Originally Posted by
rm -rf
Yes, stainless steel cages (like the King cages) are springy and strong. I can slam the bottle back in the cage without looking. My generic stainless cages are 10 years old now, and look like new. I never lost a bottle. (Aluminum cages mark up the bottles, get worn down too, and don't hold the bottles as well.)
SS cages don't have that carbon bling, but they are extremely functional. And only a few grams heavier than the carbon ones.
And aluminum cages will, almost certainly, break off with the bottle inside at the welds while riding. (Might take quite a while, but that is the predictable end.) Good steel cages also break at the welds but almost always you notice one day the the cage is only attached at the top (or bottom) bolt. Usually as you go to put the bottle in to go riding. Like the aluminum, that is how they die but the steel ones rarely don't finish that last ride.