I’ve been in tri for about 8 years now. On my old bike I used an old, large Profile seat mount with the old style Profile cages that I launched bottles from quite a bit. I stopped using it and only carried the two on the frame. My current bike (Felt S22) can only carry one on the frame. Has anyone figured out a seat mounted cage/bottle combo that works? I live in Michigan and the roads here aren’t the greatest so I’m not sure any combo will work. I really need more bottles for my longer rides. I saw Tom’s setup with his IMNZ bike on his website. If that’s working good for you Tom, I’ll make a trip down to your store to get the same. I live in Troy.
I use the Minoura on my bike and have for the past 5 seasons. I think that in all of my training rides and races in that time that I’ve managed to launch a bottle about 4 or 5 times (usually when hitting a big railway crossing or unexpected speed bump while travelling too fast). I think that they work great for storing bottles and gear (spare tire and CO2 stuff) and they make it really easy to rack your bike in transition. Plus they are only $20 so they are a great deal.
I’ve used every system, and it comes down to personal preference on the brackets, but the cages are the most important. I’ve tried most of them, and the only ones that have NEVER launched a bottle are the old metal Ringle cages from the early 90s. PITA to setup & install, but they grip the bottles tight & do not flex. The only bottle I ever lost was when the top of the cage broke due to transport issues that I didn’t notice. Aside from that one breakage, they pretty much last forever, come in reasonably cool colors, and are fairly easy to find–they pop up on ebay pretty regularly, or some bike shops still have them in stock. 35 grams is pretty light as well.
For my money, the best bracket is the Velocity–I use it on my road bike installed just above the seat post clamp & it keeps the bottles out of the way down low so I can use the full seat. The bottle cages are also pretty vertical, which helps in the non-launch department.
For my Zipp, I use the Minoura, though I’m trying to convince a certain carbon tinkerer on the board to fabricate me a velocity type for my bike to keep the cages out of the way of my fat ass.
I use the Minoura.
They sit low enought I can use my whole saddle if I use 12 oz bottles. The racks face slightly forward, so if they’re gonna eject, they have to go through my ass first. If I see a big bump I slide back alittle so my ass is slightly over the bottles.
I have a x-lab before, didn’t like it, ejected bottles like mad.
I’ve been using Specialized Rib Cages at first with an X-Lab Saddlewing and later with a Flatwing; the design is the best I’ve seen for holding bottles securely. In seven years of racing I’ve never launched a bottle while using this setup.
I also use the Minoura and some very cheep cages that I bend tightly to hold the bottle. The bottles seem to be straight up and down with that mount and don’t pop out easily. The only problem with the Minoura is that the backing plate bends if you tighten it too much, then you will have to take it off and bend it back.
So is it Big Beaver launching you bottles? or some other one?
I use the exact same setup as jaretj, minoura with those Al cheap cages and have never launched a bottle even when hitting bumps that almost launched the rider.
Wow, looks like I have few good suggestions to try here. I may start with the Specialized cages and if they dont work out, keep my open for the Ringle one’s on E-bay. I’m not sure, but i may have actually had a Ringle a while back if it is what I am thinking it is, the thin metal one that folds around and tightens in place with the bolts holding it to the frame.
Much of Big Beaver isn’t too bad compared to a lot of roads around here but it’s so busy. Part of Livernois which I ride quite a bit on was just repaved last year and it doesn’t even look like it, they’re patching the pot holes already
I used to use the XLab SaddleWing with Profile cages and was launching bottles from Royal Oak to Romeo, Ferndale to Farmington. I finally got tired of turning around to pick up water bottles and switched systems. I switched to the Velocity SPT with Velocity cages and have only lost a bottle once and that was on a particularly nasty bump. I don’t know if Tom’s shop carries the Velocity SPT. I found my set-up at Continental Bike Shop in Hazel Park.
Minoura for about 10 years now. Got to use a seat mounted type with a Cervelo aero seat post.
I use Elite basic cages and just make sure they’re bent a bit tight to stop all bottle launches. Never had a bottle launch yet and NZ roads are as rough as you’ll find anywhere. Rough tar and gravel, plenty o’ level train crossings and bridge expansion strips.
Damn, I think I just offended the bottle launch gods.
The best seat-mounted cage setup I know of (that I also run): the Cat Carbon Bikes water bottle holder. This is the same one that Natascha Badmann uses. It’s clean, it’s simple, and it’s got nice cages. It’s not a bad weight, and the mounting hardware is nice and sturdy.
