed in one way or another so I though I'd give the unbranded stuff a try...

BTW, the comment about unbranded cages making a bike look cheap...I guess my PSIMET powertap wheel does the same

I use Tacx Tao cages on my bikes - they are perfect in every way.
One bike has a pair of Arundel Dave-O cages on it... they are impressive, but if I hadn't gotten a pair for 20, I wouldn't do it.

Not spendy: Tacx Tao - truly fantastic
Spendy: Arundel if you want the best

i like my arundel sideloaders (med frame, sloping top tube, they put the rear cage bolts above the FD band, and I like to use large polar bottles, so things are right) but I sure as hell didn't pay $100 each for them. Yikes!

We use the Arundel Sideloaders on our tandem because of the tight fit with 24 oz. bottles. Stoker and/or I can snatch a bottle on a climb while pedaling which was almost impossible to do with a regular cage.

Just ordered those same ones yesterday. Nice deal

it says on my ebay page that there has been one sold, i take it thats you, im tempted to buy a set myself

If people can read the logo on your bottle cages, you're definitely not riding hard enough.

i looked at the seller or these items and he sells a range of pieces, including rims, handlebars, seatposts, and stems. i woudlt buy anything from this seller other than the bottlecage, imagin plumiting down a moutain at 45mph and ur handlebar splits in 2. not a nice thought. bottlecage maybe, but other than that im sticking to brands

Another bump + for Arundel cages.
I've had a set of Dave-O on my bike for 5 years and they've worked flawlessly sense day one. I've yet to have a bottle pop out even when getting smacked by a car or pop out after other bike related mishaps.
They even make a non carbon cage the Arundel Sport which is just a good as their carbon Dave-Os. made out of nylon-reinforced plastic. I have a set of these on my commute bike.

The ebay cages look a heck of a lot like the branded stuff in many cases, only without the writing. I think they actually look better in many cases, though I would prefer a matt black finish. I suppose you could sand off the lacquer...

They have a foam core and the the tab that holds the bottle up is reinforced.
Also, I've read the experiences of riders who've said that their ebay cages,
over time, have lost their ability to hold the bottles in.

I bought some cheap Ebay bottle cages that worked well until I lost a Polar bottle. I sold them and bought a used set of Arundel Trident cages. They have worked perfectly and have never dropped a bottle. I will only buy Arundel cages.

Amen ...

In some cases it's good to go cheap but in others it's not... Sure a generic or mid level cages may cost less but when you have to buy 3 or more of them, due to breaking or not holding your bottles very well + the cost of lost bottles you might as well go out and pay a bit more or a lot more for a pair of cages that really work ... err something like that.

Can you comment on the durability of the arundel sport cages? I was considering getting them because of Arundel seems to make really quality stuff, but I was concerned that the nylon cages could have weak mounting points or the nylon could wear prematurely over time