Bottle holders' options

[baarg]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but I have an XS compact frame road bike and I cannot fit the second bottle cage on the seat tube. I usually have to stop and refill and I sometimes am unable to do this which I know is detrimental to my health. I am not a huge fan of these bottle holders that go at the back of the saddle, but if I have no other choice, I guess I'll have to get one of those. Before I do that, does anyone know of any other options?
Thanks

[wookie661]

you can get brackets for the handle bars also.

[chill]

this is the smallest I've seen...ridiculous price though.

[Chef]

Hi,

You could use a seat mount like this; http://www.wiggle.co.uk/profile-aqua-rear-mount-bottle-cage-system/

Cheers

[brendeng]

G'Day ....

Elite makes a side entry bottle cage ... http://www.wiggle.co.uk/elite-ciussi-si ... ttle-cage/

A mate uses one of these on his compact frame that has a big slope on the top tube .... could be worth a look.

[Romper]

try using a smaller bottle is you can two

[baarg]

Thanks for all the suggestions. The side bottle may work as it may be able to be set up differently. I took a look at the options suggested and the problem is not the size of the bottle, but that the bottle cage cannot be fitted into the bike, at least that's what the guy from the lbs told me when he tried to install it on my new bike. I think I will have to buy the ones that fit on the back of the seat, although I read the reviews and people didn't seem very happy. I had similar ones on my other bike and hated the thing.

[baarg]

you can get brackets for the handle bars also.

Do you have a technical name so I can search this? Cheers.

[chill]

There's a few around. This one allows you to place it where you want but you need a cage.



http://www.wiggle.co.uk/rixen-kaul-klic ... e-adapter/

[gururug]

Yeah, same.

Seat or handlebar, looked into seat but poor reviews / high costs. Only the alloy looking one seemed viable ( minoura??? ).

I think i'll be using my camelback, or even just the camel back bag with two more bottles in it.

I did read some people claim they hose clamp a cage on the top/down tube.

[jillybean]

I did read some people claim they hose clamp a cage on the top/down tube.

Use elite VIP bottle cage clamps or the Zefal gizmo in preference to hose clamps. Much more gentle on your frame.

[baarg]

Agree, poor reviews. I did see a bottle cage that can hold up to 1.5 litre bottles, but 1. didn't see any bottles that big so far and 2. the reviews aren't that great either.
I saw there is a mount that can go behind the saddle and you can fit the bottle cage there. It's quite cheap -->http://www.probikekit.com/display.php?code=A1424
Not too sure about it yet though...will look further and see what I can find. Funny thing is if they would have placed the holes on the tube a little bit higher there wouldn't be an issue. I don't understand how the designers missed this.

[jillybean]

Funny thing is if they would have placed the holes on the tube a little bit higher there wouldn't be an issue. I don't understand how the designers missed this.

I have the opposite problem - need to lower the bottle cage holes on my seat tube to fit an extra bottle. I have ordered a shimano Di2 bottle cage adaptor. It is shimano's answer to the problem of not being able to fit the Di2 battery + 2 bottle cages on some bikes. According to the techdoc it allows a shift of 32mm-50mm in the position of the cage, so may be enough to solve your problem. Available at all the usual places - Wiggle, CRC etc.

[gururug]

Funny thing is if they would have placed the holes on the tube a little bit higher there wouldn't be an issue. I don't understand how the designers missed this.

I have the opposite problem - need to lower the bottle cage holes on my seat tube to fit an extra bottle. I have ordered a shimano Di2 bottle cage adaptor. It is shimano's answer to the problem of not being able to fit the Di2 battery + 2 bottle cages on some bikes. According to the techdoc it allows a shift of 32mm-50mm in the position of the cage, so may be enough to solve your problem. Available at all the usual places - Wiggle, CRC etc.

great tip, very handy

[baarg]

Great advice. Thank you, this may solve the problem!

[eeksll]

I needed/wanted to move my bottle cage down, i read some reviews saying the plastic ones break and I thought maybe as a last resort.

the Di2 adapter thingy would have also worked for me, but I did not know about it.

instead i used one of these in conjunction with the existing lower hole. You could use 2. But if the tube is not round I guess it would not work.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/dmr-hinged-clamps/

[triangle]

I just collected my brand new Di2 bike this evening (Wilier Cento Uno) and the Di2 cage extender bracket does not make that great a difference. I will have to go get new cages tomorrow as the bracket does not create a significant enough change to accommodate my BBB carbon cages and the Camelbaks I use. I have seen lots of Di2 fitted bikes using the Elites and can see they would be a better choice because they only sport a small lip at the bottom whereas my current cages have a much larger ring on which the bottle bottom rests.

Seems odd to me that Wilier manufacture a Di2 specific frame but still retain the lower bottle cage mountings. Nonetheless, this bike is a work of art

[drsnoopy]

I ride XS as well - on my Giant TCR, I was able to fit 2 x zipp CF bottle cages for 750ml bottles without problems. On my current bike, the Zipp cages just wouldn't accept 750 bottles, and after doing a bit of internet research, found the perfect answer (for me anyway) - the Arundel sideloader :

http://www.arundelbike.com/sideloader.html?p=1.1.1.4

It's very well made, sturdy, grips the bottles very very well, yet loading and unloading is easy. I'm extremely satisfied with it. The biggest problem is finding it in Australia, I rang around to the big shops and no one had them and they didn't want to order it in. So I ordered them in from the US, not a huge deal, and well worth it. Found a shop selling it at a discount.

[baarg]

Thanks all. I actually found two small bottle cages that work well, the bottles clash a bit, just have to get smaller ones, but problem solved and the two bottle cages cost only 30 bucks...black, plastic, nothing fancy, but they do the job!

[gururug]

two small bottle cages that work well

brand?