My Vanity and Pretty Tacx Bottle Cages

[smurfalicious]

Today was supposed to be such an awesome day. I was gonna go to work early, get my joyous box of bike goodies, go home and ride. And, mind you all that happened but I only got to work early because sleeping was not in the cards and I just gave up.

Anyway, got home with my pretty Tacx Tao cages and fought tooth and nail to get the stupid things off the card. Then I struggled like mad to put them on only to finally realize that duh, even though it looks weird the long end of my Pedro's hex wrenches work. Duh! Wow, and I built an entire bike, and it hasn't collapsed.... Miracle upon miracles.

Okay, so problem number one. When I put the first one on I got it feeling erm, semi-snug and gave another maybe half turn because last time I went just to that point they got loose after just a few rides. Anyway, there was a small creak and I'm freaking because it's a carbon frame. The bosses are metal, and I'm 80% sure it was the cage leveling because the had a bit of a bend to them. I did the other three bolts about the same tightness with no issue. Ack, someone calm me down.

The second problem is there is no way on this green earth I can get the seat tube bottle in and out while riding. My frame is really compact for a 52cm and the absurdly fat tubing on this bike doesn't help. I really don't want to send them back, there are no side entry cages that get me all twittery. So I'm tempted to hack the little rubber center bit so I can pull it forward and out. Just afraid it won't hold at all. Any chance someone has tried this? I can't find anything on the intertubes.

Argh, they just look so perfect. Why must I be so stinking short?

[Pedal Wench]

First, take a few deep breaths.

Good.

Gorgeous bike, gorgeous cages.

I have a similar issue with one of my Bianchis. Two solutions - shorter bottles. And, I found that if I take the bottle out to the right, it doesn't hit the brake cable housing. Looks like you have just enough clearance to try that too.

[arielmoon]

I love the look, it has lovely symmetry right down to the bottles themselves. I might have to look into finding those! I think they would look sharp in my pink bottle cages!

I hope you can get it to work!

[reddDesign]

I have a 50cm bike, with two cages, and a pump that fits on the frame.

Holy heck I have problems even getting short water bottles out...long ones won't fit at all!

So yeah...try shorter bottles...they'll give you more of an angle to get them out.

[kenyonchris]

I have the same problem. I have Arundel cages...

http://www.arundelbike.com/products.html

they are FABULOUS, come in all different types (yes, they are carbon and yes, expensive!) including side entry....

I lived with one short bottle and one tall bottle for a while, but in Texas heat that doesn't cut it on a long ride.

I promise these will make you twittery!

Nice bike!

[sundial]

Shorter bottles should do the trick. I really do like the clean lines of your cages.

[Eden]

I ride a 44cm frame - only short bottles will fit (no matter what cages I use). I tried Tacx cages, but they were much to difficult to remove the bottles from. I didn't have to go to side entry ones, but I did switch to a style that is split all of the way down the front so I don't have to pull the bottle so far out to free them.

[batsheva]

it would be such a shame to remove those water cages - they look so hot!

i ride a 47cm frame and when the water is all gone from the bigger bottle on my downtube, i pour the liquid from the shorter bottle on the seattube into the big one that IS easy to access... it only takes 20 seconds...

batsheva

[smurfalicious]

Okay, I have been assured by my dealer/coworker/wishful BFF (her husband is adamant she needs more friends, but I ride too slow for her and she doesn't eat meat, drink beer or coffee so we have little do but BS at work) that I have not killed my bike. She also reminded me the B2 Bomber is largely carbon and my bike can take gentle hand tightening of bottle cages. Whew.

When I had standard plain old cages, you know the little bent metal ones that are like, $2 it was still a tight fit. I always rock a short bottle and a long bottle, and usually dump the contents of short into long because the long one on the downtube is easier to get to. So for illustration purposes, here are the bottles I have collected, with ya know, some other familiar objects for perspective.



From left to right we have a 24oz Polar Bottle (whose lid reappeared post picture, yay), 24oz Camelback Podium, 12oz of Blueberry deliciousness, 20oz Polar Bottle, LBS bottle of slightly larger than average size, 21oz Camelback Podium, local running store bottle of average size stolen from jerkface old roommate (kind of on accident), and 12oz of hoptastic goodness from Oskar Blues (first microbrewery to can, awh yeah).

I think if I just slit the rubber up front I could get it in and out, but would it hold? If my engineering degree holding roommate wasn't working in Alaska for two weeks I'm sure he could figure something out. There's just no wiggle room in the height adjustment. But, if we redrilled it. Ugh, do you see how much I love these cages? They're just sooooo perfect!

I guess I could rock the TACX on the downtube and something else in the back but no matchy-matchy? Anyone who has seen Candy knows I'm a sucker for aesthetics, and this is THE nicest bike I've ever owned and I want it to look hot, because the hotter it looks the more I want to ride him. He is El Tiburon (not named after the cheesy song by Proyecto Uno, but a that song is about a guy who is always snagging other guy's girls and in some weird way it seems fitting) so he must look fierce!

[hilldweller]

Can you not just drink from the one you can get in and out, and swap them over when that one's empty? Or do have one for water and one for energy drink or something?

[Karma007]

Okay. That just looks hot. If it weren't for having to actually drink out of them...

[lunacycles]

Your bike is designed for Dale's Pale Ale or Bud Light only on the seat tube. I agree that Dale's is one fine brew in a can. No, really, they should have put one of the bottle cage bosses below the front derailleur mount-it usually works well there and still allows for a bigger bottle...but, nevermind...

If you are ready to explore with other cages, you might consider the one made by Velocity. Not nearly so space agey and blendy with the frame, but they have some adjustability in how they attach so you could get it a few mm lower on the seat tube and probably have good access that way. The only side-access cages I have seen don't impress me.

[wackyjacky1]

Your bike is designed for Dale's Pale Ale or Bud Light only on the seat tube.

+1. That will have to be your carb replacement drink.

[ZenSojourner]

Camelback.

'Nuff said.

[ilima]

Can you not just drink from the one you can get in and out, and swap them over when that one's empty? Or do have one for water and one for energy drink or something?

That's what I do. The bottle on the down tube is the one I drink from. I switch the bottles out when I stop or if I'm riding in a place where it's safe to switch them; just hold one bottle in your mouth when you make the switch.