[Closed] Those Fabric cageless bottles....

I've used them for a few years with no problems at trail centres but did tighten up the mountings enough that the bottle can't be used when riding.

No problems with mine on a Spitfire

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That looks like a cunning use of a disc adapter .

I had bother with the 750ml one's coming off but the smaller 650ml one has been fine and not come away even in a few crashes.

If you plan on replacing one whilst moving, don't waste your money. They hold a bottle fine, but taking and more importantly, replacing requires me to stop or at least look down a lot. You should not be looking down with a bottle.

I’ve had them for a while but once they started throwing bottles and no amount of tightening the bolts could stop it I gave up and went back to a regular cage/bottle. Haven’t lost one yet, it’s much easier to drink on the move and you can actually replace it on the go as well, which as others have said is impossible and requires you to stop and put it back in place.

You've seen all those pictures recently of oceans filled with plastic bottles. 37% of those bottles are my fabric ones which have ejected themselves. On a serious note, I've found if you set them tight enough not to fall off, you can't use them very easily on the move.

Fine for road, anything more gnarly than a towpath & you'll be stopping to pick it up

I like mine, never had one fall off (as long as I put it on right) but I think I've been lucky with mine tbh. If you carry a bottle a lot they don't make much sense, a normal cage is just better at the job, the Fabrics are for when you don't carry a bottle a lot and you don't want an empty cage the rest of the time. You can't really use them the same, getting it back into the "cage" is bloody fiddly

I've got a 750ml bottle I found as trail treasure so I'd guess they are a bit rubbish!

I have one of the storage bottles. I have to use an extra velcro strap to keep it on over rough fast ground. I imagine they're ok on road so long as you cycle around the potholes.

"I’ve got a 750ml bottle I found as trail treasure so I’d guess they are a bit rubbish!"

Never seen a normal bottle lying at the trailside?

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I like mine, never had one fall off (as long as I put it on right) but I think I’ve been lucky with mine tbh. If you carry a bottle a lot they don’t make much sense, a normal cage is just better at the job, the Fabrics are for when you don’t carry a bottle a lot and you don’t want an empty cage the rest of the time. You can’t really use them the same, getting it back into the “cage” is bloody fiddly

That's why I got one, I use my camelbak 80% of the time and no bottle, I find my shorts catch on bottle cages when they're empty, and unless I'm doing miles on the road I'll always stop to take a drink, they're not very easy to take out and put back in when moving if you want it to stay put on bumpy stuff.

Keeps the bike looking cleaner too for when I don't use a bottle.

There are 2 versions of lids for these. The old ones have a large divot in the drink spout that is perfect for catching mud and sized so it's impossible to clean out on the trail. The new one has a much smaller divot and can be wiped clean prior to drinking. Only buy the latter version.

Mines fallen out once but I'm not sure I put in in right. It was also while riding lots of stairs on a hardtail .  I can replace mine while riding. It is a more of a faff than a normal bottle though.

I like not having a cage. It's worth the faffage.

I’ve picked up several and handed them back to their owners at the bottom of descents. They’re a good excuse for shit times on strava.

I've used them for years on my mtb and road bike. Lost two bottles in the firat few weeks of use but stuck by them. Both times I lost bottles it was on long decents, after having a drink at the top. it was because I hadn't "clicked" it into position - as soon as you get in to double checking after use they ate great. I've also the tool keg, which is also great.

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like a few pros and cons. I’d like to be able to drink whilst moving so maybe a cage is the better option.

Can I ask what the benefit of these is? I see plenty of disadvantages including being hard to reseat while riding, easy to lose in the rough stuff and, when you do lose one, expensive to replace (or impossible when out in the sticks).

The only advantage I can see is weight, but I use a couple of Bonty carbon cages that weight 19g each - surely a negligible amount of weight, especially on your regular Enduro steed.

As has been mentioned already, a pain to refit the bottle if you are moving, you physically have to look where you place the bottle. If you stop and take a drink, then fine, tried one for a couple of rides before binning it, replaced it with a Zee Cage.

I was interested in the clean lines (bike tart), lack of weight and cost effectiveness vs nice cage and bottle. But that’s all worthless If it doesn’t function in the way I’d like. Hence the initial question, which has probably saved me the cost of buying one.

@daern, the only advantage is that when you're not using a bottle you don't have empty cages, it's mostly cosmetic. If you're a regular bottle user they're pointless.

Can I ask what the benefit of these is? I see plenty of disadvantages including being hard to reseat while riding, easy to lose in the rough stuff and, when you do lose one, expensive to replace (or impossible when out in the sticks).

The only advantage I can see is weight, but I use a couple of Bonty carbon cages that weight 19g each – surely a negligible amount of weight, especially on your regular Enduro steed.

The main advantage is in the name - there's no cage.

If you only use bottles then you might be better off with a regular cage and bottle. If, however you use a bottle a small amount of the time, at all other times you'll have an empty cage getting in the way/catching on clothing/bashing legs or you have to remember to take it off/put it back on as required. I've had an empty cage on a hire bike catching on shorts when pedaling and it's really bloody annoying.

They also make a tool keg which fits the same mounts, so if you have a camelbak and need some more storage it'll take a tube and some tools, or for shorter rides/commuting where you don't need water but need some basic tools.

These are rubbish. One ride and it fell off at a level crossing. And got run over by the train.

Used on road bike and hardtail and not lost a bottle yet. Use occasionally with powder in to supplement a bladder with just water.

I fitted one because as mentioned above i'm a tart and liked the clean lines when not in situ.

