@ Matt - I have one on my front end now as well. With my old set up the bars were close enough together that I could just lay a bottle on there and secure it with a rubber band over the top. Was super minimal and worked great. The new bars are wider and it wont work. It looks a lot like yours just is farther out as I have the puter on the stem. What bothers me is that it seems to sit up too high and would be better down between the bars more. I have to find the right cage which will let me zip tie it lower. Currently have a specialized one I drilled a couple of holes in. I will post a pic tonight.
@Chris, I actually have found I like it more when the bottle sits up higher and on the stem. This way I put the inside of my forearms and elbows against the bottle and it keeps my arms nice and cool. The bottle is still entirely hidden by my arms as you can see in this picture:
Yes Matt I agree the bottle "hidden" by your forearms seems like the idea here. Worked great for me at Eagleman:
The primary reason I switched to this was to allow myself to pour water over my head during the race (an aerodrink doesn't really facilitate that). So, the day before the race I converted the aerodrink base to a cage mount with three cable ties, took it out for a 20 minute test ride and was satisfied it would work.
I think I took these shots the day after Eagleman.
The whole bike with the bottle in cage:
Close up of cockpit with bottle in cage - notice the aerodrink holder:
Overhead shot showing the three cable ties I used to secure the cage to the aerodrink baseL:
Head on shot - used a bit of electrical tape to secure the base/holder as the xlab cage holds the bottles tightly.
Just had to get a shot of your feet in the sandals didn't you Cary?
Tucker - I didn't even realize - really. I'm just trying to share the knowledge!. And, as you can see I'm sporting my Vans checkered checkered flip flops that I wear at the pool and not the red & black Tevas I'm "normally" associated with
Yeah, I have been know to create my own "Rich Man's Problems" before.
I also don't like the look of the seat post, but it works well at getting me into the position I like. I would have much prefered they just built the bike with a steeper seat tube but this way it does allow a crazy range of effective seat angles. I'm at around 80 with the clamp in the "78" position. If I moved the clamp forward and then slide the seat about 2 cm more forward I bet I could get to 85+ degree, ofcourse than I would need like a 130mm + stem, so that isn't happening any time soon.
Yeah, I have been know to create my own "Rich Man's Problems" before.
I also don't like the look of the seat post, but it works well at getting me into the position I like. I would have much prefered they just built the bike with a steeper seat tube but this way it does allow a crazy range of effective seat angles. I'm at around 80 with the clamp in the "78" position. If I moved the clamp forward and then slide the seat about 2 cm more forward I bet I could get to 85+ degree, ofcourse than I would need like a 130mm + stem, so that isn't happening any time soon.
If you believe slowman - - and I am betting that he knows a thing or 2 about bike fits - - people tend to self select for comfort and power at 79-80 degrees of STA. Doubt there is any benefit to being at 85 degrees. When I got the QR I played with setting it up really steep as it has a huge amount of adjust ability and my Kouta was 76 degrees. While I could certainly get comfy at 82, 83 there was significant drop in power. After the last bit of tweaking in LP it is right at 79. Plus without a tunnel there is really no way to tell how "aero" it is anyhow. I have no where near the patience to do home aero testing ala Tom A.
Just playin regarding the seat post. It does look like you could hurt someone with it though
Matt, thanks for starting this thread. I've borrowed a few of your ideas and think I have almost gotten my setup dialed. For my water bottle on the bars setup I am using a Xlab torpedo, got it cheap on Slowtwitch, and my computer is in front of the bottle like Matt's. I have short extensions so the bottle was hitting the computer when I took it out. I then found these bottles and they seem to have solved that issue. I had no issues on my long ride today. The bottle goes into the cage at a 45 degree angle. cgi.ebay.com/NOS-Catamount-CatCages...0598282665 I can post pics if anyone is interested. the Xlab is slammed as far back as it can go on my extensions so the bottel is directly between the pads.
@Dave and Martin - glad I could help you guys out. I'm a bike geek and have tried a little bit of everything so I like to share and try to help folks out.
Right now I'm testing a third bottle mount idea for Kona after my recent discovery that I'm losing 4+ lbs per hour of sweat in the summer heat. I'll post pictures if it works out. I've also trying out another new idea for the front bottle that I will share if it works.
Let me know if you guys have questions... or even better, suggestions on how I can improve my setup.
Matt, thanks for starting this thread. I've borrowed a few of your ideas and think I have almost gotten my setup dialed. For my water bottle on the bars setup I am using a Xlab torpedo, got it cheap on Slowtwitch, and my computer is in front of the bottle like Matt's. I have short extensions so the bottle was hitting the computer when I took it out. I then found these bottles and they seem to have solved that issue. I had no issues on my long ride today. The bottle goes into the cage at a 45 degree angle. cgi.ebay.com/NOS-Catamount-CatCages...0598282665 I can post pics if anyone is interested. the Xlab is slammed as far back as it can go on my extensions so the bottel is directly between the pads.
Post some pics Dave. I'm always curious to see what other people are doing. It's due to Matt (and the desire to pour water over my head) that I'm using the aerobar mounted cage. We can all learn from each other here.
