I was thinking maybe you could get a very thin - metal or carbon plate, and slide it in between stem face plate and handlebar - and then drill a hole into that. What do you think?
I was thinking maybe you could get a very thin - metal or carbon plate, and slide it in between stem face plate and handlebar - and then drill a hole into that. What do you think?
I think that’s a great idea. In fact, that’s what I did to my bike a couple months ago. The whole solution added just 19g to the bike. MUCH lighter than the Bontrager thing posted above (that guy is a clunker).
How it was done:
Strip of 3/4" aluminum ($3 at Home Depot, for a three-foot section), Cut to size and drilled for bolts.
Aluminum spacers. These are necessary because the faceplate is round, but the alu strip is flat. There’s a gap between the strip and the faceplate. The spacers “sheath” the faceplate screws between the alu strip and the faceplate)Longer faceplate screws to accommodate the extra length of the spacers.Now any standard bottle cage mounts to the alu plate. And ANY bottle is refillable. What you do is to remove the nipple (spout) from the bottle, insert a straw, and glue it to the bottle top with some aquarium sealant. To refill, just pop the bottle top and pour. I’ve done it while moving, and it couldn’t be easier. Plus, no splashes!
Damn sharp and damn smart, JudgNick!
Fantastic Post. Thanks for the detailed information. That is what I am going to do. Maybe I can even find a carbon strip.
What bottle do you use, and how did you configure that. Obviously you would want something that can be filled on the fly. Any pics?
Anyone got a photo of his bottle set up?
Fantastic Post. Thanks for the detailed information. That is what I am going to do. Maybe I can even find a carbon strip.
What bottle do you use, and how did you configure that. Obviously you would want something that can be filled on the fly. Any pics?
I was going to use an Arundel Chrono. This bike is obviously a no-label, stealth machine, and I didn’t want to muck it up with a giant “BONTRAGER” or “SPECIALIZED” logo. The problem was that I wasn’t confident in the holding ability of the Arundel cage, so for now, I’m using a standard bottle (Arundel Trident, same as pictured on the downtube). Perhaps the Arundel would work without launching – the bonty equivilant seems to work for Mr. Lieto. If anyone wants to donate me a Chrono, I’d be happy to test it out 
I rigged up a standard bottle with the straw idea detailed above, and it works GREAT. No splashes, easy refilling. And it’s really easy to remove on a climb since the bottle is close at hand. The cage just mounts like any other cage would, nothing special there. Pictures to follow later.
I considered the speedfil, but it’s too big and ugly. I also considered rigging the Arundel Chrono so it won’t jostle out. It would work with some electrician’s tape, but I want something more elegant.