Agreed. There are things worth spending the extra coin on to get in CF. Bottle cages ain't one of them. I got the Bontragers thrown in for free when I got my Madone. They're great. Now they're on my Synapse, and I've never had a bottle come out on even the worst bumps. I have cheaper plastic ones on my old steel Schwinn and they work just as well.Froze said:Carbon cages?  none, I can get lower costing, darn close to the same weight, better and longer lasting cages for less money. The Elite Custom Race is not carbon fiber, it is a polyamide nylon plastic with fiberglass added for strength, they weigh about 40 grams each; you can find these on Amazon for $10 and it appears to be an excellent cage. Another good low cost cage is the Bontrager RL (plastic as well) cage and weighs 38 grams with a cost of about $20 at Trek dealers (the cost is higher due to cost fixing Trek employs).  This cage is offered in a large variety of colors to color coordinate to almost any bike. There is another cage called the Ibera Extra Lightweight Alloy Bottle Cage which is made of aluminum that weighs just 28 grams each and only cost $12 on Amazon.  Not sure of the quality but the reviews are many and high which should mean it's a good cage.  They even have an aluminum cage with a design to it that looks like it's a carbon cage! Also Specialized makes the Rib Cage II for $20 (another price fix company) that weighs just 33 grams, and according to the way it looks a bottle could never get ejected because the cage wraps completely around the bottle, and it comes in a large assortment of colors. So what about a carbon cage?  I don't see the reason to pay more for something that weighs darn near the same if not more than the cages mentioned above!  BUT, if you must have a carbon cage Blackburn makes the Camber CF cage for "only" $38 that weighs 26 grams...so is 2 grams per cage worth $25 per cage more?
I also have the Bontragers on one of my Miyatas and they easily hold a full 24 ounce Polar Bottle (a Polar Bottle by itself is heavier than other bottles, add liquid and that's quite a bit weight to hold that some cages can't handle) and I never worry about having a loose bottle.Originally Posted by mpre53
Agreed. There are things worth spending the extra coin on to get in CF. Bottle cages ain't one of them. I got the Bontragers thrown in for free when I got my Madone. They're great. Now they're on my Synapse, and I've never had a bottle come out on even the worst bumps. I have cheaper plastic ones on my old steel Schwinn and they work just as well.
The one "on sale".I'm looking for new bottle cages for my new Emondo SLR build up. What is everyone liking the best these days?
I've used them for at least a couple of years now and they've held up well, but I only use them on the road.
I was whining about H2 head tubes, too, until a buddy gave me his spare 4 mm headset cone. With the low-profile cone, a 2 mm shim, a -10 degree Pro stem and round Pro 7s handlebar (130 mm drop, 80 mm reach, and a full belly curve), I'm in ergonomic heaven. Low-profile cones can be ordered from Cobb Cycling.I've only put 70 miles on the Emonda so far and winter is no time to judge a frame, but the H2 front end is so tall I'm getting nose bleeds and the shitmaNO sucks. Slammed the stem and I'm still looking for a hacksaw or a negative rise stem. Seems stiffer than the Wiliers, but that could be in the Bontrasher wheels and/or the Bontrasher Hardcase tires...which are as hard as rocks.
I was whining about H2 head tubes, too, until a buddy gave me his spare 4 mm headset cone.
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