@redranger
Maybe not the best example””given the back lighting (the bidon’s actually full, though you’d never know it)””but here’s a pic from this morning’s ride:
The bike (and the rest of me) is inching (I mean centimetering) towards Rule compliance.

@frank
Wish I could claim Canon d’Allez as my own. Don’t remember where I heard it, but I liked it. Those Zipps are fine! I imagine I’d need matching wheels to pull them off, though””talk about “establishing a need…”

Off topic but ….  the big dog is noticeably absent a chain …. oops …..  I feel your pain ….  I too have strayed and photographed my steed in the little dog ……   damn

@RedRanger

I think its really awesome that places such as Italy, Switzerland, etc. have public drinking fountains available, seemingly all over the place. We have some here in Portland which I utilize on almost every ride, but they always get turned off during the winter, which is annoying.

Cage is nice. Strong grip but you don’t have to fight it. Top is flared so guides bottle down. Increased my psychological speed by 10%. Actual speed – not so much.

I’m running a pair of the these very cages as well, which upon first sight struck me immediately as the most minimal of all the carbon cages.

I have the oil slick (non-woven) finish, but dammit, they have since put out a matte oil slick style which would be an even better match to my raw/matte carbon frame.

Even so they do look rather spiffy. And for those that need them, they have this cage in a white as well. Good equipment.

@Roadslave
Glad to hear that, also running Campag 11spd and have been living in fear of a Shleckanical of some kind.
I know some people have reservations about the latest Campy groups but remember folks These go to 11

shame the bidons don’t match though. Looks cheap. But cyclist is welsh (and yes, serious breach of Rule 40 (and 26)… I have had a go at him)

While I’m here, can old helmets be recycled or destined for the bin?

I have a drawer.

When you think about it, bottle cages are basically cat nip for cyclists: always new designs coming out and relatively cheap that they are an affordable splurge/update. I must have half a dozen in my bike bits cupboard . . . .

Here’s what they look like mounted.

I just posted a picture of my bike in the “Bikes” section, as I don’t want to threadjack Steampunk’s post too much. So you can see my cages there.

@Steampunk

Those look really good on your C’dale. I agree that more “bulky” black carbon cages wouldn’t have matched the look of the bike very well, especially since the frame is that matte grey color.

@frank
Wish I could claim Canon d’Allez as my own. Don’t remember where I heard it, but I liked it. Those Zipps are fine! I imagine I’d need matching wheels to pull them off, though””talk about “establishing a need…”

I, too cheaped out on my cages and bought some plastic ones a while back. I confess, though, I feel a little guilty when looking at them, because they are a bit of an eyesore.

Maybe I’ll try a set of those Chinese cages as well. Do you have a pic of the style that’s working for you?

I imagine he’s sort of like superman. When mild-mannered programmer-by-day Fr0nk hears a call of distress, he quickly runs to the nearest LBS, dashing into their changing room and emerging as V-MAN. Swooping off on bike with extreme seat-to-handlebar height ratio to save the day.

I hear he ever wears his underwear on the outside. Weird, I know – but he swears it’s a folk cure for gonorrhea or somesuch nonsense.

Shortly thereafter, I replaced those with a pair of the $12/pair Chinese carbon cages that are all over Ebay. They are light, look fine, don’t have any logos, and I have yet to launch a single bottle out of one in several thousands of kms of riding. And I didn’t even have to buy them (I traded a friend some of my Google-fu SEO work for them, as he had purchased a large quantity to resell here).

Those cages are probably my most proud Velominatus Budgetatus acquisition.

@Frank admire your minimalist approach to self-sufficiency on rides… I’ve added a chain link to my inventory since my chain snapped a while ago 25 km from home… Contrary to labelling, the lezyne multi-tool chain thingy works fine with Campy 11speed chains… as well as a tube of Nuuns for bidon replenishment… All of which fit nicely in my man pouch in middle jersey pocket

If you recall the 75 year old French/Italian guy that was racing at the Southeast Idaho Sr. Games I mentioned in posts from this past summer – he rolls up to the line for the 40k with no water bottles. Old School hard core settles the issue. With French accent – “I need no silly bidon cages, imbecile. Viva la France!”

Good thing you didn’t accuse him of having a camelback hidden under his jersey. He may have taken his spare tire off of his shoulders and beat you until you begged for mercy.