It came off on one run which was shortly after a quick section of 10ft table, bombhole fly out to 3ft drop, so not a huge surprise.

I will persevere with it as I've only done a couple of rides with it.

I don't get how you can "tighten them up" as they are a predetermined piece of plastic with no give in it.

I do have a cable run down the top side of my Downtube so maybe that knocked it off?

I had one, once I tightened up the mounts properly had no issues. Not sure on the comments re drinking whilst moving, guess these are from roadies, I have a full sus bike with side load cage now and its just as hard to remove and replace when moving.

I lost a bottle once when it was new and I hadn’t clicked it back in properly and once when I hit a rock garden at speed on my hardtail. I usually wear a pack, just use a bottle when it’s hot and I’m not out for that long, so this system works well for me. Never lost a bottle on the full-sus despite that being an under down tube mount.

Mine has worked great for all sorts, jumps, drops, everything. Not for use on the move, but stop, drink and restart is fine

I did have it fall off in a crash, but said crahs stopped be dead and broke a chainring, so was a heavy impact.

I don’t get how you can “tighten them up” as they are a predetermined piece of plastic with no give in it.

As you tighten the bolt the plastic 'mushroom' deforms and changes shape, making it a more snug fit into the recess on the bottle.

They are too prone to fall off, not easy to put back in on the move.

Fabric produce some really nice innovate products, but I am not sure at all what problem they were trying to solve with this.  I don't know why I ever bought one, waste of money

The frame I bought for my daughter's bike came with a pair of Fabric mushrooms fitted (previous owner obviously forgot.

I've been looking at the bottles, but TBH I think I'll just buy her a cheap cage and bottle.

I did consider knicking the mushrooms and using them to mount a tool keg on MY HT's seat tube but they want £15! for that so Nah. I'll be sticking with the traditional Bottle and Cage for a fiver

Fine for road, anything more gnarly than a towpath & you’ll be stopping to pick it up

I know of quite a few guys who race all the Tweed enduros, SES etc who would beg to differ, Good riders too. Only reason I stopped using mine is that the location of the bolts on the Bronson means it doesn't locate properly, sadly.

Ideal if you do enduro type riding IMHO, as it's easy enough to get on and off whilst spinning up a steep fire road.

If you have a spare hour you can have mine for free. It fell off somewhere around the Dowies area of the FOD last summer...probably mouldy as **** by now!  I couldn’t find the thing, but to be honest it fell off enough for me not to want the thing back.  No matter how tight I did the bolts up I found it useless

The main advantage is in the name – there’s no cage.

If you only use bottles then you might be better off with a regular cage and bottle. If, however you use a bottle a small amount of the time, at all other times you’ll have an empty cage getting in the way/catching on clothing/bashing legs or you have to remember to take it off/put it back on as required. I’ve had an empty cage on a hire bike catching on shorts when pedaling and it’s really bloody annoying.

Hmm, OK. I only ride with a bottle about half of the time and I've never had this issue. I've got quite long legs though, so my arse is very high up on the bike and none of my shorts would get close to the bottle cage to catch. Certainly, it's not happened yet...

They also make a tool keg which fits the same mounts, so if you have a camelbak and need some more storage it’ll take a tube and some tools, or for shorter rides/commuting where you don’t need water but need some basic tools.

I bought a couple of these from Planet X last year for about £3 each and they do this job nicely in the regular cages. I've also got some fabric ones that I can use as well as about 200 assorted bottles in the designated "bottle cupboard" in the kitchen (go on, admit it - who doesn't have one? 🙂 ) and when I turn up at an event having left them all at home (not uncommon, sadly), it's easy to blag a spare.

I remain unconvinced that these aren't a solution looking for a problem, TBH. Glad people are having success with them, but for me, I'll stick to the normal ones.

With the converted disc mount I'm using on my Spitfire, I have 2x M5 hex bolts loc-tite'd in place, rather than the supplied mushrooms.  This is what makes it more secure IMO.

Thought I'd lost my cageless bottle on the commute from work yesterday, and was going to have to eat my words...

I left it at work 🙂

I’m sure I read that when people have problems with these bottles falling off it’s because of loose tolerances on the cage mount spacing on the frame. If they’re further apart or closer together than they should be then only one of the bottle mounts will engage fully, at best.

ChiefGrooveguru is there a recommended spacing?

Probably the spacing on the actual bottle, I can measure later if you want?

I’ve got one on my Bird Aeris only because I found it difficult with a regular bottle/ cage and saw this on the Bird website.

Haven't lost it yet.

One set of mounting bolts holds it securely and easy to use bottle when riding, the second set of bolts that come with it ( tried it on my other bike) just will not hold the bottle at all!

Isn't there a standard for the distance between bottle cage mounts? If not, why not!!!

Cos folk complain about MTB standards, apparently we have enough already..... 🙂

Everyone loves a new MTB standard 😉

Isn’t there a standard for the distance between bottle cage mounts? If not, why not!!!

There is, apparently they should be 2.5" (64mm) apart:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottle_cage#Mounting

It's worth noting most bottle cages have at least one of the holes slotted So I'd apply a +/- 2.5mm to that 64mmm... What sort of tolerance on relative boss positions can the fabric bottles accommodate?

"One set of mounting bolts holds it securely and easy to use bottle when riding, the second set of bolts that come with it ( tried it on my other bike) just will not hold the bottle at all!"

The black mounts are slightly different, I can't remember exactly what the difference is but basically if one set works on your bike the other probably won't. I think possibly one is fatter, or squishier, or taller, or something