Side entry water bottle cages?

[alpinerabbit]

Have one on the mtb and find it iffy and it does seem the bottle slips out easily. It's from Elite if you care to know.

I had to settle for one "regular" cage only on my small road frame (would that be a center entry? center load?) - I would not want to send projectiles flying on a road ride.

[JaneE]

Hmmm...I'm also having an issue with fitting two water bottles on my (small) road frame. My LBS was going to order some side-loading cages for me but if they don't hang onto the bottles reliably then what's the point of them?

Maybe I'll just stick to two really small water bottles instead.

[Steph_in_TX]

I had to put one side loader on my newer road bike. I have been pleased with it. It's still holding tightly after almost two years.

http://www.arundelbike.com/sideloader.html?p=1.1.1.3

[Tokie]

Thanks Steph! I am looking for the cages for my road bike. The fellow who did my bike fit yesterday told me his side loading cages have been really great, but I forgot the brand. I e-mailed him last night, so maybe he'll get back to me before he goes to Interbike! By the way, I called Arundel about their "white" carbon water bottle cages - I've seen one at a bike store, and it looked so cool. They have been discontinued, too many of them broke during manufacture, making them too expensive to produce. They were very very cool looking. Tokie

[Zen]

My second cage is an add-on by TwoFish.
When the bottle in the regular cage gets empty I just switch it out.

[Bluetree]

I highly recommend the Arundal side loaders. I have them on both of my small bikes (a 44cm and 42.5cm) and both work great. They are very "grippy" and there's no fear of bottles flying out.

Here's what they look like on a 44cm Ruby, one of the smallest production frames on the market. The Campy bottle I used in the pic is actually taller than standard 24 oz'ers, and I have been able to pull it in/out without any problems.
(There's no way I could do that with standard cages!)



If you're buying more than one, I recommend getting them from Sage Cycles. You get 15% off, plus free shipping over $75. Be sure to get the Side Loader + the Other Side Loader, if you are particular about left-handed and right-handed access.

[Zen]

Nashbar sells them for $5 plus shipping

[VeloVT]

I have a size x-small (49cm) road frame with very compact geometry. It does fit two cages, but I cannot fit older-style (narrow-mouth) 24 oz bottles on the frame. However, the new, super wide mouth 24 oz bottles will fit -- they are significantly shorter. I still don't have TONS of room to pull the bottles out (have to pull up and to the side immediately), but I've gotten used to that and can do it on the fly just fine.

I don't think I would like side-loading cages very much because I actually don't remove the bottles from the same side every time, and I think it would bug me not to have that flexibility.

FWIW, I have the Arundel carbon cages -- I think the model is called "Dave-O" -- and I like them very much.

If the picture is not too small, you can see in my avatar how tight the bottles are -- it looks pretty crowded, I think, but it works with the right bottles.