After losing 8 lbs on my 4 hour ride last Saturday (while drinking 8 bottles of water), I figure I should bring another bottle cage to IM Lou. Since I only have (1) frame mount, I guess it will be my training Minoura double rear cage. (Hydrotail won’t fit my set-up).
Anyone do any mods to their Minora cage to make it:
More aero
Easier to reach
Easier to mount spare tubular
Less prone to launching bottles (this is most important)
I used it in training, but usually ride my IM with (1) cage…so just making sure I’m not forgetting something.
“Easier to reach” - Mine seems very easy to reach…is it installed correctly? (serious question)
“Easier to mount spare tubular” - Don’t know…
“Less prone to launching bottles (this is most important)” - The Minora is one of the best I have found at NOT launching bottles. Buy yourself some cheap alum. bottle holders and compress them (ie…bend them in). This will hold the bottle very snug. Also - for added sucurity - you can sit back on your saddle when approaching hazards thus “holding” the bottles with your backside.
That’s the type of little stuff I was looking for! Duh. Thanks. I’m swapping out my current Tacx Tao for some ole faithful Profile cages. I suspect that will make a big difference. Yes…I can EASILY get to the bottles while riding. I guess my question was more along the lines of whether folks bend the Minoura to make the bottles point further forward/backward.
I don’t use rear bottle holders during an IM, just a Jetstream and seat tube bottle. But for training I use a Minoura double cage and really like it. Have never launched a bottle using Specialized Rib cages. Mine’s pretty aero. It sits down pretty low behind my butt and is easy to reach.
I had one for a number of years and it worked well. I used aluminum cages that I bent in a bit and it was very rare to lose a bottle. The one problem with doing this is that it made it a little more difficult to get the bottles in and out. I use an Xlab flatwing now with Aerus carbon cages. They are the best ones that I have used for not launching the bottles and ease of bottle in/out.
I used to roll up my tubular and then just tie it (mounted perpendicular to the saddle) across the two rails of the Minoura. It worked fine and since it was right behind the saddle and my butt I figured it was likely not causing too much of an issue with the airflow.
I can’t think of anything that would make it easier to reach since you’re pretty much stuck with the placement in relation to your saddle but I never had too much of an issue reaching back to get bottles. It just takes some practice to get used to where they are going to be.
Trek Batcages are the best I’ve found for holding bottles in. They are Trek’s mtb cage, and they are very secure. A simple rubber band around the cages will also help to keep whichever bottle you aren’t drinking out of in the cage. I drink out of one, then swap to the other when it’s finished. The rubber band keeps me from losing both bottles early in the race.
