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No name cheap Amazon carbon fiber bottle cages...here goes nothing...

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

No name cheap Amazon carbon fiber bottle cages...here goes nothing...

Old 09-16-19, 12:32 AM
  #26  
yamsyamsyams
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Currently have 3 different pairs all from amazon...no issues yet although there are some scuff marks shown on the matte version ones after 3 years of use.
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Old 09-16-19, 07:19 AM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by CarloM
So when I first got into cycling I purchased a couple of cheap no-name cycling kit (2 jerseys, 2 shorts with chamois) from Amazon. Technically that's not right, they had names, but none that anyone on Bf would recognize (Sportneer? Souke?). Then Competitive Cyclist had their TdF sale and I bought Castelli, Garneau, etc. from them and realized how crappy the Amazon ones were. Luckily I was able to return most of them because the return window hadn't closed. Since cycling kit is on you for the duration of your ride, and their comfort and quality enhances every second you spend on your bike, I realized it was better to spend money on good kit rather than save money on cheap kit.

Carbon fiber bottle cages were always a luxury I wanted, but being "just bottle cages" I could never justify spending $50-$70 on good Bontrager, ENVE, Black Inc, Silca carbon cages (note that I own carbon wheels from 3 of those 4 ). But now with my NBD, I found myself in need of another cage (or two) so I thought what the heck, let's check out some Amazon knockoffs. I mean, if they fail, they likely won't damage the frame (I will cry if they do) and I'll only be out a water bottle. I found a 2-pack that actually costs as much as one Bontrager non-CF cage. I think the "brand" name is ThinkTop.

They arrive tonight. Here's hoping I have a better experience with cheapo CF cages than I did with cycling kit!
I bought 2 CF bottle holder on Amazon for 40$ CND and they are great. Nothing to complain about. Some items aren't just worth paying the extra $ just for a specific brand. In fact, I preferred the no-name brand since there were no writing/logos on the product. The raw gloss CF looks mucho better on my black & red bike

https://www.amazon.ca/Carbon-Fibre-B...8639949&sr=8-6


Last edited by eduskator; 09-16-19 at 08:11 AM.
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Old 09-16-19, 07:56 AM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by zacster
Not everything that comes out of China is junk. And for crying out loud this is just a bottle cage. And where do you think the name brands do their manufacturing?
My too-expensive Arundel Mandible cages are made in China. They work exceedingly well.
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Old 09-17-19, 09:28 AM
  #29  
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Had the same cages for a while, no real issues with them, but they did launch bottles on a couple of really hard impacts, so I switched to these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They're alloy, but they're still really light, and haven't lost a bottle yet, even on my gravel bike.

But either way you go, I agree that no bottle cage is worth $75+.
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Old 09-17-19, 11:21 AM
  #30  
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I don't generally go trail/gravel riding, and if I did it wouldn't be on the bike I have these cages on. But I have now done several tours around my area with notoriously bad road paving maintenance, and I'm happy to report that performance has still been good. No ejected bottles, easy of getting the bottle out is good, holds bottle snugly when holstered. The best compliment I can pay it is that I can't tell the difference in performance from my official Bontrager cages (which are plastic). Only difference I can tell so far is the weight savings (and not that I can "tell" while riding, just meaning in an objectively measurable sense, the carbon cages are lighter).
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Old 09-17-19, 01:25 PM
  #31  
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I ride gravel, including descending from mountain passes, sometimes on nasty washboarded roads. The only time my cheap knock-off cages have dropped a bottle is when I drove out to a ride, realized I'd forgotten my bottles, and picked two normal people bottles up at a gas station. They were a little smaller than bike bottles.

A problem I've actually had with Amazon cages is that one set was a little too small and bike bottles wouldn't fit. They have a good return policy though.
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Old 09-17-19, 02:08 PM
  #32  
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I have a pair of very similar eBay cages on my Trek Emonda, they fit the look and my bottles. Didn't even drop a bottle when I crashed. I would say they work well.
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Old 09-17-19, 02:46 PM
  #33  
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Mine are tight as well...so tight they scratch my bottles! lol
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Old 09-17-19, 10:51 PM
  #34  
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Talk about variable tolerances...I put my second cage on my TCR...and it worked well over the same bumpy roads, and didn't scratch my bottle (so far). However it is very obvious by feel that it doesn't grip the bottle as tightly as the first cage. Whereas all 3 of my plastic Bontrager cages feel identical to each other in terms of bottle gripping.
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Old 09-18-19, 05:55 AM
  #35  
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Since the Chinese don't give a $^@# about intellectual property, lots of the parts are exact copies of the expensive stuff. I bought two Ebay cages that turned out to be identical to $70 Look cages. They're clearly either exact copies, or they're made by the contract manufacturer who's making them for Look... and just making more and not labeling. All bets are off with Chinese manufacturers.

And when I say the Chinese don't give a $^@# about intellectual property...
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Old 09-19-19, 08:21 AM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by Zaskar
Since the Chinese don't give a $^@# about intellectual property, lots of the parts are exact copies of the expensive stuff. I bought two Ebay cages that turned out to be identical to $70 Look cages. They're clearly either exact copies, or they're made by the contract manufacturer who's making them for Look... and just making more and not labeling. All bets are off with Chinese manufacturers.

