Guinessisgoodforyou
rBotM Winner
I like the bike and the bags.
Those look like they could be better options. The King Cages look the strongest as well as the most agricultural (not necessarily a bad thingI think the bags have cost more than the sum total of the bike at this point!
Thanks for the heads up about the cockpit eye view thread - made a slightly different contribution featuring this bike
Many thanks! I suspect they'd be an improvement over my original idea of just bodging something using hose clamps!
I've only had a quick 'mental measure' of how much space I have to play with as I want to keep a cage as close to the down tube as possible without interfering with the gear cable, but it looks like something like the Blackburn Outpost cage will fit.
The other "less-hacky" clamp solutions that crossed my radar are the King Cage 'USB' and the Drj0n Bagwords Barnacle.
). The Barnacles appear sturdy and, to my eyes, look good too. Possibly the best balance between strength, cost and design? The DMRs cheaper and probably would still do the job. Please post up know what you settle on - I'm thinking of doing something similar.
HourGlass
Dirt Disciple
I ended up picking up a Blackburn Outpost cage. It's a little bulky, but it's built well and has slots to assist securing stuff to it, or in this instance, it to the bike using stainless steel hose clamps.Those look like they could be better options. The King Cages look the strongest as well as the most agricultural (not necessarily a bad thing
I have no doubt hose clamps provide a secure form of attaching stuff to a bike, however you'll see below the problems encountered with my particular set up.
For one thing, having the hose clamp and strap share the same slot space made fitting and removing the strap a chore. The main problem however was that the gear cable rested against strap and clamp. I considered just using a section of outer to 'sheath' the cable across this section to stop any chaffing / friction but I decided to reevaluate 'off the shelf' solutions.
Later that week, I popped in to the local bike shop and who suggested these bottle cage clamps from Velo Orange (which look near identical to the DMR ones that RetroDavy suggested earlier!). The smaller size (28.6mm) is the same diameter as the down tube (according to my plastic verniers), thus a snug and tidy fit.
The gear cable now has an uninterrupted route and the extra spacing has permitted me position the cage closer to the BB (with the spacing affording a little extra clearance against the crank arm).
Last Saturday, I put the set up to good use and enjoyed a mixed tarmac / gravel ride to Grafham Water (about a 115km round trip).
Stupidly, I couldn't find my second bottle cage for the seat tube so I proceeded with 750ml + 1L in the lower cage, which wasn't nearly enough given the temperature.
One day, I'll actually learn...
Thanks for reading!
Last edited:
HourGlass
Dirt Disciple
Ripper day in the saddle with a (metric) century to London via the Lea Valley yesterday.
With the exception of swapping flats for SPDs for this ride, the bike remains virtually unchanged (suggesting thr recipie works - a big call from a chronic tinker-er like myself!)
I felt a little out-of-place navigating the streets of London on such a bike but hey-ho!
Speaking of chronic-tinkering, I am considering changing the handlebar set up. I have a spare pair of On One 'OG' bars which I think will work quite well, as well as a fair number of V-brake levers to choose from to complete the swap.
Thanks for reading!
With the exception of swapping flats for SPDs for this ride, the bike remains virtually unchanged (suggesting thr recipie works - a big call from a chronic tinker-er like myself!)
I felt a little out-of-place navigating the streets of London on such a bike but hey-ho!
Speaking of chronic-tinkering, I am considering changing the handlebar set up. I have a spare pair of On One 'OG' bars which I think will work quite well, as well as a fair number of V-brake levers to choose from to complete the swap.
Thanks for reading!
