I have a 2009 Specialized transition with Vision Tech aluminum bars and extensions. The aero bar extensions are a bit narrower than a standard water bottle, so I really can’t mount a bottle between them. If I was to mount a bottle between the bars it would actually be slightly above or below the bars. I will not get enough hydration from the specialized virtue aero water bottle alone so i need supplemental hydration. Has anyone come up with a way to mount a bottle in a narrow bar set up? I am thinking on top would be more functional from the standpoint of access, but below a bit more aero and not likely to intefere with arm placement. Thoughts?
I believe that to get the most aero benefit the bottle just needs to be between your arms, so above the bars is probably better.
I’m not sure exactly what you are describing but approximately nobody mounts the bottle exactly between the aerobars in a vertical sense, the bottle is ‘on top’ to one degree or another.
if your bars/elbows are so narrow that there is no room for your forearms with a bottle there, you can widen the elbow pads up with a possible net reduction in drag, once the bottle is there.
hed lollipop
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I believe that to get the most aero benefit the bottle just needs to be between your arms, so above the bars is probably better.
+1 You want it level with your forearms. Mounting the cage is easy in this case, just get one with ribs coming off the spine and zip tie the ribs to each bar.
Example:
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/3653/img3293u.jpg
I have the Easton 1 piece bars with extensions that are very close together. I use an Xlab Torpedo mount zip tied to the extensions.
Thanks for the input. For sake of reference, here are the bars:
http://www.visiontechusa.com/products/481/TriMax-Si-R-Bend
Pretty narrow and the bottle would have to sit almost completely above the bar. I can try it and see how it goes. The bend makes mounting things a bit tricky and to still keep it horizontal.
that narrowness doesn’t pose a problem. the bend might. maybe the cage can mount entirely forward of the bend.
one trick that can be useful on the visions, is sawing off little bits of the elbow pad holders, if you need the bottle to slide back farther.
x2.
I have a Shiv so my bars are at a set width, I use the torpedo mount that sits in between slightly but would work on top if your bars were so close it couldn’t sit down between them. Then just any standard bottle cage and any bottle works, great for grabbing bottles from on course aid stations.
I just used a thick rubber band and set my bottle on top of my vision bars. Although I have the ski-bend ones not yours. My guess is it would possibly just point up slightly but still hold well and you can easily try it.
With closer bars, we get the advantage of not having to purchase a spendy bottle cage and mount system. Just takes a little practice to put back in.
I mounted my bottle cage on my stem to leave room between my wrists for my Garmin.
I just used a thick rubber band and set my bottle on top of my vision bars. Although I have the ski-bend ones not yours. My guess is it would possibly just point up slightly but still hold well and you can easily try it.
With closer bars, we get the advantage of not having to purchase a spendy bottle cage and mount system. Just takes a little practice to put back in.
I had thought about something like that but the thought of trying to remount it wasn’t super appealing - or losing it over railroad tracks, pot holes etc.
I’ve posted my mounting technique before, as this is how i mount cages for bars which are too short to put the bottle where they are on the HED photo. I mounted my bottle on the Di2/P4 here on USE Tulas and Pro Missile Evos, plus I mounted last years IMUK womens winner cage on her 3T Mistral bars
Rear/bottom cage hole - drill out to 5mm and put the headset compression bolt through it and retorque, at the front of the cage zip ties around extension, and through cage body
If you mount cage underneath the bars bumps in the road often cause the heavy (750ml = 3/4kg) bottle to pull the cage open and drop out - I know, I tried it - Not so good
I have those same bars in carbon. I just zip tied a cage and the bottle sits almost entirely above the bars. When the bottle is in there, the weight of it makes it sit almost on the bars. It doesn’t cause any issues, my fore arms clear just fine. I have my cage behind the bend, so it angles up slightly.
Thanks for the input. For sake of reference, here are the bars:
http://www.visiontechusa.com/...481/TriMax-Si-R-Bend
Pretty narrow and the bottle would have to sit almost completely above the bar. I can try it and see how it goes. The bend makes mounting things a bit tricky and to still keep it horizontal.
I was worried about the same problem with big bumps as I have super rough roads around me which always launch bottles out of my rear gorilla cages if I’m not careful. The same bumps with the rubber band technique had no problems as it may have a moved up just a bit but came back to rest right on the top of the bars. Plus the bottle only has a chance of dislodging if you’re not in the aero bars.
Although my bottle lays flush against my bars due to not have that curve so perhaps your bars would cause it to be more unstable.
Overall, it’s a cheap solution that you can definitely test and if it doesn’t work out well go with the other suggestions like zip ties and a real cage.
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That is my exact bar set up. I like that. Is that a water bottle with a flip up straw thing? Hmmm. Do you hit your knees on that when climbing? What kind of bottle cage mount is that and how did you do it?
Yeah, I rigged the bottle up so that it has a flip up straw. No problem with the knees hitting, but since this is my TT bike, I’m rarely out of the saddle anyway. As for the mounting, I used this:
http://www.treefortbikes.com/...Stem-Cap-Bottle.html
When I’m aero, the bottle is completely between my arms and hidden from the wind. Aero, no straw sticking up to dirty up the air, and a full 2 litre bottle.
That is my exact bar set up. I like that. Is that a water bottle with a flip up straw thing? Hmmm. Do you hit your knees on that when climbing? What kind of bottle cage mount is that and how did you do it?
My bars are similar to yours. I use the PD HC mount. The aluminum strips are a bit wider than the distance between the bars in a narrow setting, so I cut them & filed the ends. I posted these in another ‘torpedo mount’ thread.
I placed the aluminum strips fore/aft of the pads so that the bottle sits between my arms. If your bars are narrow, this won’t work with the pads in any setting except the widest one, which is why some people cut them. I opted to use the Micro SL Pads.
The bottle won’t sit between your bars, but rather, between your arms.
I had the same issue with bottle not fitting between the pads.
I made a mounting plate out of thick, strong plastic. The plastic came from a cut off from a shatterproof security window I had left over after making a tree house for my daughter.
I Zip tied this to the bars between the pads.
Then I mounted a bottle cage on this plastic plate. It lifts the edges of the cage and bottle just above the elbow pads.
The bottle ends up level right between my arms.
As the bottle is quite far back, it makes it easy to mount my computer out on the aero bars where it is easy to see. If it is on the stem I find it a hassle to look down and focus on it.