The thing that will ruin my ride the quickest is when I’ve done some sort of adjusting in the stem/headset and then head out for a ride and try to focus on the V-Locus and notice that the stem is .25 degrees off the centerline. It drives me nuts the whole ride.

0.25 degrees – you are too sensitive – women like that in a man

The thing that will ruin my ride the quickest is when I’ve done some sort of adjusting in the stem/headset and then head out for a ride and try to focus on the V-Locus and notice that the stem is .25 degrees off the centerline. It drives me nuts the whole ride.

OH MY HOLY MERCKX THAT MAKES ME CRAZY. And with the 130mm and 140mm stems I ride, it takes an Act of Coppi to get it straight.

@Steampunk
Forgot to mention, fantastic work on the Canon d’Allez. Into the Lexicon with that one, my friend.

But provided the cage is made properly, carbon is the perfect cage material. It never fatigues or loosens up. It is flexible enough to allow easy passage to the bidon while clamping down hard enough not to allow it to escape, even with a ride over the cobbles.

Metal cages, always seem to rattle, fatigue, bend, misshape…it’s a disaster.

As a final point, as much as I can understand your reverence to this cage, the two materials seem like a failure point…is the titanium bonded to the carbon, or does the carbon just hold onto some loops of connected Ti? In any case, it is a pretty cage.

When you are out there with only your #1 & a few things in your jersey, the beauty of self-sufficiency comes into focus. You rely on the Guns, but even they need a few tools of support.

I carry a multi tool, patch kit, C02 chuck, and two cartouche C02’s. That is all. And I helped a poor guy out of a completely fucked situation yesterday. He’d dropped his chain and somehow crammed it between the small chainring, chain stay, and the wheel. There was no way it was coming out. With just my minimum tools available, I got it out for him without so much as a smattering of grease on my fingers.

It gets a lot of people onto bikes who might not otherwise, which has got to be a good thing. And once they are on a bike they have a much better chance of adopting la vie velominatus.

In fact when I first came to Abu Dhabi the only rides in town were the ones organised by the tri club, so I have that to thank them for.

The other advantages are that they spend a lot of money on bikes and the bike industry, and they sell a lot of quality stuff on eBay, some of it barely used :-o

My wife is regrettably tri-curious as well. She joined a beginners tri-club this spring and I’ve been torn between encouraging her (for the overall fitness upgrade) and treating her with disdain as a cycling aesthete. The biggest problem is her insistence that I, too, should join the tri-club next summer. Not wanting to openly denigrate an activity that has given her a lot of newfound pride, my responses are always non-commital. Perhaps a Rule 42 violation, but as I’ve said before, marital tranquility sometimes requires bending of the rules here and there.

One plus resulting from her joining the tri-club is that we finally went and bought a decent road bike for her, which I proudly built up for her, and we ride together once or twice a week. She, too, has brought up the notion of putting clip-ons on her bike. (“Clip-ons” is an apt name, because they are the cycling equivalent to wearing one of those course and unsightly polyester clip-on ties from TJ Maxx with a $1000 suit). Rest assured, my fellow Velominati, that I have exercised my right as the bike’s builder to categorically shoot down any such suggestion.

Xyxax – Oh no, a tri-curious wife! Be careful, my friend. That’s dangerous there, very dangerous. She’ll be cutting date night short so she can get her full 10 hours of rest, putting bar extensions on her road bike…and going for jogs! The horror.

Worse still, she’ll be wanting a swimmer and a runner to join the two of you…

I saw a guy riding yesterday. I thought, “He looks terrible on a bike.” All jerky and the opposite of smooth and Casually Deliberate. Then I spotted the bar extensions and it all became so clear.

Also rode with a friend last week, plus two others. One was a gal. Great! Someone fun to draft! Then she mentioned she was tri-curious. Talk about a turn off. Bar extensions utilized by a female cyclist are like man-hands, they just ruin an otherwise potentially nice gal.

The local hardman I ride with is totally put together aside from his bidon cages. His kit, bikes, and Rule compliance are all spot on but every third or fourth time I ride with him he loses a bidon. I, being the gentleman that I am, do the work of a domestique and pick them up for him because I’m usually behind him.

The Cuissi’s are a great cage with a classic look. I’ve got two pairs. I’ve got some genero carbon cages on my BMC which work extremely well.

Of course, everyone around us who doesn’t share our enthusiasm thinks we’re completely daft.

