Having run short on Podium Dirt cap bottles, I'm pondering over whether to go Fidlock with the caps, or buy more Podium bottles.
I tend to switch between bottles and bladders so always have two cages per bike.
Can't see any reason not to go for them but before splashing out, I'm interested if anyone has gone back to cages, and if so, why.
I went back. Old bike was really limited for bottle space so even a side loader wasn't going to work. Expensive bottle, which shared the same leaky cap as a bottle I'd previously bought from £3 from Halfords.
New bike has a bit more room, so went straight back to a side loader and bottles for a fraction of the price. I might have a bottle on the bike and two on my back for a big day out, which I'll then swap around when empty. No way was I buying £100 worth of bottles to have a Fidlock.
The only way I'll be going back is if a future bike is really space limited again. Otherwise they're just expensive, choice limiting and pointless*
*imo, of course
Same here, after losing a bottle during a strenuous Lakeland hike-a-bike. Resurrected my old bottle and cage collection and got on with it.
Another fiddy lover here. I do have the Specialized side loaders on two bikes though. Never really had an issue with any cage really - maybe the traditional style when they get a bit bent stretched and dont want to hold the bottle - nothing a bit of metal bending won't sort
Yep, I went back.
Fidlock was great, I really liked how it looked and it properly stayed put.
But I did find I had to look down to put the bottle back securely, it just wan't intuitive on anything other than smooth ground. Almost certainly a me problem I'm sure. Plus it rattled a bit.
Nail in it's coffin was not being able to mount a pump under the 'cage'.
I'm using a mixture of both on the different bikes. I find the Fidlock easy to use and very secure, although the earliest versions did rattle a bit. Useful where space is tight ime. Example... my Epic 8 uses Fidlock on the downtube and old-school on the seat tube. That's lots of capacity in a smallish space.
Fidlock here. Haven't lost a bottle yet. 750ml stays put, and you get the knack of replacing the bottle as you're riding.
I'll be getting a cage for my BLE frame when it comes, as I don't think the fidlock would work upside down too well!
All depends if it is a problem looking for a solution or a solution looking for a problem! I love it on my mountain bikes where I have limited space or on my ebike where it means I can fit a bigger bottle and I always stop to take a drink. I did however put them on my gravel bike and and find them really, really frustrating to use while on the move compared to sliding a bottle back in a cage. IMO great if you need them to fit a space or a bigger bottle but if cages work already I'd save the cash. As a side note I've never dropped a bottle or even worried about it with fidlock, even on my enduro bike.
Nail in it's coffin was not being able to mount a pump under the 'cage'.
Not sure why you couldn't do that?
Pump brackets fit fine under a Fidlock mount.
I use cages on some bikes and Fidlocks on others but overall preference is for Fidlocks.
2 bikes with fidlock and 1 with a cage. Not lost any bottles yet, even with the e-bike having the mount under the top tube. Really like the fidlock system. I find it easy to mount/dismount on the move and no ugly cages. For me the only downside seems to be that you can’t buy just the bottles with the bottle attachment (without the frame mount part). I ordered one for £15 which I thought was bottle and attachment but turned out it was just bottle that you’d have swap one of the bottle attachments to (I hope this makes sense), sent it back as no way I was paying £15 for a bottle.
Not sure why you couldn't do that?
Pump brackets fit fine under a Fidlock mount.
I'm sure they do, I should probably have qualified this a bit... when frame clearance is already tight the extra mount hieght it meant it was an even bigger pain in the arse to get the bottle on/off the mount. Side cage works fine.
Yep. 4 fidlock mounts / 2 bottles across 3 bikes (2 on the gravel, 1 on the HT, 1 on the AM). The gravel bike and HT are used for bike packing occasionally, and on fairly small frame triangles, it means I can still carry bottles and a frame bag. You can also put the mounts upside down on the frame, and then swivel the bottle mounts around too, to lower the bottle further in the frame and give extra clearance.
SS HT and SS gravel bike still have trad bottle cages and bottles; I don't need the extra clearance (I'm not bike-packing on a SingleSpeed!)
Fidlock on my newest bike (about a year old). Cages on my older bikes. Will be using Fidlock on everything from now on. I like it much more, and it seems much more secure. But much more expensive!
Fidlock here, not lost it no matter how many rooty sections I hit (local trails seem to be made 100% from roots) or jumps I case. No plans on going back apart from the next bike (YT Decoy) only fitting their diddy bottle.
Went back to cages as fidlock bottles eventually start rattling. The bottle mounted bracket pulls away from the bottle over time.
I'm too cheap to buy another one!
Fidlock on all three bikes which have been fine but I do agree with the difficulty of using the one on the road bike when moving. Can’t see me going back to cages .
Interestingly when I typed Fidlock autocorrect made it Dislike!
Still Podium Dirts and side-loading metal cages on all bikes except for Fidlock on one which completely lacks any bottle mounts and is tight for space. Base attached with nothing more than 3M VHB tape and haven't lost a 490ml bottle yet.
I'd not go full-Fidlock across my bikes even after experiencing it. Simply, cost.
There are a couple of guys i ride with who use them. Both seem to drop bottles more often than me (Elite Cuissi and Podium bottles).
One uses them due to frame size/space and the other is a nerd, always buys the latest toys (and gets me to fit them, then a few weeks later, work out how he's broken it this time...)
I've tried them, but didn't see any benefit over my tried and tested over the last 25 years solution.
I went back to bottles and a Shimano side loading cage and prefer it. Cleaning is easier as my bottles go in the dishwasher wheras the fidlock used to get hand washed. The fidlock also started to rattle and I'd rather be buying £2.50 lifeline bottles than Fidlock.
I run a mixture of both - I started with a fidlock on my ebike because space was tight, but upside down mounting eventually broke the bracket and the bottle started pulling away from the bracket too. Because I'm cheap, I then fixed it with some duct tape and put it on my hardtail and actually love it on there - feels plenty secure and is much easier to get to when it's not upside down.
I ran fidlocks on a couple of bikes. mostly though it was where I needed a toptube mounted bottle for occasional extra water but didn’t want to fit a cage for aesthetic reasons when the bottle wasn’t in use.
worked well, relatively expensive though and the bottles were a little awkward to use as they're not that squeezable.
Ditched them for normal cages when I got a bike with the right number of proper mounts. Currently using a aliexpresss Ti cage that seems to be holding up well and some elite squeezy bottles.
Not Fidlock but I used to use Fabric's version with the 2 little studs, I liked it a lot but it was a slight faff getting the bottle on compared to just shoving it into a cage. Never lost a bottle. Love the invisible look when no bottle on it.
Only changed it when that bike was stolen, went back to using the trusty Elite Race cage. Pros: easy to shove the bottle in/out while riding (slowly!). Cons: gets caught on my trousers sometimes if riding without a bottle in it.
Overall I like both, they have different pros & cons, but happy with my cage for now. Wouldn't pay the extra to switch, certainly not Fidlock prices.
I got fed up with the rattle once the Fidlock ports got worn and went back to cages a few years ago.
I wouldnt discount again if I had a frame with limited access and it was the only solution.
I'll be getting a cage for my BLE frame when it comes, as I don't think the fidlock would work upside down too well!
@Tom83 I use a King Cage on my BLE, works great. Actually, cos I'm massive, I use a King Cargo Cage as I've got loads on space in there (custom BLE, roughly XXL sized).
I posted above that I like Fidlock, except for the cost. But I admit, if mine started rattling, that would be the end of it.
