Fabric cageless water bottle & long term review

jumpa

Well-Known Member
***long term review below original review***


Picked up two of these from halters. I didn't care about the weight as much as I did the aesthetic of the bottle (super clean) but I wanted to see it in person instead of buying blind online. And it still came out cheaper than my usual cage and bottle combo.

Price 20$ + tax
600ml

Single bottle comes with 4 plastic mounting nubs and associated hardware. The literature that comes with the bottle says over time if the fit becomes loose to swap the mounting studs out. I guess they anticipate over time the plastic on plastic snap in fit interface will wear out. Initially the fitment is snug with a obvious click to know the bottle is secured. I have no doubt the bottle would initally not fall out during a road ride or on single track. But time will tell with wear and tear. Pulling the bottle out is deffinatly a little bit more effort than using a cage. Maybe cause super new? Break in period?

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Build quality is nice. The plastic on the bottle is firm and not " got a bottle from a random company picnic " feeling. bpa free if you care. The cap has a slotted diaphram to let water out and uses the standard lift up to open and press down to close system. The body of the bottle is thinner and tapered in on one side with textured grip grooves making it easier to line the bottle up with the mounting studs. Paired with the channels on the female side of the mounting system to help guide the studs in place, lining the bottle back uo will come second nature in a ride or two. Slight learning curve for sure. But nothing crazy.

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Aesthetically I haven't seen a better bottle and "cage" set up. As for its function, the old system worked just fine. But if you care about weight, these weigh almost nothing compared to even the most expensive carbon cages and way cheaper at that. And if you have used a traditional bottle and cage system before these should be a snap to figure out.

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***Long term review (1year +)***

The bottle unfortunately didn't hold up to well towards the end of it's usable life span. The screw on cap developed a slow leak and the slotted diphram in the mouth piece that squirts out water, on occasions, would invert itself out. These things where not to much of a problem realisticly but compared to cheap free'be bottles I have that perform flawlessly it was some cause for concern.

These two bottles have been on rotation on three different bikes. They have survived a trip out west to Utah, downhill days at creek, Killington and thunder and potholes and cobles on NYC roadie rides. To top it off, the clean asthetics they leave on a bike are unbeatable. Unfortunately my first incident of dropping a bottle happened on a road ride in Jersey city down a hill where I hit a raised manhole cover and lost a bottle last summer. I know the bottle was clipped in correct. Upon retreval, the bottle was already crushed by a car and unsalvageable. This was a head scratcher seeing as how well they held up on trail for me. My other bottle has now started to fall out on trail on fast rooty sections causing me to have to stop and search for them. I have tried replacing the plastic pegs to try and rectify the problem with little success. It was a good run but I am now back to a cage and traditional bottle set up.

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The click in feeling that was very prevalent when the bottle was new is now less noticeable. There is obvious wear on the female plastic connector that is attached to the bottle and the four retaining nubs look slightly worn down.

The bottle was great for about a year but I don't know if I want to use a bottle system that needs to be replaced yearly. I also feel that this design could be improved greatly if the slot on the bottle and frame pegs where made out of aluminum Inserts instead of plastic to negate long term wear.
 
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Paul H

Fearless OOS Poser
Cool stuff... curious as to how easy it would be to place the water bottle back on to the mounts while riding.
 

jumpa

Well-Known Member
Cool stuff... curious as to how easy it would be to place the water bottle back on to the mounts while riding.

Let us know how true this turns out!

Just got back from a few miles of gravel grinding. It feels like I have been using this system forever now. Once you get the hang its really easy.

Also after a few miles and a few dozen sips the bottle does seem to come out less forcefully now. Im not smacking the bottle on the top tube with the force used to pull it out anymore, but is still very secure to the frame. I guess there is a tiny break in period to make it a smoother process.
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
This is one of those products that I didn't "get" before I tried one.

They work, they are simple and they are super clean.

Time will tell, but honestly these guys have a cool product on their hands.
 

Delish

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I thought this review was going to be about a camelback, a different kind of fabric cageless water bottle.

I could see the benefit on a cx race bike. This season I raced with water on the bike about half the time.
 
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stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
Wasn't there another brand that did something similar? I know someone tried one but never heard long term. Possibly @RNG1 and @kush? Both f which we won't hear from.
 
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jumpa

Well-Known Member
Update.

So I have switched all of my bikes to these cageless bottles. The clip in system is holding up well and doesnt feel any less secure. Unfortunately it seems if you lay them on the side they begin to slow leak. About a drop or so where the cap screws in every minute. 2 of my 3 bottles have this problem. Not so bad when on the bike. Kind of shitty when driving to trail and laying on your passenger seat. Don't know if it's user error. But I have years of experience screwing things onto other things so I doubt it.
 

jumpa

Well-Known Member
This is one of those products that I didn't "get" before I tried one.

They work, they are simple and they are super clean.

Time will tell, but honestly these guys have a cool product on their hands.

J any issues with people reporting a leak from them?
 

MadisonDan

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
These still secure enough after the "break in" period to not get tossed off a CX bike either on a course or some of the smoother single track around?
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
These still secure enough after the "break in" period to not get tossed off a CX bike either on a course or some of the smoother single track around?
I have been suing one on my mtb and it has only been ejected once and that was because I didn't remount it corectly. I have a unique use for these and I find them annoying to remount, especially in the rough, where a normal cage you can just kind throw it in and most of the time you are good.
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
Update.

So I have switched all of my bikes to these cageless bottles. The clip in system is holding up well and doesnt feel any less secure. Unfortunately it seems if you lay them on the side they begin to slow leak. About a drop or so where the cap screws in every minute. 2 of my 3 bottles have this problem. Not so bad when on the bike. Kind of shitty when driving to trail and laying on your passenger seat. Don't know if it's user error. But I have years of experience screwing things onto other things so I doubt it.

I forwarded this on to my sales rep today. They are sending you 2 new ones at no charge.

What color do you want?

J
 

jumpa

Well-Known Member
I forwarded this on to my sales rep today. They are sending you 2 new ones at no charge.

What color do you want?

J

Wow! Really? That's awesome totally didn't expect that. My passengers would appreciate not having the wet passenger seat. Black would be great.
 

jumpa

Well-Known Member
update.

took the bottle to utah, and it made it back secured on my bike on all my day long climbs/descents.

also found out that it fits inside a specialized swat bottle holder.
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
update.

took the bottle to utah, and it made it back secured on my bike on all my day long climbs/descents.

also found out that it fits inside a specialized swat bottle holder.


Cannondale sent me a new set for you.

Bring those two leaky ones in when you can. You can keep the mounting hardware.

Hope you had an amazing trip.
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
Here is my review:
Seat post mounted on the mtb. Approx 20 rides, 10 on gravel, 10 at Mercer

1 or two times at Mercer, the bottle ejected in a root section. Today. ejected with in a few min of riding the singletrack. Ejected again a few min later. Ejected again shortly after that and spilled water on me. Turns out the mount ripped off the bottle:
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Left a whole where the mount back was.
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R.I.P.
 
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