Review: Cateye Bottle Cage

Some components get a lot of thought, such as disc brakes or wheels, etc. Others get taken for granted like water bottle cages.

With my FS bike the front triangle is very tight, and accessing a bottle and putting it back is tough especially under race conditions. So I've realized the importance of a bottle cage that is easy to get a bottle out of but more importantly easy to get a bottle back in. It's also important that it can hold a bottle w/o losing it.

One the recommendation from some people in the mtbr forums I picked on of these up. It seems like flimsy plastic, but it is amazingly stout while being light. Surprisingly, it really seems to hold bottle well.

But what I really like about it is how easy it is to get a bottle back in the cage. Typically when trying to put a water bottle back in a cage without looking down, I'll try and feel where the opening is with the bottom of the bottle. With metal cages there is no give to them so if you're not right on target it takes a little finagling to get the bottle in.

Normally it's not a big deal, but when riding on single track with one hand while at redline it becomes a big deal. My cage is really low on the FS so it's a long reach down there too, and the shock valves are in the way too. So it's even a bigger problem to get that bottle back in the cage.

This cage has some give to it, and it's amazing but the bottle just seems to find it's way into the cage if I can just get it close. It is still a skill that needs practicing but it is easier with this.