Light bars and bottlecages on a budget?

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Beancouter
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by Beancouter

froze wrote:Buying a generic ultralight bottle cage from Ali is one thing, but buying a generic ultralight handlebar from Ali and trusting your life on it is a whole different thing that I personally wouldn't do.
I’ve had mixed experiences. My Black Inc copies are extremely high quality - the 2 pairs of Aerofly less so.

I wasn’t brave enough to go for the alpinist copies but might give it a go down the road.

The profile of the EXS bars is intriguing and might suit me I ride almost entirely on the hoods.


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LanceLegstrong
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by LanceLegstrong

froze wrote:
Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:44 am
LanceLegstrong wrote:
Wed Sep 01, 2021 12:54 am
I have some Ali Carbon Works copies that are 8g each and have been great for the past few months, even on my shitty local roads. Really solid. Not super cheap though at ~$30 each with bolts.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1000041 ... 6008bc1e-2
Did you have to torque the bolts to a specified inch pound?
I just tightened until it felt tight. I've had good luck with Ali/Chinese stuff. Have a carbon seatpost that's been great. But I'll definitely give them a thorough inspection and they'll be on the trainer over the winter before they ever see the outside.
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g32ecs
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by g32ecs

I have a couple of "Lightweight" AliExpress specials and its held up on gravel duty for 2 seasons now

Only thing is Im now using my tall Polar bottles and it's causing to rattle. I believe it's not designed for it so I understand. Never had a bottle jump off yet.

froze
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by froze

g32ecs wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:29 pm
I have a couple of "Lightweight" AliExpress specials and its held up on gravel duty for 2 seasons now

Only thing is Im now using my tall Polar bottles and it's causing to rattle. I believe it's not designed for it so I understand. Never had a bottle jump off yet.
I use those same bottles. Are the rattling due to a loose fit? or due to the cage not being strong enough?

If the cage could be tightened in such a way to clamp onto the bottle more firmly would that take care of the rattle? Reason I ask this is because I'm wondering if a person was to dip the part of the cage into Plasti Dip, this is stuff people use to coat steel tool handles, it's a rubber coating, that rubber coating would take up any slack plus the rubber would grip the bottle a lot better.

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MrCurrieinahurry
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by MrCurrieinahurry

I had two of those cages as well. Have them away after I had an ejected bottle.

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MrCurrieinahurry
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by MrCurrieinahurry

I had two of those cages as well. Gave them away after I had an ejected bottle.

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req110
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by req110

BigBoyND wrote:
Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:12 am
Instead of getting 15 gram cages and putting standard 100g bottles in them, consider the Elite Vico cage (20g) and Fly bottles (54g).

I've been using these cages and bottles for years. Never launched, and function as well as any other bottle I've used. Bottles seem to be a common oversight in the WW community, for some reason.
Have you tested multiple colors of elite fly bidons?
I had couple of black ones, but they get scratched extremely fast.
Can someone suggest colour which don't look scratched much? Is that a transparent model?
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BigBoyND
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by BigBoyND

req110 wrote:
Tue Oct 26, 2021 8:21 am
Have you tested multiple colors of elite fly bidons?
I had couple of black ones, but they get scratched extremely fast.
Can someone suggest colour which don't look scratched much? Is that a transparent model?
I've had transparent, red, and black. They all scratch very easily (I don't mind at all) but the transparent probably shows it the least.

I wonder if some sand/polishing paper would shine it right up. lol

expatscot
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by expatscot

I've been running real and AliExpress versions of Bontrager xxx-lite cages for years. Never had a problem.
Only issue has been scratching of the cages, but structurally they have been abused without issue.
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and lots of non- WW others.

req110
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by req110

expatscot wrote:
Wed Oct 27, 2021 4:33 pm
I've been running real and AliExpress versions of Bontrager xxx-lite cages for years. Never had a problem.
Only issue has been scratching of the cages, but structurally they have been abused without issue.
Right, the bontrager XXX cages are really great, holds stiff enough.

I have one pair of real ones, and one pair of fake ones. Can't tell difference.
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stockae92
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by stockae92

I can't command on handle bar, but I bought a generic carbon light weight bottle cage from eBay. It works well and I have no complain.It grip the bottle tight enough.

one that I wouldn't do for handle bar is unknown QC. I much much prefer the bar to NOT BREAK, than to save weight cheap in this case.

g32ecs
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by g32ecs

froze wrote:
Tue Oct 26, 2021 2:05 am
g32ecs wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:29 pm
I have a couple of "Lightweight" AliExpress specials and its held up on gravel duty for 2 seasons now

Only thing is Im now using my tall Polar bottles and it's causing to rattle. I believe it's not designed for it so I understand. Never had a bottle jump off yet.
I use those same bottles. Are the rattling due to a loose fit? or due to the cage not being strong enough?

If the cage could be tightened in such a way to clamp onto the bottle more firmly would that take care of the rattle? Reason I ask this is because I'm wondering if a person was to dip the part of the cage into Plasti Dip, this is stuff people use to coat steel tool handles, it's a rubber coating, that rubber coating would take up any slack plus the rubber would grip the bottle a lot better.
I think it's because the tall Polar bottles are a bit slimmer than the usual 500ml bidons

Having said that, I havent had one jump out yet. It's on a bike thats on Gravel duty so it's a good test to say at least. The cage has taken some abuse and it's held up. For the life of me people pay a staggering 92 EUROS for 1 BOTTLE CAGE? 😂

froze
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by froze

g32ecs wrote:
Fri Oct 29, 2021 7:44 pm
froze wrote:
Tue Oct 26, 2021 2:05 am
g32ecs wrote:
Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:29 pm
I have a couple of "Lightweight" AliExpress specials and its held up on gravel duty for 2 seasons now

Only thing is Im now using my tall Polar bottles and it's causing to rattle. I believe it's not designed for it so I understand. Never had a bottle jump off yet.
I use those same bottles. Are the rattling due to a loose fit? or due to the cage not being strong enough?

If the cage could be tightened in such a way to clamp onto the bottle more firmly would that take care of the rattle? Reason I ask this is because I'm wondering if a person was to dip the part of the cage into Plasti Dip, this is stuff people use to coat steel tool handles, it's a rubber coating, that rubber coating would take up any slack plus the rubber would grip the bottle a lot better.
I think it's because the tall Polar bottles are a bit slimmer than the usual 500ml bidons

Having said that, I havent had one jump out yet. It's on a bike thats on Gravel duty so it's a good test to say at least. The cage has taken some abuse and it's held up. For the life of me people pay a staggering 92 EUROS for 1 BOTTLE CAGE? 😂
$104 or so dollars for a water bottle cage is indeed outrageous, but so is $50 for a cage in my opinion. Even if you don't want to do business with AliExpress you can get Leggera Super lightweight 18 gram cages on Amazon for $35, heck you can buy 2 of those Leggara's for the cost of one Bontrager XXX cage, and they both weigh about the same.

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MrCurrieinahurry
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by MrCurrieinahurry

Tbh a secure bottle is worth a lot. Some of the roads I ride on can be really sketchy and you do not want s bottle jumping out and taking out either yourself or someone else. Also it's one of those parts that I'll happily move from bike to bike. But yes when I paid for two Arundel mandibles it did make me wince slightly.

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DHG01
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by DHG01

I certainly agree not buying fakes (and an original being expensive can't be an excuse); but some very good products at Ali Express.

This one has been mentioned.
OG Evkin HBO11. 170 grams, €46 and excelente quality- hard to beat. The longer reach might be then only caveat for some.

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