was wondering if anyone out here has had a good experience and can recommend a carbon fiber cage for a rear mounted system… ones where the slightest bump does not cause the bottles to either come loose, or fall out…
or do carbon fiber cages just not work well when using them in the rear…
Profile makes one - I forget the model but it has a rubber band around the cage that helps to keep bottle in. It is not a super light cage however.
I still prefer a King cage…super light, super tight, not super spendy.
This one works great
http://www.ravx.com/pages/pages_products/cages/gamma_x.html
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or do carbon fiber cages just not work well when using them in the rear…
The short answer is they don’t work well in rear cage holders, or at least I haven’t found one yet that does. If you want the bottles to stay in, I recommend Tacx Tao cages with the Tacx water-bottles. They hold, period. And they are relatively easy to get the bottles in/out while riding.
I find the carbon cages not practical in general. Plus once they are worn a bit and you ride in the rain, you end up with black dust all over your bottles and hands as the carbon acts like sandpaper when wet.
XLAB Gorilla Cage holds very well.
x2 for the King Ti
I have found the arundel carbon cages work very well. I’ve never lost a bottle off the back with these things.
i was looking at these… think they will work well…
or do carbon fiber cages just not work well when using them in the rear…
How about cages just do not work well on the rear. 
I have a pair of the aerus carbon cages mounted on an XLab flatwing. They work really well and I never launch water bottles using them.
http://www.aeruscomp.com/images/product_images/Cages/onyx_cage.jpg
I’ve never had a problem with Profile Karbon Kages…NEVER launched a bottle. Now if you ask me about their behind the saddle cage mount system on the other hand…I say run away. I can’t keep the bolts in there even with locktite.
Ultimately, I say look into solutions other than behind-the-saddle. The Bontrager aero bottle is good for races. Jonnyo’s favorite aero-bar mounted cage is another one to try.
The new Reynolds cages work well on a Bontrager-style rear holder (the expensive Bontrager one), and work reasonably well on the new X-Lab aluminum holder (not the flat-wing, the aluminum one that looks like their new Carbon Cage). BUT - only if you angle them a bit, not vertical.
Otherwise you’ll need to go to the old-style Bontrager Bat-Cage rubber ones (the $10 one that is getting hard to find now). Anything else has great “launch” ability.
Try the Bontrager carbon ones. Pricey, but they work flawlessly and don’t launch.
I’ve never had a problem with Profile Karbon Kages…NEVER launched a bottle. Now if you ask me about their behind the saddle cage mount system on the other hand…I say run away. I can’t keep the bolts in there even with locktite.
Ultimately, I say look into solutions other than behind-the-saddle. The Bontrager aero bottle is good for races. Jonnyo’s favorite aero-bar mounted cage is another one to try.
On the other hand I used Profile Karbon cages and ALWAYS got launches.
Here’s the problem, you can’t really take much from the responses on this thread in terms of which cage will work best, etc. The problem with the rear cage holders is that each one is slightly different and will vibrate differently depending on what frame they are installed on, what seat/seatpost they are installed on and the individual riding conditions.
The more important factor IMHO is to get a quality rear cage holder that has the magical balance between stiffness, weight, yet some give. If it’s too rigid it will not absorb the frame/seat vibrations and ultimately transfer them to the bottles (in other words launch them). If it’s too flexible you will get oscillations (harmonic) in some conditions that will eventually lead to launch. It really comes down to trial-and-error and likely spending lots of money on different cages until you find the ones that work with YOUR particular setup.
That being said, I still believe you have a better chance of success with the Tacx Tao cages and bottles, plus they are light and don’t act like sandpaper when wet since they are aluminum and rubber.
The other thing to consider is that with a rear cage holder, invariably when your bike is resting against stuff or (god forbid) falls down, the cages are now likely the part of the bike that sticks out the most at the back and hence they take the punishment. I trashed my Profile Karbon cages this way, now when it happens on the Tacx cages I don’t feel so bad since they are cheap, and there’s the bonus that your expensive saddle no longer takes the abuse…
I use the Bontrager Race Lite cage, and have never launced a bottle. Even a thinner Gatorade bottle. It’s composite, not carbon, but still weighs only 38 grams, is way cheaper, and comes in colors.
the cage isnt the most important factor, the system is… these behind the seat commercial system act like trampoline or lauchers… if you get the cage attache to the seat post,…you will be surprise that anything cage will keep the bottle there…
the cage isnt the most important factor, the system is… these behind the seat commercial system act like trampoline or lauchers… if you get the cage attache to the seat post,…you will be surprise that anything cage will keep the bottle there…
A valid point, but again it all depends on the vibration characteristics of each particular setup. How the seat is attached to the seatpost (what position along the rails? How stiff are the rails? etc.) will impact this.
This topic has been discussed to death on many threads, and my own experience leads me to believe you simply can’t take one person’s successful product recommendation and expect it to work on your own setup, you just have to try different configurations out until you find the one that works for your bike and setup.
agree…well said!
A while back I gave up on behind the seat systems after launching a ton of bottles. The last straw was launching an entire carbon cage.
This past weekend I was heading out for a century and wanted to carry some extra fluid. Reluctantly I put the xlab back on but this time used Rappstar’s cage trick. (Find the trick here http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1898528;search_string=3%2F16;#1898528) It worked like a champ, 107 miles with some good bumps & I lost zero bottles.
Give it a shot…it worked for me.
Good luck,
Travis
dumb blog
I use a xlab flatwing and the older xlab carbon cages (with the “special” rubber teeth that supposedly hold a bottle tight - nonsense of course). Main prob is bottles don’t launch up as much as slip slightly sideways and then out the bottom. Problem solved by a 25c 1/4 inch rubber band threaded through bottom of the flatwing and around the grooved top of bottle. Nil losses in 2 years since though plenty of times (almost every ride) I have had to reinsert bottle hanging down a little (by the band). No probs reaching around to release band when I need a swap a full for an empty from the frame. Lighter empties bottles don’t take off at all so no real need to reattach the band when you swap (do at lights when training tho). Need to periodically feel back for bottle slipping down post pot hole etc and slip back in place. Saved me a heap of $$$ and frustration, lowered the blood pressure of my training buddies and can completely relax about it in races (vs crossing fingers). Surprised more pros don’t use this approach as a bit of extra insurance esp where vital, specific nutrition is concerned (Luke Bell in IMH 05 is a classic where liquid race food went out the back - more a case of silliness not going back - what did he think would happen sans food???!). A 25c solution to a futile and expensive trial and error exercise
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Not to toot my own horn, but our Chase Bicycle Products cages hold bottles in during extremely bumpy MTB rides, I can’t imagine they’ll bounce out on any rear-mount road setup. And they’re light at 24 grams.