When you are out there with only your #1 & a few things in your jersey, the beauty of self-sufficiency comes into focus. You rely on the Guns, but even they need a few tools of support.

Nice one, Steampunk!

(*) I absolutely can not stand when folks have a dark-colored frame and an ass ugly white bottle in the cage. Or some ugly bottle that was a “gift” or “free with purchase” on the frame that is emblazoned with some sponsor, store, or frame maker (minus additional points for riding one frame and carrying the bidon of another), or some such other crappy bottle. Look, get a simple, clear or not completely opaque, unstained bidon. Stylish. If more than one, matching in design and style (i.e. two of the same damn bidon). If more than two, at least two should be matching. Size of said bidons? Dependent on length of ride and how Pro you want to look (smaller size = Pro)…and if you have support following you with replacement bidons (if you have a SAG vehicle, definitely go with the smaller size).

I experimented with the insulated bottles this summer riding on several Hawaiian islands. They work…for a while. Anything in the heat for 4-5 hours is going to be hot after a short while, I don’t care what the manufacturers claim.

OK. Rant over.

I’m not trying to rubbish CF, I’m just quite happy where I am and reckon my limited budget (officially capped at nil with a requirement to get some of the crap in the garage onto ebay) would be better spent on clever upgrades – A decent bike fit being the first one I think.

Main difference I suspect in performance came from the massive BB chainstay area, rather than the Alu-CF – maybe not possible to create the same large pipes out of Alu – WTF do I know??

Looked at Madone 5.2 the other day, gums went all squishy looking at its BB

@Dr C

Carbon fibre, is another thing. at the moment I’m not sure that my level of riding warrants it or that I’d really notice the difference.

While individually sourcing the parts is a given, is not a vintage campy gruppo mandatory.

No idea even what campy stuff is out there yet, as Spesh only do Shimano (except where the Roubaix Pro is concerned, which comes with Ui2, if you are Brett or Frank or Minion, but if you are British or Irish, they stick SRAM Red on it…. quel que fuck?

Ref Carbon Fibre – I don’t think it probably changes your performance much, but I really noticed the difference going from Alu to CF, though it maybe was also going Allez to Roubaix, but the acceleration and tightness downhill is awesomely bicycletastic – really feel connected and driving, rather than being driven, IYKWIM – defo think if that is what you want to blow your dow on, then have no guilt

Indeed sir, there is much to learn.

I have a CAAD 8 which I love (though I have little to compare it to) and I’m rather drawn to the aesthetics of the Canondale aluminium frames. While they do incorporate some hydroforming, they seem to have retained a relatively simple straight tubed look that many of their competitors seem to be forgoing in favour of curved tubes. (no offence intended to the Specialized fans!).

Carbon fibre, is another thing. at the moment I’m not sure that my level of riding warrants it or that I’d really notice the difference. For the time being, I’ll be content with some stealthy component upgrades and hopefully some major weight savings and power increases from the engine.

The idea of building up a classic steel bike from ebay is quite an exquisite one that I fear must wait for a couple of years. I think there are at least two or three bikes that I need to get before then, a cross bike, a rain bike (although it could be argued that the two needs could be satisfied with one bike) and city commuter (Boris is doing a great job with his hire scheme but the numbers of users are overwhelming him and there are rarely any bikes in the rack when I get off the train in the morning).

While individually sourcing the parts is a given, is not a vintage campy gruppo mandatory.

I also found these in Australia which might be worth considering if you like the overall form of the Immix cages but aren’t a fan of CF.

I guess the only way to break the habit is to build a bike from Ebay individually sourced components, as the orange V-coggers do, and apply the rule that no matching gear will be used, in an attempt to break the single manufacturer psycho stranglehold

Also +1 for Canon d’Allez – all of a sudden, the plethora of these bikes in my vicinity take on a less plethoric greyness (no offence intended to you CD fans out there)

I must confess to never having given too much thought to bidon cages or the effect they have on the aesthetics of a bike. In fact I gave so little attention to the subject that I missed the word “effect” in the description of the last pair that I brought on ebay! My carbon cages are, in fact, cheaply painted metal of some kind. They’re relatively light and I do take the second one off before shorter rides but I now realise that I’m fooling myself. They must go and I want a pair of Immixes. There’s a place in Germany that has them but is €55 a bit steep?

Still on the humt for that perfect cage.

Thing is, I can’t tell/ remember what it’s brand name model number is. Anyone? Oli? Frank?