Koyote

It really depends on the usage. On my road bikes, I run these, and they are great for the purpose. I did have the same cages on one of my gravel bikes until a bottle ejected on a rough descent, so now I use these for the gravel bikes, as they grip more tightly.

And by the way, I've had one pair of those latter cages (the King Iris) for at least 35,000 miles...Not only have they never lost a bottle, but I've never - not once - had to tweak one of them back into shape.

m21bmr

I agree with this as well. If you ever want to put a commercially available 1L bottled water in your cage (Dasani, Nestle, Aquafina, etc), many of the designs with metal rails that have open sides won't hold them reliably. I've had that style bottle drop out the side of the cage multiple times while riding. I have historically used an Avenir plastic or nylon cage from my 1990 ish mountain bike that has never had any type of bottle fall out of it.

I replaced one of the "open side" style holders on my road bike with a "wrap around" style. The closest design to the old Avenir bottle cage that I found was a Serfas NC-150. I purchased the NC-150 (picture below) for $6 on shop.serfas.com (weighs 28 grams). I haven't used it much, but it seems like it will not drop a 1L bottle. The Cateye bc100 mentioned by another member in this thread also looks to be of similar design.

John Valuk

If breaking a $70 bottle cage was a particularly memorable aspect of an at-speed crash, then maybe that's what we could call a pretty good crash.

TeamJAB

50 Strong Bottle Cages are a great deal. Two for $10.99 on Amazon, made in the USA with a variety of colors.

Reflector Guy

I like to think maybe it crushed the concrete block.

Bingod

+1. I have them on my Giant. Never dropped a bottle and I've been off in the dirt more than a few times

Eric F 

I'm currently using Tacx cages on my main road machine. They do what they are supposed to do all day, every day. Zero issues.

indyfabz

That’s what I use on my touring/commuter bike because they are inexpensive and last plenty long for the price, especially considering how much relative abuse they take compared to the King cages that are on my super fly, custom ti road bike.

mstateglfr 

I have this style on all my bikes- road bikes, gravel bike, touring bike, and a few are on family bikes too. They were $6 each at ChainReaction a few years ago, are aluminum, and consistently hold bottles which is the only reason they exist.
I will get some stainless cages once these finally break...so im guessing in 10 years.



The one issue is that road dust can trap between the cage and bottle and mark up the bottle. This is only an issue on gravel and even then it only sometimes happens. I use a few specific bottles for that bike and dont think twice about it as an issue.


Bottle cages are like headsets- You can spend crazy money to get a name/feature and end up with a product that functions exactly the same as products costing 1/8th as much. And even crazier is when expensive cages dont hold the bottles well. What reason is there for that product to even exist then?
Get a KING headset or a CC40 which will be just as reliable for 1/4 the price.

mstateglfr 

Russ Roth

Also discovered these and have a shiny blue one on my cross bike.
Typically I buy the Bontragers as well, decent price, weight and reliability. Even the kids haven't broken theirs on their 24" mtbs and they've crashed plenty of times off road.
I did splurge on a couple carbon cages but only cause they were branded the same as my carbon bike and matched the paint scheme and on clearance for 20 each, they've worked well but I'm not hot about the price of a carbon cages in general.

Retro Grouch 

I've been using Blackburn Chicane Cages for around 25 years. Stainless so they don't leave black marks on your water bottles. I just now looked them up and they cost more than I remember. Maybe that's an indication of how long they last.

sjammer

Arundel Mandible

Sy Reene

I've had a pair now for 5 years; never lost a bottle, yet easy enter/exit for bottle grabbing and putting back.
Surprised to see though that they've jumped in price over the same 5 years by a good bit (paid $60 back then, now close to $80)

Mojo31

Bontrager Elite here. Only about 2 grams heavier than a comparable carbon cage, but only 1/3 the cost as well.

We even have them on our three Specialized bikes.

Eric F 

I generally agree with this, but I'm finding that the Supacaz "Oil Slick" cages can hold their own in a modern setting. Not on an all-black "stealth" bike, but I've seen a few places where these look pretty darn good.


That said, for the money and my aesthetic preferences, I'm probably not going this route on my bike.

WhyFi

Oh yeah, those are nice - I was talking about the more old-school, wire/tube construction cages.

Eric F 

I'm with ya on that. Those are a definite "not" for a modern machine.

Bill in VA

Plus one! Best I have found and light. And even though the OP said retention is not an issue, these do retain, and even a stainless steel or aluminum bottle. I especially like the Iris cage.

invalid.user

have the Giant Airway Lite on my bike, which I absolutely love. It's really strong but looks very sleek. Also, it only weighs 14g!

indyfabz

The cages are SS. The frame has little bare ti showing. Most of the frame is colored with Cerakote. Custom blend of Zombie Green and gloss white.

Lbxpdx

I really want a Nitto, as they are beautiful but $70 or so for a cage is hard to swallow. I have a titanium Novarro presently but I see myself ordering a pair of King Iris’s in the near future.

Koyote

$70 for a SS bottle cage is nuts, even if it's Nitto. For less than that, you could buy the King ti cage and have something that will last the rest of your life.

Troul 

until a concrete block strikes the bottle cage.

Ironfish653

Get a lot of bricks flung your way, do ya?