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review
Bottle cages
Arundel Sport Bottle CageArundel Sport Bottle Cage

Arundel Sport Bottle Cage

8
by VecchioJo
UPDATED Thu, Oct 15, 2015 04:24

First Published Jul 14, 2012

3
£10.00

VERDICT:

8
10
Does its job perfectly without any fuss.
Weight: 
48g
Contact: 
www.saddleback.co.uk
How we test

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Arundel call their Sport Bottle Cage 'cheap insurance' and they're right. It may not be the most exotic elegant lightweight bling bottle cage but it does its job perfectly without any fuss, that domestique whose name you can't remember of water bottles.

The Sport cage is the plastic version of the Texan cycle accessoriser's Dave-O cage for a bit more weight and a lot less money. There's not much to say about the Sport cage really: it's cheap enough and it works.

There are two sets of mounting holes, with one of each pair being ovalised to make up for any frame boss misalignment, so you should be able to find your perfect cage position on any bike.

The bottle slips into the wide opening without any fuss, settling home with a reassuring 'tonk' as that top knuckle grips the neck of the bottle and it's just as easy to get out.

In between times the bottle is held in securely by those wrap-round mandibles; the Sport Cage was clattered over cobbles and bounced around on a cyclo-cross bike and there was never any fear of premature ejectulation, and the bottle doesn't buzz or rattle tediously on plain old shabby tarmac either.

That's it job done. Ten quid.

Available in Black, white, red, blue, yellow and pink.

Verdict

Does its job perfectly without any fuss.

road.cc test report

Make and model: Arundel Sport Bottle Cage

Size tested: White

Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

The Sport is basically a modified, nylon reinforced plastic version of the carbon Arundel Dave-O. Arundel say they're not trying to make the lightest or the craziest looking of bottle cages but trying to make this thing work exceptionally well and look good doing it. Sport cages weigh only 50 grams and are as tough as nails, the dimensions are such that all brands of bottles will nest securely and still be easy to get to. They consider this cage as good as anything they make; it's just made out of different stuff.

Yeah, it's a bottle cage that does what any bottle cage should do and too many don't.

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Nylon reinforced plastic, claimed weight of 50g

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
7/10
Rate the product for performance:
 
10/10
Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
 
6/10
Rate the product for value:
 
8/10

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

A bottle-cage has a simple job to do; the Arundel Sport did it perfectly if unexcitingly.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Um, it held onto a bottle, didn't rattle, was easy to get a bottle in and out, won't break the bank.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Nothing.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.

Would you consider buying the product? Yes.

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.

Overall rating: 8/10

About the tester

Age: 42  Height: 180cm  Weight: 73kg

I usually ride: It varies as to the season.  My best bike is: The one I\'m on at the time

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Most days  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, cyclo cross, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mtb, Fun

 

Arundel Sport Cage
VecchioJo

Jo Burt has spent the majority of his life riding bikes, drawing bikes and writing about bikes. When he's not scribbling pictures for the whole gamut of cycling media he writes words about them for road.cc and when he's not doing either of those he's pedaling. Then in whatever spare minutes there are in between he's agonizing over getting his socks, cycling cap and bar-tape to coordinate just so. And is quietly disappointed that yours don't He rides and races road bikes a bit, cyclo-cross bikes a lot and mountainbikes a fair bit too. Would rather be up a mountain.

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3 comments

Avatar
WolfieSmith | 12 years ago
0 likes

Plastic - sorry Carbon are a false weight economy IMO. You can't bend a plastic cage tighter and they will snap within 24 months. Never lost a bottle over cattle grids with my metal cages. Buy Ti if you need the weight reduction - or lose the weight yourself. : )

Avatar
Crimea03 | 12 years ago
0 likes

I have a pair, ok not as aesthetically eye catching as the mandible or classy as the Arundel steel cage but man they do their job well!

Worth checking out Arundel's saddle bags, slim and don't wreck your shorts. All in all I'm a big fan of their products.

Avatar
cat1commuter | 12 years ago
0 likes

I think these cages are the best. Or you could pay £30 more to save 20g with a more fragile carbon fibre cage.

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