Sorry for the quality, they were taken with my phone. The cage isn't super tight on the bottel like most but it is nice that the bottel goes in at 1 45 degree angle. Like I said, I had no issues with the cage holding the bottle or the placement of the cage/bottle on my long ride Saturday. I like that this setup allows me to get the computer out from directly under my head on the stem. And yes they are short extensions so that just complicated getting the setup down even more.
This is my rough draft, first attempt. I will try this out tomorrow. It took several trial and error mountings of the Joule to keep it from sitting too high. The bottle slips out easily over the Joule, but I still may tilt it up some.
Looks good, I really want a Joule!!! If the setup works you maywant to look into one of the bottles I posted the ebay link to, it is working really well and I don't have pull the bottle over the computer.
Comments
@ Matt - I have one on my front end now as well. With my old set up the bars were close enough together that I could just lay a bottle on there and secure it with a rubber band over the top. Was super minimal and worked great. The new bars are wider and it wont work. It looks a lot like yours just is farther out as I have the puter on the stem. What bothers me is that it seems to sit up too high and would be better down between the bars more. I have to find the right cage which will let me zip tie it lower. Currently have a specialized one I drilled a couple of holes in. I will post a pic tonight.
@Chris, I actually have found I like it more when the bottle sits up higher and on the stem. This way I put the inside of my forearms and elbows against the bottle and it keeps my arms nice and cool. The bottle is still entirely hidden by my arms as you can see in this picture:
Yes Matt I agree the bottle "hidden" by your forearms seems like the idea here. Worked great for me at Eagleman:
Tucker - I didn't even realize - really. I'm just trying to share the knowledge!. And, as you can see I'm sporting my Vans checkered checkered flip flops that I wear at the pool and not the red & black Tevas I'm "normally" associated with
OK maybe higher is better. Certainly solves a non problem problem for me. Was it you Matt who was telling me about "rich man's problems" ?
I disagree with Tom BTW, that seat post scares me a bit...
I also don't like the look of the seat post, but it works well at getting me into the position I like. I would have much prefered they just built the bike with a steeper seat tube but this way it does allow a crazy range of effective seat angles. I'm at around 80 with the clamp in the "78" position. If I moved the clamp forward and then slide the seat about 2 cm more forward I bet I could get to 85+ degree, ofcourse than I would need like a 130mm + stem, so that isn't happening any time soon.
If you believe slowman - - and I am betting that he knows a thing or 2 about bike fits - - people tend to self select for comfort and power at 79-80 degrees of STA. Doubt there is any benefit to being at 85 degrees. When I got the QR I played with setting it up really steep as it has a huge amount of adjust ability and my Kouta was 76 degrees. While I could certainly get comfy at 82, 83 there was significant drop in power. After the last bit of tweaking in LP it is right at 79. Plus without a tunnel there is really no way to tell how "aero" it is anyhow. I have no where near the patience to do home aero testing ala Tom A.
Just playin regarding the seat post. It does look like you could hurt someone with it though
Matt, thanks for starting this thread. I've borrowed a few of your ideas and think I have almost gotten my setup dialed. For my water bottle on the bars setup I am using a Xlab torpedo, got it cheap on Slowtwitch, and my computer is in front of the bottle like Matt's. I have short extensions so the bottle was hitting the computer when I took it out. I then found these bottles and they seem to have solved that issue. I had no issues on my long ride today. The bottle goes into the cage at a 45 degree angle. cgi.ebay.com/NOS-Catamount-CatCages...0598282665 I can post pics if anyone is interested. the Xlab is slammed as far back as it can go on my extensions so the bottel is directly between the pads.
I want to echo Dave's sentiment, Matt. We've not yet met, but I feel like you're my guru. The tried and tested advice you give is invaluable.
Dave may have borrowed, but I'll say that I have stolen some of your ideas!
Thanks...
Right now I'm testing a third bottle mount idea for Kona after my recent discovery that I'm losing 4+ lbs per hour of sweat in the summer heat. I'll post pictures if it works out. I've also trying out another new idea for the front bottle that I will share if it works.
Let me know if you guys have questions... or even better, suggestions on how I can improve my setup.
Post some pics Dave. I'm always curious to see what other people are doing. It's due to Matt (and the desire to pour water over my head) that I'm using the aerobar mounted cage. We can all learn from each other here.
Sorry for the quality, they were taken with my phone. The cage isn't super tight on the bottel like most but it is nice that the bottel goes in at 1 45 degree angle. Like I said, I had no issues with the cage holding the bottle or the placement of the cage/bottle on my long ride Saturday. I like that this setup allows me to get the computer out from directly under my head on the stem. And yes they are short extensions so that just complicated getting the setup down even more.
This is my rough draft, first attempt. I will try this out tomorrow. It took several trial and error mountings of the Joule to keep it from sitting too high. The bottle slips out easily over the Joule, but I still may tilt it up some.
Looks good, I really want a Joule!!! If the setup works you maywant to look into one of the bottles I posted the ebay link to, it is working really well and I don't have pull the bottle over the computer.