Now cages are back in fashion for mountain bikes, what’s good?
Nothing beats a classic Ringle, but what’s the modern equivalent?

King cage stainless for you, sir.

I’ll be the first person to say the Fabric cageless bottles are awesome.

Depends on the bike, I have this on my Bird Zero, I couldn’t resist

Spesh Zee on your gnarpoon.
Elite Cannibal on your gnarmacz.
Elite Custom Race on your crabon fribe Fred Sled.

Spesh Zee seem to be pretty good, easy to get in and out quickly but no rattle or movement. That’s on a camelback bottle btw.

Mt Zoom Ti loveliness 😉

Bontrager plastic ones seem to be reliable and pretty long lasting, although I might have some King SS cages as well.

yeah i ride a process which only had bosses on the underside of the down tube, ive just fitted one of them fabric cageless jobs as i smashed two normal cages off in as many months. its pretty good!

Elite Custom Race if you can get a bottle out the standard way, pass if you need a side loader.

My new bike won’t take a cage inside the frame, it makes me sad, but not sad enough to buy a more expensive less good bike.

Mt Zoom Ti loveliness

This ^^^

Beautiful. Classic.

Edit… threadlock the bolts though.

I’ll be the first person to say the Fabric cageless bottles are awesome.

On an MTB where most drinking is done while stopped yes they are, but I’m finding them a right pain on the road or for XC racing as it’s harder to locate the slots/bolts than it is to just jam a bottle in a cage (which guides it in anwyay)

Those Mt Zoom ones look like they’re the generic Ti ones that get branded as RSP, Lifeline, etc etc.

I’m normally one to steer well clear of stuff from Spesh, but the Rib Cage’s are really good. Excellent grip on the
bottles on and off road (Camelbak Podiums – new and old style), look OK, and cheap.

£1.50-£3 bog standard classic shape metal one.

Last fancy shaped plastic one I had scratchedy water bottle and not found any other design that comes close in terms of easiness to get a bottle in and out on a compact frame.

Have got a few 90s bottle cages

3x Ringles I used to love their stuff:

Original USE:

Woodman:

Bontrager plastic – lost a bottle on a washboard descent.

Fabric cageless – lost a bottle on a rocky descent. (They did send me a new one, and have now made the studs squidgier so they deform and grip a bit better)

Elite custom race – best I’ve tried so far, bottle goes in easily, but cage does spread around it so the ‘arms’ grip, also has a rubbery bit at the bottom which grips.

I bought a tacx cage from halfords, very light cabon fiber/fiberglass blend, seems good so far.

+1 for fabric, mine work great, lightweight and cheap

Elite Custom or Cannibal, both work, both are under £10 and both are available in lots of different colours. They’ll also fit all of the old bottles that you have hidden in the cupboard under the sink too.

Fabric for me too.

Another vote for Fabric. I cant lose mine no matter how rough the terrain.

Specialized Zee Cages for me (with specialized bottles), side entry due to frame design (Reign/Trance)

Lost a fabric bottle on a rough descent whilst attached to the hardtail, I cracked one too.. Got a cheap cage from decathlon and it’s been good.

King cage/butterfly, arundel steel/carbon or plastic all ace. I use a fabric bottle as donor bottle, as its a bit fiddly off road.

Elite are my favourite. Use a bontrager side entry one for when I’m bikepacking, I hear good things about the Zee ones for this purpose – Bontrager one was cheap

Another for the fabric, cheap enough that if it does go walkies it’s not the end of the world

Specialised zee on my mtb bikes too. They’re side ish entry makes XC riding and drinking fairly simple and I’ve never lost a bottle. I use specialised wide neck bottles too, which are fairly soft and grip well in the cage, plus really easy to clean. I think the zee is available in either left or right hand depending which you prefer.

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