And when I say the Chinese don't give a $^@# about intellectual property...
Most likely excess stock, or just cages that were slightly out of spec (factory seconds) that couldn't be delivered to Look.

And while we'd all like to blame the Chinese, stuff like this has been happening for decades, if not centuries. Cheap distribution in the form of the internet only makes it more obvious. For example, the MIG 15 used engines that were initially developed by Rolls Royce, then reverse engineered and copied for mass production.

If Look really cared, they would have either built the cages in-house, or bought up all of the excess stock (including ones that failed inspection) at the end of the run and crushed them, just like that handbag manufacturer publicly did a few years ago. But it turns out they don't really care enough, and if you're a customer who doesn't care about branding or if the cage is "out of spec," then you'll find plenty of deals - not just with bikes, but anywhere.
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Old 09-19-19, 08:41 AM
  #37  
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This ^^ and as I said in my reply above, the Chinese no-name CF holder were actually the only ones who didn't have any writing / logo on them. It looks even better. Clean & stylish.

Last edited by eduskator; 09-19-19 at 11:44 AM.
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Old 09-19-19, 08:44 AM
  #38  
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Great...now every time I see one of those vehicles, all I'm going to think about is "Land Wind"
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Old 09-20-19, 12:01 AM
  #39  
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Other than the supposed bling look of carbon cages, I don't get it. I use Elite cages and King cages. They don't break, don't loose bottles, last more than 10 years, don't delaminate, don't corrode...
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Old 09-20-19, 12:04 AM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by Fox Farm
Other than the supposed bling look of carbon cages, I don't get it. I use Elite cages and King cages. They don't break, don't loose bottles, last more than 10 years, don't delaminate, don't corrode...
As I said, I’d never pay like $50+ for a cage. Which is why up until now I’ve only ever had plastic Bontrager cages. But for the no name amazon price, which was actually cheaper than Bontrager plastics, I had to take a chance. Less money and carbon fiber. It was too good to pass up.
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Old 09-20-19, 12:17 AM
  #41  
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Originally Posted by CarloM
As I said, I’d never pay like $50+ for a cage. Which is why up until now I’ve only ever had plastic Bontrager cages. But for the no name amazon price, which was actually cheaper than Bontrager plastics, I had to take a chance. Less money and carbon fiber. It was too good to pass up.
Elite cages are about $15. King, a bunch more, but if made in the US in a small shop means anything to you, then go with them.
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Old 09-20-19, 12:43 AM
  #42  
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Originally Posted by Fox Farm
Elite cages are about $15. King, a bunch more, but if made in the US in a small shop means anything to you, then go with them.
Just checked them out online. I might be interested in their bottle lowering cages. My Cervelo is a tight fit getting bottle out because of the spacing from down tube cage to the top tube. That bottle lowering cage might be the solution I didn’t realize I needed until now! Will check measurements in the morning. If it will fit, may spring for the titanium and support local small business.
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Old 09-20-19, 12:50 AM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by CarloM
Just checked them out online. I might be interested in their bottle lowering cages. My Cervelo is a tight fit getting bottle out because of the spacing from down tube cage to the top tube. That bottle lowering cage might be the solution I didn’t realize I needed until now! Will check measurements in the morning. If it will fit, may spring for the titanium and support local small business.
Cool! Sounds like a very small frame? Also the Elite aluminum cages with the brass "buttons" on either side are super nice and very durable. Those plastic Bontrager cages are very flexy and I don' care for them. My wife has one on her road bike because it is white and matches the frame color. She likes it but I don't want a cage moving when I am jamming a bottle back in and looking up the road.
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Old 03-25-22, 09:51 PM
  #44  
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I checked “Souke”jersey once on Youtube By chance. I think it's design and colors are quite attractive.
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Old 03-26-22, 06:56 AM
  #45  
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Is this Dawn of the Dead Day?
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Old 03-26-22, 09:26 AM
  #46  
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I like the Amazon ''cheap'' CF bottle cage because they don't have any ugly branding / writing on them. It's pure, simple carbon fibre, matte or gloss.

I have a set on each of my bikes and they never let me down in 3-4 years.
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Old 03-27-22, 11:34 AM
  #47  
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Just go straight to the Specialized S-Works Carbon Rib Cage. Don't you ride in the hills around LA? If so, forget stainless cages - 5-10 minutes of descent on even slightly uneven pavement will make them lose tension and you get to turn back uphill again to go search for your bottle in a roadside ditch. This only gets progressively worse as the metal fatigues from constant retightening. Plastic ones work just fine though, but unlike carbon or stainless tend to look and feel cheap. I went through this some 20 years ago; it didn't take many rides in the hills even as a rank beginner to realize steel cages are a bad idea. So got plastic. Then eventually sprung for some expensive carbon Arundel ones, which I still have and are still fine, but just look a little dated. In hindsight the cheapest would have been to simply buy the Arundels up front and skip the junk altogether. You just end up buying the junk AND the good stuff in the end. Then warehouse the junk until 10 years down the road you can bear yourself to dispose of it. Just go straight to the good stuff.
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